An 11-year-old Seaford boy has become the youngest player to score against a world chess champion.

David Howell, of Kingsmead Walk, drew one of four "blitz matches" against world champion Vladimir Kramnik, from Russia, in a special challenge match.

The blitz matches, for which each player has ten minutes on the clock, were invented to make the game more active than normal chess games, which can last for hours.

David, also the youngest player to take on the current world champion, shot to fame in August 1999, after beating a grand master.

Today, he lost overall with Kramnik winning three games and one being drawn.

But that draw made David - a pupil at St Andrew's Primary School in Meads, Eastbourne - the youngest player to score against a world champion.

David has won the under-eight, under-nine and under-ten British Chess Championships and came joint first in the European Under-12s.

He plays mostly on the adult circuit, only competing against children his age in major championships.

Kramnik became world champion in 2000 after ending Garry Kasparov's 15 year reign.

David, who aims to become an international grandmaster within two years, took up the game after his father Martin bought him a board for £1.