Negi Strikes A Place in Chess History

Negi Srikes A Place In Chess History

After making headlines in Indian newspapers and media for the last two-three years, 13-year old New Delhi player, Parimarjan Negi found a place in chess history to become the youngest grandmaster as on date and the second youngest in all-time.

IM Parimarjan Negi of Delhi qualified to become the World's youngest grandmaster at 13. He was close to achieving this for some time now and the excitement is over. He had completed the first two norms at Hastings 2005-2006 and in the Parsvnath Open at New Delhi. The completion of the third GM norm on Saturday, July 1, makes him the second youngest grandmaster ever after Sergey Karjakin (12 years, 7 months) of Ukraine.

Negi achieved this feat at a tournament in Russia. He was close to achieving the same at Italy last month but missed. Now, the focus for Negi is to start winning world age group titles for his home country. He is an eighth standard student in the Amity International School at Saket in Delhi.

His father, J.B.Singh is a flight navigator at the Delhi airport. "We spend about 25 lakhs on Negi each year and had taken loans for it," his father had told journalists earlier this year. However, now he is sponsored by Air India and the Tata Group. Negi is trained by GM Evgeny Vladimirov and IM Vishal Sareen and plays widely in Europe.