FOR the respected chess grandmaster, the defeat was too painful to even talk about but the eight-year-old boy who beat him was a little more forthcoming. David Howell, who enters the record books as the youngest ever player to defeat a grandmaster, said after his victory over Dr John Nunn in just 66 moves in a five-minute contest: "I was quite surprised. The game is very fast which doesn’t suit me. I like to think about the moves a bit more. "I think Dr Nunn was surprised to have lost. He shook my hand but didn’t say much. I went and spoke to my parents who were very pleased. I suppose I’m quite excited about it, too." David’s triumph over one of the game’s biggest names came at the Mind Sports Olympiad, in West London. In the absence of Dr Nunn, who beat a hasty and silent retreat home to Surrey, tournament spokeswoman Sidonie Henbeft said: "He just seemed very shocked and surprised. It really was a huge upset. It was like Manchester United losing to a non-league team. It’s on that sort of scale."

David took up chess less than three years ago after his father, Martin Howell, 48, an occupational health doctor, thought it would be a good way of passing the time on a wet afternoon. "It was great for David to win such a match. I am very proud of him. To beat a grandmaster at that age is very impressive" said Mr Howell at his home in Seaford, East Sussex. "I think John Nunn was quite embarrassed at the loss. He makes his living from playing chess, so to lose to an eight-year-old doesn’t really help things for him." David hopes to make his career as a chess player. After his surprise win he played nine more games in the nine-day tournament, losing two. His father added: "David was about five-and-a-half when I taught him to play. We had picked up an old set at a jumble sale for a few pence and I thought it was about time he learnt to play. I had played socially but just with friends when I was a student at Bristol University. I thought it would just be a way for David to keep himself occupied on wet afternoons. But he took to the game amazingly quickly. I just taught him the moves but in a matter of a couple of hours he was beating me. He was thinking ahead and picked up the game very quickly." Now David is coached by some of the leading names in chess including international master Andrew Kinsman and former British champion Chris Ward. He is coached two or three evenings a week and either Mr Howell or his wife Angeline drive their son around the country and take his abroad to play in tournaments. David’s school, St Andrews in Eastbourne, has even given him special permission to be excused from lessons on Saturday mornings so he can play in championships. Next week David will be plaing in Greece and also the world open championships in Spain for his age group. Earlier this year he came seventh out of 62 competitors in the Philadelphia Open in the US. His sister, Julia, aged six, knows how to play chess but has not taken to it like her brother. David enters the record book in place of 10-year-old Murugan Thiruchelvan who defeated English grandmaster Jon Levitt earlier this year. Press officer Ms Henbeft said, "No one in their right mind would have predicted such a win before this match started. Although David played other matches and 4,000 entrants from some 60 countries played this win overshadowed all the wins. It is truly amazing." Dr Nunn was unavailable for comment last night.