Aarit Kapil, a young chess talent from Delhi, recently nearly defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in an online match.

Indian chess is witnessing rapid growth, with three grandmasters currently ranked among the world’s elite. Arjun Erigaisi holds the World No. 4 spot, closely followed by reigning world champion D Gukesh at No. 5, and R Praggnanandhaa at No. 7. Now, a new name has emerged in the spotlight—a nine-year-old Indian chess prodigy.

Aarit Kapil, a young chess prodigy from Delhi, recently came close to defeating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen during an online blitz match on Chess.com’s ‘Early Titled Tuesday’ event. The nine-year-old had the Norwegian legend under serious pressure and even reached a winning position. However, with only a few seconds remaining on his clock, Aarit was unable to convert his advantage, and the intense game ended in a draw.

When recently asked about a potential successor, Magnus Carlsen candidly responded, ‘There is no one. There is no one at the moment. That’s the honest answer. There could be, but at the moment, it’s not likely.

Sharing his thoughts on Gukesh, Carlsen said, ‘I think Gukesh showed in this tournament that he’s on the right path and performing excellently, though perhaps not as far ahead as some might have believed.

“I think he’s somewhat where I was around 2008 or 2009—capable of performing exceptionally well, but many of his best results come more from fighting spirit than pure positional mastery. That’s normal for young players; you’re not expected to have everything figured out at that age. As for the others, yes, they’re talented, but I don’t clearly see any of them becoming a definitive World No. 1 anytime soon,” he added.