Aswath S Becomes India's 98th Chess Grandmaster

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.