{"id":22813,"date":"2026-09-11T07:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T07:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=22813"},"modified":"2026-09-11T07:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T07:34:00","slug":"her-mother-gave-her-a-chessboard-as-a-toy-when-she-was-just-1-year-old-today-elena-mishra-now-4-is-the-youngest-female-fide-rated-chess-player-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=22813","title":{"rendered":"Her mother gave her a chessboard as a toy when she was just 1-year-old; today, Elena Mishra now 4, is the youngest female FIDE-rated chess player ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134051237,imgsize-1203696,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo-etv-bharat.jpg\" alt=\"Her mother gave her a chessboard as a toy when she was just 1-year-old; today, Elena Mishra now 4, is the youngest female FIDE-rated chess player ever\" title=\"Her achievement came through the blitz format, in which she currently has a FIDE rating of 1432. (Photo: ETV Bharat)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Her achievement came through the blitz format, in which she currently has a FIDE rating of 1432. (Photo: ETV Bharat)\">Her achievement came through the blitz format, in which she currently has a FIDE rating of 1432. (Photo: ETV Bharat)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At an age when most children are still learning the names and moves of chess pieces, four-year-old Elena Mishra from Odisha has already entered the official rating list of the international chess body FIDE.<!-- --> Elena became the youngest female player to feature on an official FIDE rating list at the age of 4 years, 6 months and 16 days. Her achievement came through the blitz format, in which she currently has a FIDE rating of 1432.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>According to the September 2026 FIDE rating list, Elena is also the only female player born in 2022 or later to have an official FIDE rating in any time-control format. As reported by the Indian Express, she earned the rating after competing in the Odisha State Blitz FIDE Rating Open Chess Championship 2026 in Bhubaneswar.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"lY6ke\">\n<div class=\"Yl6Us\">\n<p>10 Sept 2026 | 12:19<\/p>\n<h2>What&#8217;s one thing you swore you&#8217;l never do as a parent now you find yourself doing?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI love playing it. I practice 4 to 5 hours every day and use tactics to defeat my opponents,\u201d Elena told the media. She also said she wants to become a Grandmaster when she grows up.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/>At 2 years and 10 months, she entered her first chess tournament. However, what makes Elena\u2019s story unusual is not just how early she started, but how her parents introduced her to the game.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Chess runs in Elena\u2019s family<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"By the age of 2 years and 10 months, Elena had started participating in chess competitions.\" msid=\"134051294\" imgsize=\"993818\" resizemode=\"4\" width=\"\" title=\"By the age of 2 years and 10 months, Elena had started participating in chess competitions.\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-993818,msid-134051294\/by-the-age-of-2-years-and-10-months-elena-had-started-participating-in-chess-competitions.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>By the age of 2 years and 10 months, Elena had started participating in chess competitions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>Elena&#8217;s early exposure to chess has been closely connected to her family. She is the daughter of Odisha Grandmaster Swayams Mishra and Chandrima Ghosh, who has played an important role in teaching her the game. Elena&#8217;s father told ETV Bharat that FIDE has three main time-control formats, Classical, Rapid and Blitz. Her first official rating has come in Blitz, the fastest of the three. He said the family entered Elena in the tournament mainly so that she could gain more competitive experience and had not expected her to set a record.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>\u201cBased on her blitz rating, Elena is currently the youngest in the world. We entered her in the tournament primarily to gain competitive experience and were not expecting this, but she performed unexpectedly well. She achieved a major milestone at a very young age, and we are proud of our daughter,\u201d he added. The achievement has also drawn attention in Odisha. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated Elena after the milestone.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>Elena&#8217;s father, however, said it is too early to predict how far she will go. \u201cIt is too early to predict the future; as long as she enjoys playing on her own terms without pressure, she should continue. I only play with Elena; the credit for her success goes to my wife, Chandrima, who teaches her,\u201d he told ETV Bharat.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Her mother gave her a chessboard as a toy<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>Elena&#8217;s mother Chandrima Ghosh said her daughter&#8217;s chess journey began much earlier than her tournament career. <!-- -->\u201cWhen Elena was a year old, we gave her a chessboard as a toy. Once she recognized the moves, we taught her through fun activities,\u201d Ghosh said. By the age of 2 years and 10 months, Elena had started participating in chess competitions.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/>\u201cIn her first tournament in the Khordha district, she didn&#8217;t know how to checkmate yet, but she gradually gained experience by playing matches,\u201d her mother said. That first exposure was followed by increasingly competitive events. <!-- -->According to Ghosh, Elena went on to play state and national tournaments and even competed internationally in Japan by the age of 3 years and 4 months. \u201cAs parents, we aim to provide her with exposure through open tournaments, and if she retains her passion, she will certainly move forward,\u201d Ghosh added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>From Under-7 to Under-13 events<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In May 2026, she won the girls' title at the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championship.\" msid=\"134051312\" imgsize=\"441992\" resizemode=\"4\" width=\"\" title=\"In May 2026, she won the girls' title at the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championship.\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-441992,msid-134051312\/in-may-2026-she-won-the-girls-title-at-the-odisha-state-under-7-chess-championship.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In May 2026, she won the girls&#8217; title at the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"41\"\/>Elena&#8217;s recent FIDE milestone follows a series of age-category competitions in Odisha. In May 2026, she won the girls&#8217; title at the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championship. <!-- -->She has also competed in Under-9, Under-11 and Under-13 categories, giving her exposure to opponents older than her.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>Elena&#8217;s new rating places her in a small but notable group of very young players appearing on FIDE&#8217;s official lists. The overall record for the youngest player to receive a FIDE rating is held by Madhya Pradesh&#8217;s Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha, who appeared on the December 2025 FIDE list with a Rapid rating at 3 years, 7 months and 20 days, according to the Indian Express.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"49\"\/>For Elena, the immediate focus remains playing more tournaments and improving her game rather than simply collecting records. Her parents say they want to give her opportunities to compete and learn while allowing her interest in chess to develop naturally. For now, the four-year-old\u2019s next target is not another age record, but the much bigger goal she has set for herself: becoming a Grandmaster.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/life-style\/parenting\/moments\/her-mother-gave-her-a-chessboard-as-a-toy-when-she-was-just-1-year-old-today-elena-mishra-now-4-is-the-youngest-female-fide-rated-chess-player-ever\/articleshow\/134051124.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Her achievement came through the blitz format, in which she currently has a FIDE rating of 1432. (Photo: ETV Bharat) At an age when most children are still learning the names and moves of chess pieces, four-year-old Elena Mishra from Odisha has already entered the official rating list of the international chess body FIDE. Elena [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo-300x169.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Her achievement came through the blitz format, in which she currently has a FIDE rating of 1432. (Photo: ETV Bharat) At an age when most children are still learning the names and moves of chess pieces, four-year-old Elena Mishra from Odisha has already entered the official rating list of the international chess body FIDE. Elena [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":5,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/her-achievement-came-through-the-blitz-format-in-which-she-currently-has-a-fide-rating-of-1432-photo-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}