8-Year-Old Makes History Becoming Youngest To Beat Grandmaster In Classical Chess

Leonid Ivanovic from Serbia has earned his place in the history books by becoming the first player under the age of nine to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess. 

The chess world has recently been witnessing a surge in children scoring extraordinary results at an even earlier age, perhaps propelled by the pandemic and a rating system lagging behind in keeping pace with their rise in strength.

One example of this came during a six-round open tournament that took place in Belgrade, Serbia, last week. Leonid Ivanovic, still a month shy of nine years, scored four points after winning three games, drawing two, and suffering just one defeat. His performance of 2056 added 81 points to his rating.

But it was Ivanovic's win in round two against 59-year-old GM Milko Popchev, who has a rating of 2193, that deserves attention. The youngster won a messy game against the grandmaster, which has earned him this unique record: At 8 years, 11 months, and seven days, Ivanovic has become the youngest player to defeat a grandmaster in a classical tournament game, according to Chess.com's research.

While Ivanovic's opponent was not among the highest-rated grandmasters, the youngster is still the first player under the age of nine to beat a grandmaster in classical chess.

The previous record was held by GM Awonder Liang. When he was nine years, three months, and 20 days old, he defeated GM Larry Kaufman. To put that into perspective, GM Magnus Carlsen was 12 and a half when he scored his first win against a grandmaster, GM Chris Ward, in the Politiken Cup in 2003. GM Anish Giri was just a few months from his 14th birthday when he beat GM Alexandre Dgebuadze in 2008.

Here's Chess.com's unofficial list of the youngest players to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess:

Ivanovic finished fourth in the Under 8 category of the European Youth Chess Championship last September. With a FIDE rating of 1865, he is ranked fourth in the world for players born in 2015 or later, ahead of WCM Bodhana Sivanandan and Roman Shogdzhiev, two prodigies who have drawn headlines for their sensational achievements recently.

Shogdzhiev defeated five grandmasters during the World Rapid & Blitz Championship, while Sivanandan stunned the chess world in the European Blitz Championship where she won the best woman prize.

Leonid's mother Lidija tells Chess.com that her son's chess journey began in Novi Sad, a city known for its chess traditions, where he learned chess from his older brother and eventually joined the chess club at his elementary school. Recently he has made significant progress, his mother says.

"He defeated three FMs and one GM, drew with one FM and one IM, and although he also experienced some losses, he feels confident playing against players with the highest chess titles. He looks forward to tough matches against opponents with high ratings and is motivated by recent good results."

She says that Leonid now works with a personal coach twice a week and also plays rapid and solves puzzles daily on Chess.com.