Boy, 8, defeats grand master

Monday, Aug. 30, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

THE GUARDIAN

Even in a game known for its prodigies it was a momentous achievement. British chess was hailing a new child star Sunday after an 8-year-old boy took on England's number five grandmaster and won.

In the most sensational result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in London, David Howell, British under-10 champion, defeated John Nunn, 44, player and author of world renown.

The victory will convince the international chess community that Britain has a new star. Although it was only five-minute blitz chess, a race of moves against the clock, experts take this form of the game extremely seriously. All the olympiad blitz events have been won by grandmasters, and each offers $800 prize money.

The audience of experts was too stunned to applaud when Nunn resigned. But David, who learned the game at 5, had already shown promise. In a side event at the British Championships in Scarborough this month he defeated the top woman, Harriet Hunt, in a game that broke an age performance record that had stood since 1920.

Nunn won a gold medal for England at the 1984 Chess Olympics and wrote a best-selling book on openings. He was the victim of a prodigy 12 years ago when he tied a blitz match with Judit Polgar, then 11, who became the first woman to match the top men.