10-year-old girl sets world record for quickest blindfolded chess set arrangement

A young girl from Malaysia has broken the Guinness World Record for the 'quickest blindfolded chess set arrangement’. 10-year-old Punithamalar Rajashekar arranged all the chess pieces on the board in 45.72 seconds and earned the title.

Punithamalar started playing the game at the age of five and now polishes her skills by regularly participating in nationwide tournaments. She is a registered member of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and has outshined everyone at her school in chess.

A documentary about extraordinary human achievements inspired Punithamalar to attempt the world record and she began working towards her goal.

“Seeing people push their limits and accomplish incredible feats really inspired me. “[…] I was particularly drawn to the idea of setting a personal goal and pushing myself beyond my limits, and attempting a world record seemed like the perfect way to do that,” Punithamalar told the Guinness World Records.

“I had already participated in various events such as Kids Got Talent, and felt that I wanted to do more to get recognition. My father suggested that I should focus on my passion, so my family and I decided I should break this particular record,” she added.

Punithamalar said that her father is her coach and that the two used to “play together almost every day”. The prodigy said she prepared by studying videos of previous record holders. “I began my preparation four months before the actual attempt, with a combination of physical and mental training,” she said.

On shattering the record, Punithamalar stated it was life-changing for her and that she felt “pride and uniqueness”. The young champion added that she hopes to inspire others with her achievement and aims to attempt another record while blindfolded.

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