An eight-year-old chess prodigy made history by becoming the youngest-ever player to defeat a grandmaster in a classical tournament game.

Ashwath Kaushik achieved the record at the tender age of eight years, six months and 11 days when he beat Poland's Jacek Stopa, 37, in round four of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland.

On Sunday, Kaushik was named the first player under nine to triumph over a grandmaster in a classical tournament game.

The previous record was set last month by then-eight-year-old Leonid Ivanovic of Serbia. However, Kaushik was five months younger at the time of his victory.

'It felt really exciting and amazing, and I felt proud of my game and how I played, especially since I was worse at one point but managed to come back from that,' the prodigy told Chess.com.

Kaushik was born in India and has been living in Singapore with his family for six years.

He earned distinction after winning triple gold in the Under-8 category of the Eastern Asian Youth Championship in 2022, when he was just six years old.

'Till then we didn't quite know how he would do at a global level,' the boy's father Sriram said.

He explained that his son learned the rules of the game at age four, thanks to chess-playing website ChessKid.

'He picked it up on his own, playing with his grandparents,' Sriram explained.

'It's surreal as there isn't really any sports tradition in our families. Every day is a new discovery, and we sometimes stumble in search of the right pathway for him.'

Kaushik finished 12th in this week's tournament. His success can be attributed, in part, to his world-class coaching.