Vaishali Rameshbabu in 2023 became the 84th Grand Master from India, also the 3rd Indian Women to be in that list.
Grandmaster (GM) is awarded to Chess Players based on certain criteria’s by FIDE (World Chess Organisation). Grandmaster is the highest recognition a chess player can receive apart from the World Champion title. The Best part is once received it stays for a life time unless found cheating.
As of December 2023, India boasts 84 Grandmasters (GM), including 3 females, and 136 International Masters (IM), with 9 female players holding the title. The country also celebrates 18 Woman Grandmasters (WGM) and 43 Woman International Masters (WIM), contributing to a total of 33,028 rated players.
With 3,534 female players constituting 10.7% of total rated players, India has seen notable milestones in chess. Manuel Aaron, the pioneer, secured India’s first titled player status with the IM title in 1961. Viswanathan Anand added to the legacy, clinching India’s inaugural GM title in 1988.
Jayshree Khadilkar marked history in 1979 as the first Indian WIM, while Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi achieved the WGM title in 2001. Koneru Humpy made a groundbreaking move as India’s first woman GM in 2002, and the same year, Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi earned the IM title, contributing to India’s vibrant chess landscape.
Vaishali isn’t the first from her family to become the Grandmaster. R. Praggnanandhaa is her younger brother who also got the GM title in 2018, when he was just 12 only. The first GM titles were awarded to 27 players in 1950, and the qualifications to become a GM have changed throughout the years. FIDE currently awards the title of GM to a player who achieves 2500 FIDE classical (or ‘standard’) rating and three GM norms. Each GM norm is extremely difficult to attain, and there are many rules for what constitutes a norm.
India’s chess arena shines bright with 84 Grandmasters (GM), featuring three remarkable female titleholders. Among the 136 International Masters (IM), nine are talented women, accompanied by 18 Woman Grandmasters (WGM) and 43 women International Masters (WIM). The chess community boasts a robust 33,028 rated players, with 3,534 being formidable female participants, constituting 10.7% of India’s vibrant chess mosaic.
In the chess chronicles, Manuel Aaron scripted history as India’s inaugural titled player, claiming the International Master (IM) title in 1961. The chess narrative gained another star in 1988 when Viswanathan Anand proudly donned the mantle of India’s first Grandmaster. Paving the way for women in chess, Jayshree Khadilkar etched her name as the first WIM in 1979, while Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi soared to new heights as the first WGM in 2001.
Adding to these triumphs, Koneru Humpy embraced the title of India’s first woman Grandmaster in 2002, joined by Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi, who clinched the IM title the same year. These milestones paint a vivid canvas of excellence, showcasing India’s rich chess tapestry and the inspiring journey of its chess luminaries.
List of Indian chess Grandmasters.
SL NO | NAME | STATE | YEAR |
1 | Vishwanath Anand | Tamil Nadu | 1987 |
2 | Dibyendu Barua | West Bengal | 1991 |
3 | Pravin Thipsay | Maharashtra | 1997 |
4 | Abhijit Kunte | Maharashtra | 2000 |
5 | K Sasikiran | Tamil Nadu | 2000 |
