Aswath S, a 17-year-old from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, has become India's 98th Grandmaster (GM). He attained this title by finishing as the runner-up at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament held in Pune, Maharashtra.
Aswath S, a 17-year-old from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, has become India's 98th Grandmaster (GM). He attained this title by finishing as the runner-up at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament held in Pune, Maharashtra.
Ethan Vaz from Goa has become India's 96th Chess Grandmaster (GM) after securing his final GM norm at the Sarajevo GM Mix Tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Harshavardhan GB from Chennai has become India's 97th GM after earning his final GM norm at the 2nd Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament held in Chennai.
Viswanathan Anand has been conferred the Sports Journalists' Federation of India (SJFI) Gold Medal in recognition of his exceptional contribution to Indian chess and outstanding achievements in the sport.
The award was presented by former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth at the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) in Chennai.
Savitha Baskar, a 19-year-old Indian International Master (IM), has won the gold medal on tie-breaks at the Women’s Asian Individual Chess Championship 2026, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan secured the silver medal, while Song Yuxin of China claimed the bronze. In the Open section of the championship, Kong Xiangrui of China won the gold medal.
Swara Lakshmi Nair, a chess player from Bengaluru has secured the Woman International Master (WIM) title. She achieved this milestone at the Ptuj International Masters tournament held in Slovenia.
It is to be noted that she is the first WIM from Bengaluru and the second WIM from Karnataka, following Isha Sharma who achieved the title in 2019.
Bharat Singh Chauhan has been re-elected as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Chess Association (CCA) for the 2026–2030 term. The re-election took place during the Annual General Body Meeting of the organization held in Wasakaduwa, Sri Lanka.
It is to be noted that the CCA has announced the launch of a new tournament, the “Commonwealth School Chess Championship”, with its inaugural edition scheduled to be hosted in Malaysia in October 2026.
Faustino Oro, an Argentina-born chess prodigy known as the “Messi of Chess”, has become the second-youngest Grandmaster (GM) in history. He attained the title at the age of 12 years, 6 months, and 26 days after securing his third and final GM norm at the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 in Italy.
He is the 7th player in the history of the sport to earn the GM title before the age of 13. It is to be noted that Abhimanyu Mishra of the USA currently holds the record for being the youngest-ever GM.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has officially joined the International World Games Association (IWGA) as its 40th member. The announcement was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM 2026) held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Aronyak Ghosh from Kolkata becomes the 95th Grandmaster (GM) of India. He secured his third and final GM norm at the 23rd Bangkok Chess Club (BCC) Open 2026, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand.
R Vaishali, an Indian Grandmaster (GM), becomes the first Indian woman to win the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026.
She defeated Kateryna Lagno (Russia) in the final round of the tournament held in Pegeia, Cyprus. It is to be noted that Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan has won the Open Section of the Candidates Tournament.