Another Feather! Ilamparthi Becomes India's 90th Chess Grandmaster

The Cradle of Indian Chess, Chennai, has managed to produce yet another Grandmaster as a 16-year-old Ilamparthi become the nation’s 90th Grandmaster.

Ilamparthi earned the prestigious norm following his shwoing at the Bijeljina Open Chess Tournament held in Bosnia and Herzegovina as he surpassed the 2500 points in the International Chess Federation rankings.

Legendary Viswanathan Anand expressed his delight with the teenager’s accomplishment and took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter to laud the youngster.

“Happy to announce Illamparthi as a GM illamparthi! As part of @WacaChess we couldn’t have been prouder," the 55-year-old said.

“He has been missing the title on a few occasions but each time he came back and worked harder . I really believe he has a lot of potential and we hope to work together towards greater achievements," the five-time World Champion added.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr. MK Stalin lauded the youngster with a post that read, “Tamil Nadu’s 35th Grandmaster Ilamparthi makes our reign on the 64 squares shine brighter!  He battles through brilliance to script history, earning his title and adding another jewel to Tamil Nadu’s crown of champions. As the sun rises higher on Tamil Nadu chess, the DravidianModel will keep turning every promising move into a masterstroke. More TN GMs in the making!"

The teenage sensation is also the the 35th GM to come out of the Capital City of Tamil Nadu that has produced some of the world’s finest players including World Champion D Gukesh, R Pragg in addition to Anand himself.

October 30, 2025, 23:59 IST

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