Three-year-old Kolkata boy becomes youngest Fide-rated chess player

KOLKATA: City kid Anish Sarkar entered the record books by becoming the youngest rated chess player in history at just three years, eight months and 19 days. In doing so, he surpassed the previous record set by Tejas Tiwari, who had become the youngest Fide-rated player at five years.

Sarkar, born on January 26, 2021, got his first rating of 1555. He played his first debut rating tournament in All Bengal Rapid Rating Open this year where he scored an impressive 5 out of a possible 11.

A week after that, he played his first classical rating tournament in the Bengal State Under-9 Open Rating meet, scoring 5.5/8 and finished 24th among 140 players.

Next he tested his skills in the Bengal State Under-13 Open meet, where he faced the required number of five more rated players that earned him the ratings on Oct 15 after his fourth-round game.

He was also fortunate to get an opportunity to play against India No. 1 and World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi in a simultaneous exhibition match during the Bengal Rapid Rating Open.