Israeli student Noam Sasson, an 8-year-old from Ganei Tikva, won the European chess competition for children aged nine and under on Friday held on the Greek island of Rhodes.
The chess prodigy won seven out of nine games, defeating contestants from Turkey, Greece, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, and more.
Noam was previously crowned the Israeli chess champion for children aged six and under only several years ago.
"Noam Sasson is considered a wonder child in the Israeli chess league," said Lior Eisenberg, head of Chess4All- an Israeli club for chess players worldwide.
Noam was competing for first place with his Turkish counterpart throughout the tense nine-day long competition.
"We followed the live broadcast of the game and it was really tense," Eisenberg said.
"After the eighth round it was a tie between him and the Turkish contestant. Only in the last round Noam finished with a tie and the Turkish player lost, and that's how he won first place in the championship."
In the closing ceremony of the championship on Saturday, Noam stood on the podium with the Israeli flag and received his trophy while The Tikva was playing in the background.
Noam Sasson, chess champion
(Video: Gil Sasson)
Minister of Culture and Sport of Israel Hili Tropper congratulated Noam on his victory through WhatsApp, writing: "Great job on the journey and the results. We're proud of you."