Delhi Boy, 9, Draws Against Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in Online Blitz

A nine-year-old boy from New Delhi, Aarit Kapil, has made headlines after drawing a game against world number one Magnus Carlsen. The chess prodigy, a fifth-grade student from Somerville School in Mayur Vihar, achieved this feat in an online blitz game during the Early Titled Tuesday competition.

Nine-year-old Aarit Kapil nearly defeated Magnus Carlsen before the game ended in a draw.

Aarit, who only started playing chess four years ago, held a winning position against the five-time world champion. However, due to time constraints, the game ended in a draw on the 49th move. The Titled Tuesday tournament is an exclusive event for players with FIDE titles and attracts elite grandmasters such as Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Aarit, a Candidate Master, participated in the online event from his hotel room in Batumi, Georgia, where he is currently competing in the FIDE World Cadets Cup in the under-10 category.

This accomplishment adds to Aarit's growing list of achievements. Last December, he became the third-youngest player globally to defeat a Grandmaster in classical time control when he won against 66-year-old Raset Ziatdinov of the United States.

Aarit's father, Vijay, shared that Aarit's elder sister, Aarna, taught him chess when he was five years old. "In one week, he was beating us," Vijay said. "We saw his potential, so we got him working with a coach. And in a few days, he won an international online tournament."

The young chess prodigy dedicates five to six hours daily to the sport under the guidance of IM Vishal Sareen. His parents learned of his achievement when he excitedly announced, "draw kar diya, Carlsen ko draw kar diya" (I drew, I drew with Carlsen).

The game format gave each player three minutes at the start, with a one-second increment per move. By move 25, Aarit had an advantage on the board but was facing time pressure with only 31 seconds remaining, compared to Carlsen's one minute and 25 seconds.

Aarit maintained a winning position until move 46, when he had only seven seconds left on his clock. The game concluded in a draw after 49 moves. Carlsen ultimately finished third in the 664-player tournament, despite being on vacation.

Vijay also shared, "Sometimes when he has a bad tournament, we jokingly tell him 'tera chess rukwadenge' (We'll stop your chess). He says, 'jo marzi karlo, chess nahi chhodunga' (Do whatever you can, I won't stop playing chess)."

"Bas chess hi karta hai. Aur kuch nahi karta. (Only chess, nothing else)," says Vijay, who works as a mutual fund distributor in Delhi. The family is currently seeking sponsors to support Aarit's chess career and enable him to participate in more international events.

This performance comes shortly after 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju defeated Carlsen at the Norway Chess tournament, highlighting a recent trend of young Indian players challenging the Norwegian champion.