Milwaukee student Hersh Singh earns rare title in chess ♟️

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee student has achieved a rare milestone in the world of chess. Hersh Singh, a senior at University School of Milwaukee, recently became a FIDE Master.

FIDE is an acronym for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, a Swiss organization that acts as the governing body in international chess competition. Being a FIDE Master is the third-highest title in the sport.

Singh, 17, is the first person in Wisconsin to earn the FM title since 2013, according to a Friday, Oct. 13 press release from the school.

Singh secured his FM rating after taking second place at the Pan-American Youth Chess Festival in Chicago. Currently, he is ranked 140th among active U.S. chess players and falls within the top 3,000 players worldwide.

Introduced to chess in first grade by his grandfather, Singh has been a competitive player for years. He reflected on the experience in the school's press release, stating, "The longest game of my life was a five-and-a-half-hour odyssey in Greece at age 9, where I lost the game but came out jumping with joy, having survived for so long against a much higher-rated opponent."