Rahul V.S. became India’s 91st Grandmaster by winning the 6th ASEAN Individual Championship with one round remaining.
- In chess, Rahul V.S. became India’s 91st Grandmaster by winning the 6th ASEAN Individual Championship with one round remaining.
- Earlier, in November 2021, he earned the title of International Master after achieving his fourth and fifth International Master (IM) norms and crossing the 2400 live rating mark. The 21-year-old is also an Asian Junior Champion.
About the Grandmaster title
- Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve. It is awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE, whose French acronym is Fédération Internationale des Échecs), the global governing body based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
- In the hierarchy of chess titles, which include International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM), and their women-specific equivalents (WGM, WIM, WFM, WCM), the Grandmaster title is considered the most prestigious and challenging to attain.
- To achieve a GM norm, a player must perform at a high level and achieve a tournament performance rating (TPR) of at least 2600.
- Ultimately, to obtain the full GM title, one must achieve three such norms in at least 27 games, along with attaining a FIDE rating of 2500 at some point.
Chennai’s 16-year-old Ilamparthi A.R. became India’s 90th Chess Grandmaster
- Tamil Nadu’s 16-year-old chess player Ilamparthi A.R. became India’s 90th Grandmaster after securing his final Grandmaster norm at the Bijeljina Open in Bosnia.
- Ilamparthi earned his first GM norm in December 2023 at the Hanoi Tournament in Vietnam, followed by his second GM norm in 2024 at the Singapore International Open.
- He then crossed the 2500 Elo rating mark during the Rilton Cup (2024–25), and his final norm in Bosnia confirmed his Grandmaster title—the highest title in chess.
India’s recent major chess Grandmasters
- First Viswanathan Anand 1988
- 80 Vignesh N.R. Tamil Nadu
- 81 Sayantan Das West Bengal
- 82 Pranith Vuppala Telangana
- 83 Aditya Samant Maharashtra
- 84 Rameshbabu Vaishali Tamil Nadu
- 85 Shyam Nikhil P. Tamil Nadu
- 86 Srihari L.R. Tamil Nadu
- 87 Harikrishnan A.Ra. Tamil Nadu
- 88 Divya Deshmukh Maharashtra
- 89 S. Rohit Krishna Tamil Nadu
- 90 Ilamparthi A.R. Tamil Nadu
Sheetal Devi became the first Indian para-archer to join the able-bodied national team
- 18-year-old para-archer Sheetal Devi from Jammu and Kashmir has broken all barriers by becoming India’s first para-athlete to be selected in the able-bodied national archery team.
- She will represent India at the Asia Cup 2025 to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this December, where she will compete in the compound women’s team category.
- Selection trials for India’s compound archery team were held from November 3 to 6, 2025, at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence, Sonipat. Sheetal Devi qualified in third place with 703 points.
- Sheetal Devi was born with a rare congenital condition called Phocomelia, which causes the absence of arms. Despite this challenge, she has redefined athletic excellence by shooting arrows using her legs and shoulders.
- At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Sheetal, who won a bronze medal in the mixed team compound event, took inspiration from Turkey’s Paralympic champion Oznur Cür Girdi, who also competes in able-bodied events globally.
Major achievements
- 2023 Asian Para Games: 2 Gold Medals
- 2023 World Archery Championships: Silver Medal
- 2024 Paris Paralympics (Mixed Team): Bronze Medal at the age of 17, became India’s youngest Paralympic medalist
- 2025 World Archery Para Championships, Gwangju: Gold Medal in the Individual Event.
