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Ten year old FIDE Master Aarit Kapil beats 2024 World Junior champion Kazybek Nogerbek at Menorca Open, extending his rapid rise as one of chesss brightest young talents.
Young Indian chess sensation Aarit Kapil (Instagram)
Ten-year-old chess sensation Aarit Kapil delivered another remarkable performance by defeating Kazybek Nogerbek, the 2024 FIDE World Junior Champion, at the Menorca International Chess Open.
The tournament, being held from April 7 to 12, saw the young FIDE Master outplay his higher-rated opponent in 48 moves with the white pieces.
Who Is Aarit Kapil?
Aarit, who currently has a FIDE rating of 2304, has been making waves in the chess world with his consistent performances. Earlier this year, he crossed the 3000 blitz rating mark on Chess.com, adding to his growing list of achievements.
His rise to prominence began in 2025 when, at the age of 9, he held world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen to a draw in an online blitz game. He also won the national Under-11 Open Championship in dominant fashion and later secured the Delhi State Under-15 title in 2026.
His victory over Nogerbek further underlines his rapid progress. Notably, Aarit had already made history in 2024 by becoming the third-youngest player in the world to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess when he beat Raset Ziatdinov.
Confident Young Man
“You have so much fun with me (I had a lot of fun),” the 10-year-old said.
“I have defeated GMs before when I was nine years old. (I defeated my first grandmaster at the age of nine),” he added.
His coach Srinath Narayanan also praised his mindset and composure during games. “One of the things about Aarit is that he has incredible self-confidence once he gets into positions of advantage. Other players, when they get into winning positions, can get nervous with thoughts like ‘I hope I don’t mess this up.’ That’s quite common. Also common is being intimidated by a stronger opponent. But not Aarit. He tends to be very confident in those situations. If he knows that he’s on top, he has the confidence to pull it off,” he was quoted as saying to The Indian Express.
April 09, 2026, 08:21 IST
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