Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha from India has become the youngest chess player ever to earn an official rating from FIDE at just 3 years, 7 months and 20 days old, breaking the previous record by almost a month. The kindergartner from Madhya Pradesh achieved a rating of 1572 in rapid chess after beating opponents many times his age, including victories against players aged 20, 22, and 29, with his rating considerably higher than the minimum 1400 required for official recognition. To earn a FIDE rating, players must score points against at least five already rated players at official events, a feat that seemed impossible for someone who started playing when he was barely 30 months old.
His father Siddharth Singh told The Indian Express that they pushed Sarwagya into chess after noticing his mind was like a sponge and he would pick up things very quickly, with the toddler able to name all the chess pieces accurately within just one week of being taught. The young prodigy now plays chess for four to five hours daily, including one hour at a training center, and dethroned another Indian boy named Anish Sarkar who was rated 1550 at age 3 years, 8 months and 19 days. Sarwagya joins a growing list of young Indian players dominating the sport in recent years, a major shift from the Cold War era when Russians prevailed in chess. His father said Sarwagya could train to become a grandmaster, following Indian stars like 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju who became the youngest-ever world champion last year and famously defeated Magnus Carlsen, widely considered one of the greatest players of all time.
