Nara Devansh Wins Award For Fastest Checkmate Solver

10-year-old chess prodigy Nara Devansh, son of Andhra Pradesh Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh, has received a World Book of Records Award 2025 for setting a world record as the fastest checkmate solver by completing 175 of the most difficult chess puzzles in the shortest time.

He participated in the award ceremony held at Westminster Hall, London, and received the "Fastest Checkmate Solver - 175 Puzzles" award.

Lokesh also attended the event to encourage his son and personally witness the ceremony.

To achieve this feat, Devansh quickly solved 175 complex checkmate puzzles from Laszlo Polgar's famous chess collection "5334 Problems and Games" during the Checkmate Marathon last year.

The puzzles keep increasing in difficulty, testing speed, accuracy and thinking skills. Devansh set a record by solving all of them in the shortest time, and has been listed in the World Book of Records as one of the best young talents in the world of chess.

His success is attributed to his efforts, along with the support and encouragement of his mother Nara Brahmani, father Lokesh and coach K Rajasekhar Reddy.

Commenting on the achievement, Lokesh said, "It is special that Devansh received this honour today at Westminster Hall. His vision, thinking power, punctuality under pressure, and unique dedication to the game at such a young age have made this achievement possible. As a father, I have witnessed Devansh's tireless work ethic up close. This recognition is a true reward for his hard work. We are all very proud of his achievement."

Devansh has previously held two other world records, too. He had completed the 7-disc Tower of Hanoi in just 1 minute and 43 seconds, and set a record by arranging 32 pieces on 9 chess boards in the correct order within 5 minutes.