Abhimanyu Mishra Scores 2nd GM Norm, Closing In On Karjakin's Record
On Monday, IM Abhimanyu Mishra scored his second GM norm at the May 2021 First Saturday Tournament in Budapest, Hungary. The 12-year-old player from New Jersey is 29 Elo points and one GM norm away from becoming the youngest-ever grandmaster in history.
It is a record that has proven to be very difficult to beat. On August 12, 2002, GM Sergey Karjakin secured the grandmaster title at the age of 12 years and seven months. Since then, nobody has managed to do it faster. Abhimanyu Mishra, however, is getting pretty close.
In November 2019, Chess.com reported on Mishra (often called "Abhi") becoming International Master at the age of 10 years, nine months, and three days. That was a record.
Mishra was born February 5, 2009, which means he has until September 5, 2021, to break Karjakin's record. He definitely has chances, now that he bagged his second GM norm last Monday.
He secured that norm with a round to spare at the May edition of the monthly First Saturday GM norm tournament in Budapest, Hungary. Also winning his last-round game, Mishra finished on an impressive 8/9.
Final standings
| Rk. | Fed | Title | Name | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | IM | Abhimanyu Mishra | 2424 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8,0 | 8,0 | 32,50 | ||
| 2 | IM | Rafat Issa | 2354 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 5,0 | 21,25 | ||
| 3 | GM | Vojtech Plat | 2556 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 5,0 | 20,00 | ||
| 4 | GM | Milan Pacher | 2437 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4,5 | 4,5 | 17,75 | ||
| 5 | FM | Levente Papp | 2394 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 4,0 | 4,0 | 18,25 | ||
| 6 | FM | Tibor Bodi | 2374 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4,0 | 4,0 | 17,75 | ||
| 7 | Basak Souhardo | 2359 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4,0 | 4,0 | 15,75 | |||
| 8 | FM | Jakub Seemann | 2288 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 4,0 | 4,0 | 15,50 | ||
| 9 | GM | Attila Czebe | 2389 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3,5 | 3,5 | 14,75 | ||
| 10 | GM | Ivan Farago | 2340 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3,0 | 3,0 | 12,00 |
Mishra's games
Mishra has been in Hungary for a while, where it's possible to play several tournaments back-to-back. Since February, besides the famous First Saturday event, there is now also the monthly Vezerkepzo tournament, held at the same venue. Mishra participated in two (March and April) and will also play in the May edition which starts tomorrow.
In the March edition, Mishra finished in third place with 6/9. His 2544 performance was good, but not enough for a GM norm which is set at 2601.
It was in his second Vezerkepzo attempt, in April, that Mishra scored his first GM norm. As you can see, Mishra is not the only player who has been trying his luck in several of these tournaments.
Final standings
| Rk. | Fed | Title | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | IM | Mishra Abhimanyu | 2408 | 7,0 | 0,5 | 27,75 | |
| 2 | Souhardo Basak | 2349 | 7,0 | 0,5 | 27,25 | ||
| 3 | GM | Nagy Gabor | 2511 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 24,00 | |
| 4 | GM | Plat Vojtech | 2553 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 19,75 | |
| 5 | FM | Persanyi Barnabas | 2364 | 4,0 | 1,0 | 16,25 | |
| 6 | FM | Bodi Tibor | 2374 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 13,25 | |
| 7 | IM | Krstulovic Alex | 2375 | 3,5 | 0,5 | 15,25 | |
| 8 | GM | Pacher Milan | 2435 | 3,5 | 0,5 | 14,25 | |
| 9 | FM | Danada Tomas | 2321 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 11,75 | |
| 10 | WFM | Gaal Zsoka | 2169 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 7,00 |
Mishra's games
For 19 years, Karjakin's record has stood. The one who got the closest was Indian GM Gukesh Dommaraju, who got the title only 17 days later.
Below is the full top-10 of the youngest-ever grandmasters. You can learn more about the biggest chess prodigies in this article.
Top 10 Youngest Chess Grandmasters
| No. | Fed | Player | Country | Age |
| 1 | Sergey Karjakin | Ukraine | 12 years, 7 months, 0 days | |
| 2 | Gukesh Dommaraju | India | 12 years, 7 months, 17 days | |
| 3 | Javokhir Sindarov | Uzbekistan | 12 years, 10 months, 5 days | |
| 4 | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | India | 12 years, 10 months, 13 days | |
| 5 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Uzbekistan | 13 years, 1 month, 11 days | |
| 6 | Parimarjan Negi | India | 13 years, 4 months, 22 days | |
| 7 | Magnus Carlsen | Norway | 13 years, 4 months, 27 days | |
| 8 | Wei Yi | China | 13 years, 8 months, 23 days | |
| 9 | Raunak Sadhwani | India | 13 years, 9 months, 28 days | |
| 10 | Bu Xiangzhi | China | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days |
See also:
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
Peter's first book The Chess Revolution is out now!
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