Aswath S Becomes India's 98th Chess Grandmaster

• 09 Jul 2026

On 8th July 2026, 17-year-old Aswath S from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, became India's 98th Chess Grandmaster.

• He secured his final Grandmaster (GM) norm at the 2026 Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin tournament.
• In the final round, Aswath defeated USA's Kannan Vaidyanathan with the black pieces to complete the requirements for the Grandmaster title.
• Aswath earned his first GM norm at the Grenke Open 2025 and his second at the First Saturday GM Round Robin in Budapest in December 2025.