The prodigy from New Jersey, USA, achieved his third and final GM norm by beating 15-year-old Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca in the penultimate round of the Vezerkepzo GM Mix event in Budapest, Hungary, late last June.
In doing so, he crossed the required 2500 Elo rating barrier set by The International Chess Federation (FIDE), and broke a 19-year-old record set by Sergey Karjakin, who became a GM in 2002, aged 12 years and 7 months. Abhimanyu was only 12 years, 4 months and 25 days old.
The boy has surely come a long way since his father, Hemant Mishra, taught him chess when he was only 2 years and 8 months old.
According to India Today, all Hemant wanted to do by dabbling his child in the game was to make sure the toddler avoided getting addicted to the virtual world via phones or tablets.
It took more than two years for Abhimanyu to warm up to the game, ad he started taking part in competitive tournaments at the age of 5. The coaching by renowed GMs have also helped shape Abhimanyu the champion he is today.
Hemant and Abhimanyu have had to camp in Hungary since last April to play several matches prior to the championship, while the boy's mother Swati and sister Ridhima stayed back in the US to offer remote support.
In fact, Swati even told India Today that she hardly watches her son play, as she fears she would jinx his game if she watches his tournaments. It is little Ridhima who gives her mother a blow-by-blow account of what's happening.
Abhimanyu's parents are originally from Bhopal in India, but migrated to the US in 2006.
The young champion did not join any international tournaments for more than a year due to the travel restrictions put up during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that dry period certainly did not dampen Abhimanyu's quest to excel in chess.
Kudos to Abhimanyu and his family for this very impressive achievements, and all the best to him on achieving more greatness in the future!
Source: India Today, The Bridge
Photo source: India Today, Iluminasi.com