Anuj Shrivatri Becomes India's 100th Chess Grandmaster

Anuj Shrivatri became India's 100th chess Grandmaster on Sunday, November 8, 2026. The 22-year-old from Madhya Pradesh won the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Championship in Ozamiz City, Philippines, and the tournament win secured him the Grandmaster title directly.

Shrivatri is the first Grandmaster from Madhya Pradesh. He follows S. Aswath, India's 98th Grandmaster, and V.S. Rathanvel, the 99th, and he is the ninth Indian to earn the title in 2026.

A lost opener, then seven points

Shrivatri lost his opening game of the championship. He then scored seven points from his remaining eight games, a run that carried him to the top of the standings and to the title.

He finished with seven points from nine rounds. Vietnam's Nguyen Duc Hoa took second place on 6.5 points, half a point behind, and the Philippines' Nouri Alekhine finished third on six points. The championship was played at the Asenso Global Youth Leadership and Sports Complex in Misamis Occidental.

A direct route to the title

The tournament win secured Shrivatri the Grandmaster title directly, under FIDE-approved conditions. That route differs from the conventional path to the title, which requires three Grandmaster norms over at least 27 games and a rating of 2,500.

Viswanathan Anand became India's first Grandmaster in 1988. India has now reached 100 Grandmasters, 38 years later, and Anand congratulated Shrivatri on Sunday.

Nitin Narang, president of the All India Chess Federation, marked the milestone in a post on X. "GRANDMASTER No100 FOR BHARAT! India achieves a historic milestone as Anuj Shrivatri becomes the country's 100th Grandmaster by winning the 7th ASEAN+ Individual Chess Championships 2026 in Ozamiz City, Philippines, securing the direct GM title," he wrote.

From software work to full-time chess

Shrivatri holds a BTech degree in computer science, specialising in artificial intelligence and machine learning, from Lovely Professional University. He worked as a software engineer before choosing chess full time.

That choice has now put his name on a list that started with Anand in 1988 and reached three figures in Ozamiz City on Sunday. For Madhya Pradesh, a state that had never produced a Grandmaster before, Shrivatri is the first.

The numbers behind the milestone show how fast Indian chess is now moving. Shrivatri is the ninth Indian to earn the title in 2026 alone, and he completes a quick sequence at the top of the list, following Aswath at 98 and Rathanvel at 99. A century of Grandmasters has taken 38 years, and the latest name on the list arrived by winning a tournament outright, after losing his first game of the week.