Abhimanyu Mishra of the United States scripted history on Monday as he became the youngest ever player to defeat a reigning world champion in classical chess, claiming victory over India’s D Gukesh in Round 5 of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025.
Indian chess star and reigning world champion D Gukesh suffered a shock defeat in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the 16-year-old American grandmaster pulled off a record-breaking win.
Playing with the black pieces, Gukesh, the youngest-ever world champion in chess history, was outmanoeuvred in 61 moves. The result saw Mishra surpass a 33-year-old record set by American grandmaster Gata Kamsky, who was 17 when he defeated Garry Kasparov in Dortmund.
Despite securing a world record, Mishra appeared unimpressed with the quality of his game. Speaking to FIDE after his triumph, the teenager said he had played better matches in the past and credited Gukesh’s errors for his success in this round.
“Honestly, I would much prefer the game that I have won before,” Mishra said. “Like my game against Yu Yangyi was so much better than this because even though I won, it doesn’t feel as pleasing as my previous games in the tournament, as I had the winning position and I basically just threw it away. And later he made some mistakes and I got back, but overall, it wasn’t a very clean game.”
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This was not Mishra’s first impressive result in the ongoing tournament. In Round 4, he drew against another Indian prodigy, R Praggnanandhaa, salvaging a half-point from a losing position with the black pieces.
The young grandmaster stressed that he does not fear taking on elite players like Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa and said he believes he has genuine chances of winning the Grand Swiss in Samarkand.
“But the tournament is going better than I could have possibly imagined. If I keep up this form, I have a very real chance of winning the tournament,” he said. “Yesterday, too, I made some errors against Pragg. But I never felt like I was inferior to these players (Gukesh and Pragg). I think I am at par with them.”
Gukesh’s biggest mistake came on the 12th move, when he played g4 instead of h4, leaving himself in a weaker position. Mishra capitalised on the slip and steadily converted it into victory.
Mishra, who became the world’s youngest grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days in 2021, has endured a plateau in recent years. But with this historic win over the reigning world champion, the 16-year-old has firmly announced himself once again on the global stage.
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