Anuj Shrivatri Becomes India’s 100th Chess Grandmaster in Ozamiz City

Anuj Shrivatri became India’s 100th chess Grandmaster on 8 November 2026 after winning the 7th ASEAN Individual Open Championship in Ozamiz City, the Philippines. The 22 year old from Madhya Pradesh scored seven points in nine rounds to earn a Grandmaster title. He is the first Grandmaster from Madhya Pradesh.

What Is a Grandmaster in Chess?

The Grandmaster (GM) is the highest playing title in chess, awarded by FIDE. FIDE stands for Federation Internationale des Echecs, the International Chess Federation. It was founded in 1924 in Paris and is now headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A player usually becomes a Grandmaster by reaching a FIDE standard rating of 2500 and earning three GM norms. A GM norm is a high level performance in a single FIDE rated tournament. The performance rating for a norm must be at least 2600 over nine or more games. The opponents must have an average rating of at least 2380 and must include players from at least two other federations, with at least half of them holding titles and at least three of them already Grandmasters. Norms from events covering at least 27 games are combined for the final application, which is filed by the national federation and approved by FIDE.

A Grandmaster title can also be awarded directly without three norms. Winners of select events, such as a continental individual championship, receive a direct title if they have a published rating above 2300 and meet participation conditions. Anuj Shrivatri earned his title through this direct route at the ASEAN event.

How Anuj Shrivatri Won the ASEAN Title in Ozamiz

The 7th ASEAN Individual Open Chess Championship was played in Ozamiz City, the Philippines, at the Asenso Global Youth Leadership and Sports Complex in Misamis Occidental. The final round was held on 8 November 2026, which coincided with Diwali in India. The event is also listed as the ASEAN Plus Individual Open and carried the Governor Henry S. Oaminal Cup.

Anuj Shrivatri entered as the fourth seed with a FIDE rating of 2450. Vietnam’s Nguyen Quoc Hy, rated 2474, was the top seed. Anuj lost his opening game to home player Arca Karlo. He then went unbeaten in the remaining eight rounds with six wins and two draws.

He won his last two games under pressure to finish alone in first place with seven points from nine rounds. His final round win came against Australia’s James Morris. Vietnam’s Grandmaster Nguyen Duc Hoa finished second with 6.5 points. Anuj received $3,000 in prize money.

The tournament qualified to award a direct Grandmaster title because it met FIDE participation rules, including at least four Grandmasters and six International Masters in every round. Anuj’s tournament performance rating was 2586. This was below the 2600 level needed for a standard GM norm, but it did not matter because the winner of the event earns the title directly. He is expected to gain about 15 rating points from the result. His peak published rating before the event was 2483 in June 2026.

Who Is Anuj Shrivatri, India’s 100th Grandmaster?

Anuj Shrivatri is a 22 year old player from Katni in Madhya Pradesh. He learned chess at the age of seven with his elder brother. His first coach was Birendra Kumar Tiwari in Katni. He later trained with Niklesh Jain and Yashpal Arora, and also received coaching in Jabalpur from Rajesh Bahadur.

Anuj became an International Master (IM) in 2020 at the age of 15. He was then the youngest International Master from Madhya Pradesh. An International Master is the title one level below Grandmaster and requires a rating of 2400 with three IM norms.

Away from the board, Anuj was a school topper. He completed a BTech at Lovely Professional University with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. He then worked as a software engineer with a German firm from home. He later gave up the chance to move to Germany to focus fully on chess.

The road to the Grandmaster title was long. He entered the ASEAN event with only one GM norm, earned in Budapest in November 2025. He has said that he missed a GM norm by a narrow margin on four or five occasions. The win in the Philippines ended a wait of about six years since he became an International Master. The All India Chess Federation (AICF), founded in 1951 and headquartered in New Delhi, called the result a historic milestone for Indian chess.

How Many Grandmasters Are There in India?

India now has 100 chess Grandmasters. India is the fourth federation to reach this mark after Russia, the United States and Germany. FIDE lists about 1,900 Grandmasters worldwide on its monthly rating list, while more than 2,000 players have received the title in total.

The final push to the century came quickly. India added its 96th to 100th Grandmasters between July and November 2026.

V S Rathanvel, aged 25 and born in Coimbatore, had finished his three GM norms in 2022. He secured the 99th spot in 2026 after crossing the 2500 rating mark. His success left India one short of the century, which Anuj completed within months.

Why Does Tamil Nadu Lead With 39 Grandmasters?

Tamil Nadu has the highest number of chess Grandmasters in India with 39. Maharashtra is next with 14, followed by West Bengal with 12. These three states together account for 65 percent of India’s 100 Grandmasters. Grandmasters are now spread across 14 states.

Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha and Goa have also produced multiple Grandmasters. Assam and Haryana have one each. Madhya Pradesh joined this list with Anuj Shrivatri.

Tamil Nadu’s lead began with Viswanathan Anand from Chennai. His success made chess popular in schools across the state. Schools such as Velammal in Chennai built training and travel support around students. Private academies run by Grandmasters created local access to elite coaching. The state association also holds regular closed norm tournaments to help players earn International Master and Grandmaster norms without travelling abroad.

From Viswanathan Anand to 100 Grandmasters: India’s Chess Journey

India’s Grandmaster journey began with Viswanathan Anand. Anand won the World Junior Championship in Baguio City in the Philippines in 1987. He earned his third and final GM norm at the Sakthi Finance tournament in Coimbatore in December 1987. FIDE awarded him the title in 1988, making him India’s first Grandmaster. Anand later won the World Championship five times.

Progress was slow at first. Dibyendu Barua became India’s second Grandmaster in 1991. Praveen Thipsay became the third in 1997. India had 32 Grandmasters by 2013 and reached 50 in 2017. The next 50 came in less than nine years, with ten added in 2026 alone.

The middle years produced national icons. Koneru Humpy became India’s first woman to earn the open Grandmaster title in 2002. Vidit Gujrathi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Arjun Erigaisi carried India into the world top ten. D Gukesh became a Grandmaster in 2019 and later became the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion. Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh joined the open Grandmaster list in 2024 and 2025. Divya earned her title by winning the Women’s World Cup.

Anand’s first Grandmaster norm came in the Philippines in 1987. Nearly four decades later, Anuj sealed India’s 100th Grandmaster title in the same country.

Key Takeaways

• Anuj Shrivatri became India’s 100th Grandmaster on 8 November 2026 by winning the 7th ASEAN Individual Open Championship in Ozamiz City.
• Anuj is the first Grandmaster from Madhya Pradesh, while Tamil Nadu leads the state tally with 39 Grandmasters.
• Anuj scored seven points from nine rounds after an opening round loss and finished ahead of Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Hoa.
• A standard Grandmaster title needs a 2500 FIDE rating and three 2600 performance norms, while a direct title needs a rating above 2300.
• Viswanathan Anand became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988 after his final norm at the Sakthi Finance tournament in Coimbatore in 1987.