6 | P Harikrishna | Andhra Pradesh | 2001 |
7 | K Humpy | Andhra Pradesh | 2002 |
8 | Surya Sekhar Ganguly | West Bengal | 2003 |
9 | Sandipan Chanda | West Bengal | 2003 |
10 | R B Ramesh | Tamil Nadu | 2004 |
11 | Tejas Bakre | Gujarat | 2004 |
12 | P Magesh Chandran | Tamil Nadu | 2006 |
13 | Deepan Chakravarthy | Tamil Nadu | 2006 |
14 | Neelotpal Das | West Bengal | 2006 |
15 | Parimarjan Negi | Delhi | 2006 |
16 | G N Gopal | Kerala | 2007 |
17 | Abhijeet Gupta | Rajasthan | 2008 |
18 | S Arun Prasad | Tamil Nadu | 2008 |
19 | S Kidambi | Tamil Nadu | 2009 |
20 | R R Laxman | Tamil Nadu | 2009 |
21 | Sriram Jha | Delhi | 2010 |
22 | Deep Sengupta | West Bengal | 2010 |
23 | B Adhiban | Tamil Nadu | 2010 |
24 | S P Sethuraman | Tamil Nadu | 2011 |
25 | Harika D | Andhra Pradesh | 2011 |
26 | Lalith Babu M R | Andhra Pradesh | 2012 |
27 | Vaibhav Suri | Delhi | 2012 |
28 | M R Venkatesh | Tamil Nadu | 2012 |
29 | Sahaj Grover | Delhi | 2012 |
30 | Vidit Gujrathi | Maharashtra | 2013 |
31 | Shyam Sundar M | Tamil Nadu | 2013 |
32 | Akhshayraj Kore | Maharashtra | 2013 |
33 | Vishnu Prasanna | Tamil Nadu | 2013 |
34 | Debashis Das | Odisha | 2013 |
35 | Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury | West Bengal | 2013 |
36 | Ankit Rajpara | Gujarat | 2014 |
37 | Aravindh Chithambaram | Tamil Nadu | 2015 |
38 | Karthikeyan Murali | Tamil Nadu | 2015 |
39 | Ashwin Jayaram | Tamil Nadu | 2015 |
40 | Swapnil S Dhopade | Maharashtra | 2015 |
41 | S L Narayanan | Kerala | 2015 |
42 | Shardul Gagare | Maharashtra | 2016 |
43 | Diptayan Ghosh | West Bengal | 2016 |
44 | Priyadarshan K | Tamil Nadu | 2016 |
45 | Aryan Chopra | Delhi | 2017 |
46 | Srinath Narayanan | Tamil Nadu | 2017 |
47 | Himanshu Sharma | Haryana | 2017 |
48 | Anurag Mhamal | Goa | 2017 |
49 | Abhimanyu Puranik | Maharashtra | 2017 |
50 | Thej Kumar M S | Karnataka | 2017 |
51 | Saptarshi Roy | West Bengal | 2018 |
52 | R Praggnanandhaa | Tamil Nadu | 2018 |
53 | Nihal Sarin | Kerala | 2018 |
54 | Erigaisi Arjun | Telangana | 2018 |
55 | Karthik Venkataraman | Telangana | 2018 |
56 | Harsha Bharathakoti | Telangana | 2018 |
57 | P Karthikeyan | Tamil Nadu | 2018 |
58 | Stany George Anthony | Karnataka | 2018 |
59 | Visakh N R | Tamil Nadu | 2019 |
60 | Dommaraju Gukesh | Tamil Nadu | 2019 |
61 | Panneerselvam Iniyan | Tamil Nadu | 2019 |
62 | Swayams Mishra | Odisha | 2019 |
63 | Girish Koushik | Karnataka | 2019 |
64 | Prithu Gupta | Delhi | 2019 |
65 | Raunak Sadhwani | Maharashtra | 2019 |
66 | Akash Ganesan | Tamil Nadu | 2020 |
67 | Leon Mendonca | Goa | 2020 |
68 | Arjun Kalyan | Tamil Nadu | 2021 |
69 | Harshit Raja | Maharashtra | 2021 |
70 | Raja Rithvik | Telangana | 2021 |
71 | Sankalp Gupta | Maharashtra | 2021 |
72 | Mitrabha Guha | West Bengal | 2021 |
73 | Bharath Subramaniyam | Tamil Nadu | 2022 |
74 | Rahul Srivatshav P | Telangana | 2022 |
75 | V Pranav | Tamil Nadu | 2022 |
76 | Pranav Anand | Karnatka | 2022 |
77 | Aditya Mittal | Maharashtra | 2022 |
78 | Koustav Chatterjee | West Bengal | 2023 |
79 | Pranesh M | Tamil Nadu | 2023 |
80 | Vignesh N R | Tamil Nadu | 2023 |
81 | Sayantan Das | West Bengal | 2023 |
82 | Vuppala Prraneeth | Telengana | 2023 |
83 | Aditya Samant | Maharashtra | 2023 |
84 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | Tamil Nadu | 2023 |
India’s rapid rise in Chess is a good way towards the future.