New Jersey kid Abhimanyu Mishra is world’s youngest chess wiz

A New Jersey tween chess phenom is the grandmaster of his domain. 

Twelve-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra of Englishtown, NJ, became the world’s youngest grandmaster on Wednesday at a tournament in Budapest, Hungary, clinching the critical third and final norm with a win over Indian grandmaster Leon Mendonca, also 12. 

Mishru, who goes by Abhi, has been living in Budapest with his dad, Hemant, for the past three months in hopes of nabbing the title and breaking Sergey Karjakin’s 19-year record of youngest grandmaster at age 12 years and seven months. The clock was ticking for Abhi, who won at 12 years, four months and 25 days old. He had until Sept. 5 to make history. 

“We are over the moon that our kid is the youngest grandmaster ever. We are elated,” mom Swati told The Post from the family’s Garden State home. 

It wasn’t always an easy road for Abhi, who battled through a 35-game stretch without a win last year. His victory Wednesday was a nail-biter until the end. 

“It was a do-or-die situation in this game to get the title,” said Swati. 

Abhimanyu Mishra took part in the tournament in Hungary.
Abhimanyu Mishra took part in the tournament in Hungary.
Handout

The beaming mom said of her determined son, who practices 12 hours a day, “We are so proud of him. All his hard work has paid off. 

“I can’t even describe the feeling. He wanted to be the youngest grandmaster in the world and now he is.” 

For now, though, Abhi has little time to celebrate. He’s heading to Sochi, Russia, on July 10 to compete in the Chess World Cup. 

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