becomes India's 85th Chess
Grandmaster
Tamil Nadu's P Shyamnikhil has
etched his name in the annals of
Indian chess history by becoming
the country's 85th Grandmaster
(GM). R Vaishali is the 84th Indian
GM.
The 31-year-old chess player who
started his journey at the age of
eight has finally achieved the
coveted third and final GM norm at
the prestigious 2024 Dubai Police
Masters Chess Tournament.
Before the start of the Dubai event,
Shyamnikhil needed just one win
and eight draws to clinch the
coveted GM title. He had
accumulated the required 2500 ELO
rating points and achieved two GM
benchmarks in 2012.
Born in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu in
1992, Shyamnikhil won the
International Master (IM) title in
2011 and achieved his first GM
norm at the Mumbai Mayor's Cup
in the same year.
The Grandmaster and International
Master titles are among the
highest awards in the chess world,
awarded by the respected World
Chess Federation (FIDE). To become
a GM, a male player must earn at
least a 2500 FIDE Elo rating and
attain three Grandmaster norms in
international competitions, while
women must attain a 2300 Elo
rating and three Female
Grandmaster norms.
Manuel Aron was the first Indian
chess player to receive the
International Master title in 1961.
Jayshree Khadikar was the first
Indian woman to receive the
Women's International Master in
1979.
In 1988, the country's first
Vishwanathan Anand and the first
Indian woman Koneru Humpy are
Grandmasters. Koneru Humpy is
also the youngest female player in
the world to become a female GM
at the age of 15. There are three
women GMs – Hampi, Dronavalli
Harika and R Vaishali.
