Aswath S becomes India's 98th Grandmaster, 17-year-old secures third GM norm with win over FM Vaidyanathan

India is closing in on getting its 100th Grandmaster after Aswath S became the country's 98th Grandmaster. On Wednesday, the 17-year-old scored his final GM norm at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin event.

India’s chess boom has been remarkable, highlighted by R Praggnanandhaa’s Norway Chess triumph in 2026, R Vaishali’s victory at the FIDE Candidates, and D Gukesh’s reign as defending world champion -- a surge that has inspired a new generation of players across the country.

Who is Aswath S?

Born in 2008, Aswath S is an Indian chess player from Kanyakumari. He became the country's newest Grandmaster just weeks after Harshavardhan G.B. became India's 97th GM. He was introduced to chess at a young age in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, where his father, AC Siva, was a full-time coach and ran the Cape Chess Academy.

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Aswath's mother, Sheela, also teaches beginner students at the academy, and his elder sister also competed in chess.

“I started playing chess when I was three years old, and my coach was my father. At that age, I used to roam around the academy saying the chess pieces’ names. Then I started playing and entered a tournament at the age of four," Aswath said, as quoted by TOI.

One of the young kids' biggest highlights was winning the Tamil Nadu Under-7 State Championship, securing a perfect 9/9 score, and the victory fueled his motivation to continue pursuing the game.

Aswath won his first GM norm at last year's Grenke Open after scoring 8/9 and also earned his 2500 rating mark. He went on to earn his second GM norm at the First Saturday GM Round Robin in December with 7/9.

How did Aswath win his final GM norm?

The 17-year-old earned his third and final GM norm at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament after defeating USA FM Kannan Vaidyanathan with black pieces in the final round.

Aswath started with a defeat to GM Abhijeet Gupta but turned the tables with a remarkable performance to finish second in the tournament, scoring 7/9 after picking up six wins, two draws and a loss.

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“I just wanted to keep everything as simple as I can,” Aswath said to Sportstar.

Aswath currently undergoes training under GM Shyam Sundar, and his immediate target is to breach the 2600 Elo rating mark, then 2700, and eventually 2800.