In Chess, Raahul VS became India’s 91st Grandmaster after winning the 6th ASEAN Individual Championship with a round to spare. He had previously earned the International Master title in November 2021, after securing his fourth and fifth International Master (IM) norms and crossing a 2400 live rating.

 

 

A week earlier, Illamparthi AR from Chennai became India’s 90th Grandmaster, achieving his final norm at the Bijeljina Open 2025 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before him, S Rohith Krishna became the 89th Grandmaster in August after scoring 6 out of 9 at the Almaty Masters Qonaev Cup in Kazakhstan and surpassing the 2500 Elo ratings mark.

The Grandmaster (GM) title is the highest chess ranking, awarded by FIDE. It is above IM, FIDE Master (FM), and Candidate Master (CM).