It was quick, but it wasn’t easy.
New Jersey prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra last week became the youngest grandmaster in history, earning a third and final norm for the game’s highest honor at a tournament in Budapest.
All of 12 years, four months and 25 days, Mishra eclipses the record set by Russian GM Sergey Karjakin that stood for nearly two decades. Karjakin went on to become one of the world’s strongest players, nearly winning the world crown in a tight match with champion Magnus Carlsen in 2016.
America’s newest grandmaster, who also set a record two years ago as the youngest player ever to earn the international master title, claims to spend 12 hours a day studying the game (gulp!) with his two coaches and takes classes online with Indian star GM Pentala Harikrishna. When COVID-19 shut down many tournaments where rating points were on offer, the family relocated to Hungary for a spell to compete in a string of norm-generating events.
There won’t be much time for laurel-wreath-resting: Mishra is slated to play in next week’s FIDE World Cup knockout event in Sochi, Russia, paired against savvy Georgia veteran GM Baadur Jobava. This is one middle-schooler who will have no trouble with his “What I did this summer” essay come the start of the new school year.
You don’t get to be a grandmaster without beating a few grandmasters along the way. Young Mishra has already defeated some in his short career.
One nice win was a Round 1 ambush of Ukrainian-born GM Yaroslav Zherebukh at the 2019 U.S. Chess Masters, a Caro-Kann Advance where Mishra as White nicely reacts to Black’s attempts to complicate the play.
After a balanced opening, Black gets too ambitious with 19. Na5 Nb4?! (Nxa5 20. Rxa5 Bb4 21. Rb5 Bxc3 22. Qxc3 Qd8 is fine for Black, but perhaps too drawish for Zherebukh’s liking) 20. Ra4 h5 21. Rfa1 Rfc8 22. Nb3 Nc6 23. Nc1 h4 24. h3 Bh5? (see diagram; rejecting the safer 24…a5 25. Nd3 Nh6, Black overlooks a shot) 25. Nxh41, stealing a pawn as 25…Bxe2 26. Nxf5 Bc4 27. Nxe7+ Nxe7 28. Rxa7 is clearly better for White.
The lost pawn is less of a headache for Black than his lack of counterplay, while Mishra can improve his position at his leisure. With White’s edge growing markedly, Black tries to confuse the issue again and only makes things worse.
Thus: 35. h4 Bxh4!? (not good, but Black was facing 36. Nf4 Rhh8 37. Bxf5 exf5 38. Qf3 — the d-pawn is lost and his position is collapsing anyway) 36. gxh4 Rxh4 37. Qg5 Nxe5 38. Bxf5! (Mishra plays the concluding moves accurately; disastrous would have been 38. dxe5?? Rh2+! 39. Kxh2 Qxf2+ 40. Kh3 Rh8+ and it’s Black who wins) Rh2+ 39. Kg3! (Kxh2?! Nf3+ 40. Kg2 Nxg5 41. Bd3 is probably still better for White, but the game move is much stronger) exf5 40. Ra6 Rbh8 (Qb7 41. dxe5; or 40…Qd8 41. Qxd8 Rxd8 42. Kxh2) 41. Nf4!, and Black resigned as lines like 41…R2h5 42. Nxh5+ Rxh5 43. Qxh5 gxh5 44. Rxb6 are hopeless.
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Mishra has already notched a couple of victories over GM Vladimir Belous, including a memorable 19-move miniature from a North Carolina tournament in March. A tougher win came against the Russian star at the Charlotte Chess Center’s holiday event in December — a tournament Belous would go on to win.
Both sides have their chances in this Accelerated Dragon Sicilian, but Mishra never allows Black to get in the freeing advance of his e-pawn, eventually seizing a clamp on the position. After 20. Nc5 Rbb8!? (Black could have clarified things with 20… Bxd4 21. Qxd4 axb4 22. cxb4, and either 22…Rfb8 or 22…Qf6 offer Belous a reasonable game) 21. Re1 Rbe8 22. Be5! (definitively preventing a central break) Bxe5 23. fxe5 Qb8 24. e6!, and the advanced pawn is a bone in the throat of Black’s defense.
The lack of space proves fatal for Black: 24…Be4 (axb4 25. cxb4 Qd6 27. Nd7 wins the exchange) 25. Nd7 Rxf2 26. Qxf2 (Black’s queen is attacked and White has a killer check coming at f7; Black’s game is already on life-support) Qd8 27. Qf7+ Kh8 28. bxa5 Rg8 29. a6 Qa5 30. Qxe7, and White has a winning advantage.
Once again, Mishra brings home the point with precision, generating winning threats against Black’s cornered king: 36. Qf6+ Rg7 37. Qd8+ (Ne5 Qa7+ 38. Kh1 h5 39. e7 was even more lethal, but the game move does the job) Rg8 38. e7 Qa7+ 39. Kh1 Qf2 (Black finally generates a mate threat, but now White can simplify to a won ending) 40. Qxg8+! Kxg8 41. e8=Q+ Kg7 42. Qe7+ Kh6 43. Qf8+, and the queens come off and White’s a rook to the good; Black resigned.
Mishra-Zherebukh, U.S. Chess Masters, Greensboro, N.C., August 2019
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Ne7 7. Nbd2 h6 8. Nb3 Bg6 9. Bd2 Nf5 10. a4 Be7 11. a5 O-O 12. c4 Rc8 13. Rc1 b6 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Bc3 Nb8 16. Qd2 Nc6 17. Ra1 Rb8 18. axb6 Qxb6 19. Na5 Nb4 20. Ra4 h5 21. Rfa1 Rfc8 22. Nb3 Nc6 23. Nc1 h4 24. h3 Bh5 25. Nxh4 Bxh4 26. Bxh5 Be7 27. Bg4 Nh6 28. Be2 Nf5 29. Bd3 g6 30. Ne2 Nh4 31. Qf4 Kg7 32. g3 Nf5 33. Kg2 Rh8 34. Qg4 Rh5 35. h4 Bxh4 36. gxh4 Rxh4 37. Qg5 Nxe5 38. Bxf5 Rh2+ 39. Kg3 exf5 40. Ra6 Rbh8 41. Nf4 Black resigns.
Mishra-Belous, CCCSA Holiday GM Tournament, Charlotte, N.C., Dcember 2020
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Ng8 8. Bd3 Bg7 9. f4 d5 10. O-O Nh6 11. Na4 O-O 12. Be3 f6 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. c3 Nf5 15. Bxf5 Bxf5 16. Bd4 Qd6 17. Qd2 Rab8 18. Rf2 Rb5 19. b4 a5 20. Nc5 Rbb8 21. Re1 Rbe8 22. Be5 Bxe5 23. fxe5 Qb8 24. e6 Be4 25. Nd7 Rxf2 26. Qxf2 Qd8 27. Qf7+ Kh8 28. bxa5 Rg8 29. a6 Qa5 30. Qxe7 Qxa2 31. Qf6+ Rg7 32. Qf8+ Rg8 33. Qf6+ Rg7 34. Qf8+ Rg8 35. Qf2 Qxa6 36. Qf6+ Rg7 37. Qd8+ Rg8 38. e7 Qa7+ 39. Kh1 Qf2 40. Qxg8+ Kxg8 41. e8=Q+ Kg7 42. Qe7+ Kh6 43. Qf8+ Black resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
