Anuj Shrivatri Becomes India's 100th Grandmaster

Anuj Shrivatri Becomes India's 100th Grandmaster

Indian chess reached a milestone on Sunday as IM Anuj Shrivatri became the country's 100th grandmaster by winning the 7th ASEAN+ Open Chess Championship in the Philippines. The 22-year-old recovered from an opening-round defeat to finish alone in first place with 7/9.

His achievement comes 38 years after GM Viswanathan Anand earned his title to become India's first grandmaster in 1988, before going on to win five world championship titles and cement a place as India's greatest player ever.

FIDE's November list currently includes 97 Indian grandmasters, but IM Ethan Vaz, IM Rathanvel V S, in addition to Anuj, are awaiting formal confirmation of their GM titles.

India ranks fourth among federations by total grandmasters, behind Russia, the United States, and Germany. It could overtake Germany in 2027 if its recent pace of producing new GMs continues. Among active grandmasters, India already shares the lead with Russia and Germany on 74.

# Federation GMs Active GMs 1 Russia 184 74 2 United States 115 73 3 Germany 103 74 4 India 97 74 5 Ukraine 85 51 6 France 60 51 7 Spain 60 45 8 Serbia 58 52 9 China 57 38 10 Poland 56 47 11 Hungary 53 37 12 Israel 51 43 13 England 44 32 14 Netherlands 43 32 15 Armenia 39 23 16 Czech Republic 34 25 17 Bulgaria 32 19 18 Croatia 31 23 19 Georgia 31 20 20 Azerbaijan 29 18

Numbers from the November 2026 FIDE rating list. Pending GM titles are excluded.

Here are some statistics about India's grandmasters:

Mean age for all GMs: 31.3. Median age for all GMs: 29.4.

Mean age for active GMs: 29.4. Median age for active GMs: 26.7.

Youngest: GM-elect Ethan Vaz (15.2 years). Oldest: GM Praveen Thipsay (67).

Eight GMs are under 20, 30 are under 25, 29 are 30 or older; 12 are 40+.

36 of the 74 were born in 2000 or later, versus 17 born before 1990.

For Anuj, the victory in the Philippines brings a rewarding end to his title chase as he entered the tournament with just one GM norm from Budapest last November, hoping to score the second one. However, the ASEAN+ championship is one of the few events where the winner is awarded a GM title directly, regardless of having enough norms or meeting the 2500 rating requirement.

"It feels very good to become a GM and that too being (India’s) 100th is also special," he told The Hindu.

"Also I feel relieved now since I was trying for GM title since last one year, and it’s really great to see hard work pay off," he added.

Few people know Indian chess better than IM Sagar Shah, the co-founder of ChessBase India, who has documented the journeys of an incredible generation of rising stars, such as GMs Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, and many more.

In the nearly 11 years since he launched ChessBase India with his wife, WIM Amruta Mokal, India has added around 60 grandmasters. "I think it's an amazing moment for Indian chess! I am very thrilled to see the growth and us reaching 100 GMs,” he told Chess.com.

I think it's an amazing moment for Indian chess!

—Sagar Shah

"The most amazing thing about this entire feat is that every single GM of India is alive, which just goes to show how young this achievement is," he added.

India's greatest player ever also celebrated the achievement, which coincided with Diwali.

Happy Diwali. A cracker of a 100. Congrats to @AnujShrivatri on getting India to this milestone. Funnily only today I was thinking December 2027 will be the 40th anniversary of my GM title and literally this manifested....@FIDE_chess @aicfchess — Viswanathan Anand ( @vishy64theking ) November 8, 2026

India's prime minister Narendra Modi shared the excitement with his 107 million followers.

India has hit a century in chess! Exceptional isn’t it? India is now home to a hundred chess Grandmasters! Congratulations to Anuj Shrivatri on becoming India’s 100th Chess Grandmaster! What a wonderful achievement it is. India reaching 100 Grandmasters is a remarkable milestone that reflects the immense talent, dedication and hard work of our players as well as the growing popularity of chess among our youth. It is particularly heartening to see young chess talents emerging from different parts of the country and making their mark on the global stage. May this achievement inspire many more youngsters to take up chess and pursue excellence. — Narendra Modi ( @narendramodi ) November 10, 2026

For Shah, the next generation is another reason for excitement. "What I am really excited for is the next wave of talents that are coming out from Indian chess," he said.

The ChessBase India co-founder pointed to the recent 1st Chola Chess Open International Grandmasters that concluded in Chennai on Saturday, where nine players earned title norms, including seven IM norms. Among them was 10-year-old FM Sarbartho Mani, who became the sixth youngest player to ever achieve an IM norm.

10-year-old Sarbartho Mani is another Indian prodigy. Photo: Chola Chess.

Shah believes India could double its grandmaster tally within the next decade. "I think it might not be an overstatement that India could reach the 200 GMs mark by 2035," he said.

Shortly after, Shah corrected himself and said: "2035 might be a bit too long. 200 GMs in 2032!"

For Anuj, meanwhile, the milestone followed a comeback in the Philippines. He was seeded fourth in the event with 2450, behind Vietnamese IM Nguyen Quoc Hy (2474). After his opening loss, he went undefeated to score six wins and two draws.

Victories in the final two rounds secured first place, half a point ahead of GM Duc Hoa Nguyen from Vietnam. Filipino FM Alekhine Nouri finished third on tiebreak with 6/9.

Anuj's final-round win against IM James Morris from Australia clinched him the tournament and the GM title.

The title comes six years after earning the IM title as a 15-year-old in 2020. In an interview with ChessBase India that year, Anuj said he had learned chess at seven and was working mostly on his own, having previously trained with several coaches.

Speaking to The Indian Express after earning the GM title, Anuj, who had been a software engineer with a German firm, said he quit the job in order to pursue chess full time. His parents, both teachers, said they committed much of their savings to supporting his chess development.

"You need to focus at least eight to nine hours on your chess if you want to chase success in the sport. Juggling that and a software engineering job was not possible," his father, Ashok, told the newspaper.

India's newest grandmaster already has the next target set. Speaking to The Times of India, Anuj said: "I want to cross a 2600 rating, and I want to win as many tournaments as I can."