India’s special chess kid: 8-year-old from Tamil Nadu beats World no. 7 Vincent Keymer in candlelight

An 8 year old boy from India's Tamil Nadu (southern part of India) has stunned World No. 7 German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer, and this is not just another result. The youngster has already been doing magic on the chessboard, and this felt like one of those nights where everything just clicked.

The match took place on Friday during the Freestyle Friday online blitz tournament, but the setting made it even more remarkable. Heavy rain and strong winds in Sivakasi (a famous place in Tamil Nadu) caused a power cut, leaving Tamizh Amudhan to play by candlelight, with his laptop placed on a pillow. It is quite something, isnt it? The internet was patchy, the conditions far from ideal, but he still chose to play and pulled off a huge win.

Up against 21 year old Keymer, the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 winner, Tamizh showed composure well beyond his age and handled the moment impressively despite everything going on around him.

He could only manage four rounds because of the power issues and won two of them, but this victory was easily the standout moment of his campaign.

Online wins against elite players may not carry the same weight as classical results, but they can be very significant for young players. In 2022, R Praggnanandhaa’s online rapid win over World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at the Airthings Masters became a key moment in his rise. Similarly, Tamizh’s victory over Vincent Keymer could play an important role in building his confidence, even if it is not at the same scale yet.

Freestyle Friday is a weekly online blitz tournament with a three minute plus two second increment time control. It follows an 11 round Swiss format and features several titled players, along with prize money of around 1000 dollars.

Tamizh has already built a reputation in his age group. He leads the world rankings in the under nine category and is the youngest player in the world to cross the 2000 Elo mark, achieving the feat at the age of eight. His training at the Hatsun Chess Academy near Sivakasi is often credited as a major factor in his rapid development.

For a bit of context, the Elo rating system is what chess uses to measure player strength. It is a mathematical method developed by Arpad Elo, a physics professor and chess master, to rank players based on their results against others. In simple terms, the higher your Elo, the stronger you are. Crossing 2000 at such a young age is a big deal and shows just how far ahead Tamizh already is.

Tamizh had previously beaten two Grandmasters, but this win stood out as a major moment. He could play only four rounds due to power issues, winning two of them before his laptop shut down. What a story this is.

Performances like this, especially in such tough conditions, say a lot. This is not just a talented kid making headlines. This is someone who is clearly on a serious upward path.