Chess legend Viswanathan Anand has congratulated Indian-origin Abhimanyu Mishra on becoming the youngest ever Grandmaster (GM) of the sport.
At 12 years, four months and 25 days, Mishra achieved the feat after scoring his third GM norm in the April Vezerkepzo tournament in Budapest on Wednesday, having already crossed the required 2500 Elo rating barrier.
In the process, the New Jersey-based Mishra broke the 19-year-old record set by Russian GM Sergey Karjakin in 2002 by two months and five days.
"Great results for Indian chess! @NihalSarin @ArjunErigaisi and a big congrats to the Indian origin Abhimanyu Misra on becoming the youngest GM! Nihal is part of the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy and Arjun is a player I follow closely and play training games with" tweeted Anand.
Mishra, born on February 5, 2009, now sits on top of the list of brightest prodigies in the game. Only five players in the history of chess have managed to get the GM title before turning 13.
"On Wednesday, Mishra won the biggest game of his short but sweet career so far. He defeated the 15-year-old Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca with the black pieces, securing a performance rating higher than 2600 over nine rounds," said an official release on Chess.com
Mishra's next appearance will now be at the FIDE World Cup in Sochi from July 10.
