Shuvalova Becomes First Woman, 10-Year-Old Aarit Youngest To Reach 3000 Blitz
IM Polina Shuvalova and CM Aarit Kapil may be worlds apart in age and experience, but both have reached the same milestone: 3000 blitz on Chess.com—Shuvalova as the first woman, and Kapil as the youngest ever.
For most Chess.com members, breaking a blitz rating of 1000 marks a big milestone. For experienced club players, 2000 is the goal. But for the very best, 3000 is the number that proves that they belong among the elite.
Now, within a month of each other, the two masters have reached that top benchmark—both setting new records in the process.
10-Year-Old Aarit Kapil: 'Very Happy About The Record'
We start with Aarit, who made national headlines as a 9-year-old in June when he nearly defeated none other than world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen in Titled Tuesday.
Nine months later, now 10, the New Delhi prodigy has risen to become one of the world's top-five-rated players born after 2015. His FIDE rating in March is 2268, but after a strong run of tournaments in Hungary, he has climbed well above 2300, enough to earn the FM title.
Since we reported on Aarit last year, it's not only his FIDE rating that has made a significant jump. He also broke the 3000 mark as Unstoppable_Aarit on Chess.com, reaching a peak blitz rating of 3058—an extraordinary achievement for a 10-year-old.
That actually makes him the youngest player to ever do so, breaking IM Faustino Oro's record from 2024 by two months.
“He is very happy about the record, but he wants to achieve more,” said his father, Vijay Kapil. “He is enjoying playing… and he is enjoying the process.”
He is very happy about the record, but he wants to achieve more.
—Vijay Kapil on his son Aarit breaking 3000
The youngster said he was particularly pleased with a win against German GM Matthias Bluebaum, who is currently battling it out at the FIDE Candidates Tournament.
The family is currently touring Europe, and the next stop after tournaments in Hungary is Karlsruhe in Germany for the massive Grenke Chess Festival. After that, he will also play the strong Menorca Open in Spain.
Shuvalova: 'Always Good To Beat A Record'
While 16-year-old IM Alice Lee recently crossed 3000 in bullet to become the first female to reach that milestone in any rating category on Chess.com, Shuvalova is the first to reach that mark in blitz.
The 25-year-old Russian was already the highest-rated woman in blitz, a record previously held by IM Eline Roebers and WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya.
"It feels nice, it's always good to beat a record," Shuvalova told Chess.com back when she became the highest-rated woman in blitz, adding how she uses Chess.com in her training.
Playing as Flawless_Fighter, she has played more than 10,000 blitz games and reached her latest peak in blitz with 3015 on March 29.
The following win against an international master lifted her across the 3000 mark for the first time.
It's hardly a surprise to see that Shuvalova has finally hit 3000, as she has shown fantastic performances on Chess.com for years. In 2023, she won the I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship after defeating none other than IM Levy Rozman.
Last year, she made it to the final of the Women's Speed Chess Championship, only to lose the match against reigning Women's World Champion GM Ju Wenjun.
