Headline: Chess Prodigy: 9-Year-Old Aarit Kapil Forces Draw Against World Champion Magnus Carlsen

Nine-year-old Aarit Kapil was on the cusp of beating Magnus Carlsen before settling for a draw.

Aarit Kapil, a nine-year-old chess player from New Delhi, India, achieved an impressive draw against world number one Magnus Carlsen in an online blitz game. The remarkable feat occurred during the Early Titled Tuesday competition.

The fifth-grade student, attending Somerville School in Mayur Vihar, has only been playing chess for four years. He held a winning position against the five-time world champion. Time constraints ultimately resulted in a draw on the 49th move.

The Titled Tuesday tournament is an exclusive event. Participation is limited to players holding FIDE titles. This event attracts elite grandmasters like Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Aarit Kapil, a Candidate Master, participated from his hotel room in Batumi, Georgia. He is currently competing in the FIDE World Cadets Cup in the under-10 category.

This draw is another achievement for Aarit. He is already the third-youngest player to defeat a Grandmaster in classical time control. He accomplished this last December with a win against 66-year-old Raset Ziatdinov of the United States.

Aarit's father, Vijay, told the Indian Express that Aarit was taught chess by his older sister, Aarna, when he was five years old. He quickly surpassed them in skill. Recognizing his potential, they hired a coach. Soon after, Aarit won an international online tournament.

The young prodigy trains five to six hours each day under the guidance of IM Vishal Sareen. His parents learned of the draw against Carlsen when he excitedly announced, "draw kar diya, Carlsen ko draw kar diya."

The game format gave each player three minutes at the start. It added a one-second increment per move. By the 25th move, Aarit had an advantage on the board. However, he was under time pressure with only 31 seconds left, compared to Carlsen's one minute and 25 seconds.

Aarit held a winning position until move 46, with only seven seconds remaining on his clock. The game ended in a draw after 49 moves. Carlsen finished third in the 664-player tournament, despite being on vacation with his wife, Ella.

Vijay shared that they jokingly threaten to stop Aarit's chess if he has a bad tournament. Aarit responds that he will never stop playing chess, no matter what they do.

Vijay, who works as a mutual fund distributor, said that his son dedicates himself entirely to chess. The family is seeking sponsors to support Aarit's chess career. Sponsorship would allow him to participate in more international events.

This performance follows another recent instance of a young Indian player challenging Carlsen. Just weeks prior, 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju defeated the Norwegian champion at the Norway Chess tournament.