Ashwath, 8, wants to be one of youngest grandmasters

Having become the youngest player to beat a grandmaster recently, eight-year-old Ashwath Kaushik has set his sights on attaining chess’ highest rank soon.

- Maximilian Oh

The Grade 4 pupil at Overseas Family School in Pasir Ris is currently a candidate master, three levels below grandmaster.

When asked whether he wants to be the youngest grandmaster in Singapore, he replied: “Not Singapore alone, but maybe among the youngest in the world.”

Ashwath, who made headlines by beating Polish grandmaster Jacek Stopa, 37, at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus-Open in Switzerland on Feb 18, was speaking to The Straits Times at the Father’s Day chess event organised by Singapore Chess Infinity on June 16. He and his dad Kaushik Sriram were invited to speak at the event at The Centrepoint in Orchard.

Singapore’s youngest grandmaster is Siddharth Jagadeesh, 17, while the youngest to have earned the title globally is American Abhimanyu Mishra, who achieved the feat in 2021 when he was 12.

Ashwath, an Indian citizen who moved here with his family seven years ago, represents Singapore internationally.