India gets its 100th chess Grandmaster as Anuj Shrivatri wins in the Philippines

Anuj Shrivatri, a 22-year-old International Master from Madhya Pradesh, has become India’s 100th chess Grandmaster after winning the 7th ASEAN+ Individual Open championship in Ozamiz City in the Philippines, according to reports on Sunday, 8 November.

The ASEAN individual championship is one of the events whose winner can earn the Grandmaster title directly. Raahul V.S. of Chennai became India’s 91st Grandmaster the same way at the previous edition, in November 2025. Shrivatri had earlier become Madhya Pradesh’s youngest International Master, the title one step below Grandmaster.

A fast-growing club

Grandmaster is the highest title in chess after world champion, and it is awarded for life by FIDE, the world chess federation. A player usually needs three strong tournament results, called norms, and a rating of at least 2,500, though winning certain championships brings the title directly.

Viswanathan Anand became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988. The count has climbed quickly in recent years: Raahul V.S. was the 91st in November 2025, Aswath S. became the 98th in July 2026, and the 100th has followed four months later. The growth reflects a boom in Indian chess, with more tournaments, academies and online play, and Indian players now regularly among the world’s best.