समाचार Samāchār · Sports · 9 November 2026

Anuj Shrivatri becomes India’s 100th Grandmaster, 38 years after Anand

The 22-year-old won the ASEAN Plus Individual Open in the Philippines and with it the Grandmaster title. He is Madhya Pradesh’s first.

India has its 100th chess Grandmaster. IM Anuj Shrivatri of Madhya Pradesh won the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship in Misamis Occidental, the Philippines, on Sunday. The title win made him a Grandmaster. He is 22 and the first GM from his state.

He did it the hard way. Shrivatri lost his first game and then climbed the table, winning his last two rounds to finish first. Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Hoa was second. India’s Viani Antonio Dcunha finished in the top four.

The number tells a longer story. Viswanathan Anand became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988. India had about 25 at the end of 2011. In 2022 Anand hoped the country would have 75 in its 75th year of independence. Four years on it has 100. The last five titles, from the 96th to the 100th, came in about five months. The four before Shrivatri went to Ethan Vaz, Harshvardhan GB, S Ashwath and VS Rathnavel.

This is विजय Vijay, and it was built. Credit to Shrivatri for the result. Credit to Anand, who showed a generation it could be done. Credit to the coaches, parents, state associations and organisers who run open tournaments where norms can be earned. A first GM from Madhya Pradesh shows the talent base is spreading beyond the old centres.

What a founder takes from it: One Grandmaster in 1988. One hundred in 2026. That is what happens when a country builds a pipeline instead of waiting for a prodigy. The same method works for any field India wants to lead.