Anuj Shrivatri became India's 100th chess Grandmaster on Sunday, winning the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship in Ozamiz City, Philippines. The 22-year-old is also the first Grandmaster from Madhya Pradesh, Sportstar reported.
He lost his opening game, then scored seven points from the remaining eight rounds, winning his last two to finish half a point ahead of Vietnam's Nguyen Duc Hoa. The tournament win earned him the GM title directly.
"A cracker of a 100"
Viswanathan Anand, India's first Grandmaster, congratulated him on X. "Happy Diwali. A cracker of a 100. Congrats to @AnujShrivatri on getting India to this milestone," he wrote, adding that December 2027 will mark 40 years since his own GM title, The Tribune reported, carrying ANI.
All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang called it a historic milestone: "Onwards to 200 Grandmasters."
The road from Katni
Anuj's first lessons came around 2010 in Katni, from coach Birendra Kumar Tiwari, who chose which children he would teach, Sportstar reported. Tiwari died in 2012. Anuj was later coached by Yashpal Arora, Rajesh Bahadur, International Master Anup Deshmukh and FIDE instructor Niklesh Jain.
He finished fourth in the under-14 section at the 2017 World Youth Championship and became an International Master in 2020. He then completed a B.Tech in computer science and took a job with a German company, which he left in 2024 to focus on chess.
Why it matters
India's Grandmaster count has climbed fast: Ethan Vaz, Harshvardhan GB, S. Ashwath and V. Rathnavel became GMs No. 96 to 99 between July and November, The Bridge reported, before Anuj made it 100. Anand completed his final norm in December 1987, Sportstar noted, which means India took close to four decades to reach the mark.