Six-year-old girl defeats chess grandmaster in Norway

A chess grandmaster has been bested by a six-year-old Norwegian girl in a shock upset.

The young prodigy, Lykke-Merlot Helliesen, defeated Simen Agdestein, winner of seven Norwegian chess championships, in a simultaneous exhibition match, in which he faced off against nine girls at a chess training camp in Norway, The Local reports.

Lykke-Merlot was able to queen a pawn by getting the piece to the end of the board, leaving her in a superior position to her opponent.

When the time ran out, she couldn't contain her excitement and threw up an arm in a victory salute.

"She played splendidly. She is much better than that [Magnus] Carlsen was when he was six years old," Mr Agdestein said after the game.

Carlsen is the reigning World Chess Champion in the classical, rapid and blitz formats of the game.

Lykke-Merlot has reportedly been playing chess for just six months at a local chess club in her home town of Sandefjord.

Her mum, May-Brit Park Helliesen, claims she showed remarkable signs of intelligence from an early age, such as being able to tie her father's knot five different ways by the age of three, and took to the game of chess naturally.

"She is fascinated by the game. She is fond of playing chess, and has never been pressured," she said.