Keisuke Fukuchi, the 2018 world champion of the Othello board game and the youngest ever at 11, was congratulated and surprised while on his return flight to Japan after the competition in Prague as the pilot revealed via intercom that he was the previous record holder.

"The world champion for Othello is on this flight," the pilot, Kunihiko Tanida, is quoted as saying by the airline, All Nippon Airways Co. "Actually, I had been the youngest title holder at age 15 since 1982," he divulged.

(Keisuke Fukuchi and Kunihiko Tanida (R))[Photo supplied by All Nippon Airways]

The 51-year-old Tanida congratulated the breaker of his record by saying it was a "brilliant achievement."

He also noted that Japan had won Othello group competitions for 14 years straight, and that the country is "very famous in the world of Othello players."

(World Othello/Youtube)

The elementary school fifth-grader was a first-time competitor at the 42nd Othello championship last week.

Knowing Keisuke would be on the ANA flight from Dusseldorf to Tokyo, the airline decided to have Tanida fly him home as a surprise.

(Fukuchi beat Thailand's Aunchulee Piyanat to win the title) [World Othello/Youtube]