Chess Sensation: 9-Year-Old Indian Prodigy Holds Magnus Carlsen to Draw; Carlsen Hits Unprecedented Freestyle Chess Rating

Chess Prodigy: Nine-Year-Old Aarit Kapil Draws Against Magnus Carlsen

In an astounding display of skill, nine-year-old Indian chess player Aarit Kapil secured a draw against world number one Magnus Carlsen in the 'Early Titled Tuesday' online chess tournament.

Magnus Carlsen ponders his next move (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Aarit, a recent runner-up in the Under-9 National Championship, not only held his own but also put the five-time world champion Carlsen in a potentially losing position.

Despite his clear advantage, the young Indian player faced time pressure, which ultimately led to a draw in an endgame scenario involving a rook against two minor pieces.

This remarkable feat occurred while the Delhi native was in Georgia, participating in the under-10 World Championship. He has started strongly, winning his first two rounds, and is set to continue in the competition.

While Aarit's draw against Carlsen captured headlines, Indian player V Pranav emerged as the winner of the 'Early Titled Tuesday' tournament, accumulating an impressive 10 points out of 11 rounds. American Grandmaster Hans Moke Niemann and Magnus Carlsen both tied for second place with 9.5 points, with Niemann securing the position due to tiebreaks.

In related news, Magnus Carlsen recently achieved a historic milestone, reaching a 2900 rating in freestyle chess. This is a feat never before accomplished in any format of the game. Carlsen has maintained his position as the world's top-rated player for nearly 15 years, having previously achieved a peak classical chess rating of 2882 in May 2014.

The freestyle chess ratings are now managed independently by the Freestyle Chess organization, separate from FIDE, the global chess governing body.

Carlsen humorously remarked on his achievement, stating, "My wife (Ella Victoria) is way more attracted to me now that I've achieved 2900," according to Freestyle Chess.

The freestyle ratings calculation considered five tournaments: Weissenhaus 2024, Singapore 2024, Weissenhaus 2025, Paris 2025, and Karlsruhe 2025, encompassing 578 players who participated in at least one event over the past two years.

Following Carlsen (2909), Hikaru Nakamura (2818), and Fabiano Caruana (2804), Indian chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa currently holds the fourth position with 2773 points.