List of Indian Chess Grandmasters
India has emerged as one of the strongest chess-playing nations in the world. What began with Viswanathan Anand becoming India’s first Grandmaster in 1988 has developed into a remarkable chess movement, producing champions, Olympiad stars and a new generation of elite players.
The growth has been particularly rapid in recent years. Players such as D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Vidit Gujrathi, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh have helped put Indian chess firmly in the global spotlight.
As of July 2026, India had produced 99 Grandmasters, with V. S. Rathanvel becoming the country’s 99th GM after crossing the 2500 FIDE rating mark at the Guwahati Smart City International Open. He had already completed the required GM norms in 2022, making the rating milestone the final step in his journey.
India’s First Chess Grandmaster
Viswanathan Anand became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988. His achievement was a landmark moment for Indian chess and laid the foundation for the country’s transformation into a major international chess power.
Anand later became a five-time World Chess Champion and inspired generations of Indian players to take up competitive chess.
Complete List of Indian Chess Grandmasters
The following list presents India’s Grandmasters in chronological order, along with the year in which they achieved the title and their state association.
| No. | Grandmaster | Title Year | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viswanathan Anand | 1988 | Tamil Nadu |
| 2 | Dibyendu Barua | 1991 | West Bengal |
| 3 | Praveen Thipsay | 1997 | Maharashtra |
| 4 | Abhijit Kunte | 2000 | Maharashtra |
| 5 | Krishnan Sasikiran | 2000 | Tamil Nadu |
| 6 | Pentala Harikrishna | 2001 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 7 | Koneru Humpy | 2002 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 8 | Surya Shekhar Ganguly | 2003 | West Bengal |
| 9 | Sandipan Chanda | 2003 | West Bengal |
| 10 | Ramachandran Ramesh | 2004 | Tamil Nadu |
| 11 | Tejas Bakre | 2004 | Gujarat |
| 12 | Magesh Chandran Panchanathan | 2006 | Tamil Nadu |
| 13 | J. Deepan Chakkravarthy | 2006 | Tamil Nadu |
| 14 | Neelotpal Das | 2006 | West Bengal |
| 15 | Parimarjan Negi | 2006 | Delhi |
| 16 | Geetha Narayanan Gopal | 2007 | Kerala |
| 17 | Abhijeet Gupta | 2008 | Delhi |
| 18 | Subramanian Arun Prasad | 2008 | Tamil Nadu |
| 19 | Sundararajan Kidambi | 2009 | Tamil Nadu |
| 20 | R. R. Laxman | 2009 | Tamil Nadu |
| 21 | Sriram Jha | 2010 | Delhi |
| 22 | Deep Sengupta | 2010 | West Bengal |
| 23 | Baskaran Adhiban | 2010 | Tamil Nadu |
| 24 | S. P. Sethuraman | 2011 | Tamil Nadu |
| 25 | Harika Dronavalli | 2011 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 26 | M. R. Lalith Babu | 2012 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 27 | Vaibhav Suri | 2012 | Delhi |
| 28 | M. R. Venkatesh | 2012 | Tamil Nadu |
| 29 | Sahaj Grover | 2012 | Delhi |
| 30 | Vidit Gujrathi | 2013 | Maharashtra |
| 31 | M. Shyam Sundar | 2013 | Tamil Nadu |
| 32 | Akshayraj Kore | 2013 | Maharashtra |
| 33 | V. Vishnu Prasanna | 2013 | Tamil Nadu |
| 34 | Debashis Das | 2013 | Odisha |
| 35 | Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury | 2013 | West Bengal |
| 36 | Ankit Rajpara | 2014 | Gujarat |
| 37 | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2014 | Tamil Nadu |
| 38 | Karthikeyan Murali | 2015 | Tamil Nadu |
| 39 | Ashwin Jayaram | 2015 | Tamil Nadu |
| 40 | Swapnil Dhopade | 2015 | Maharashtra |
| 41 | S. L. Narayanan | 2015 | Kerala |
| 42 | Shardul Gagare | 2016 | Maharashtra |
| 43 | Diptayan Ghosh | 2016 | West Bengal |
| 44 | K. Priyadharshan | 2016 | Tamil Nadu |
| 45 | Aryan Chopra | 2016 | Delhi |
| 46 | Srinath Narayanan | 2017 | Tamil Nadu |
| 47 | Himanshu Sharma | 2017 | Haryana |
| 48 | Anurag Mhamal | 2017 | Goa |
| 49 | Abhimanyu Puranik | 2017 | Maharashtra |
| 50 | M. S. Thejkumar | 2017 | Karnataka |
| 51 | Saptarshi Roy | 2018 | West Bengal |
| 52 | R. Praggnanandhaa | 2018 | Tamil Nadu |
| 53 | Nihal Sarin | 2018 | Kerala |
| 54 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2018 | Telangana |
| 55 | Karthik Venkataraman | 2018 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 56 | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2018 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 57 | P. Karthikeyan | 2018 | Tamil Nadu |
| 58 | Stany G. A. | 2018 | Karnataka |
| 59 | N. R. Visakh | 2019 | Tamil Nadu |
| 60 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2019 | Tamil Nadu |
| 61 | P. Iniyan | 2019 | Tamil Nadu |
| 62 | Swayams Mishra | 2019 | Odisha |
| 63 | Girish A. Koushik | 2019 | Karnataka |
| 64 | Prithu Gupta | 2019 | Delhi |
| 65 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2019 | Maharashtra |
| 66 | G. Akash | 2020 | Tamil Nadu |
| 67 | Leon Luke Mendonca | 2021 | Goa |
| 68 | Arjun Kalyan | 2021 | Tamil Nadu |
| 69 | Harshit Raja | 2021 | Maharashtra |
| 70 | Raja Rithvik R. | 2021 | Telangana |
| 71 | Sankalp Gupta | 2021 | Maharashtra |
| 72 | Mitrabha Guha | 2021 | West Bengal |
| 73 | Bharath Subramaniyam | 2022 | Tamil Nadu |
| 74 | Rahul Srivatshav P. | 2022 | Telangana |
| 75 | Pranav V. | 2022 | Tamil Nadu |
| 76 | Pranav Anand | 2022 | Karnataka |
| 77 | Aditya Mittal | 2022 | Maharashtra |
| 78 | Koustav Chatterjee | 2023 | West Bengal |
| 79 | Pranesh M. | 2023 | Tamil Nadu |
| 80 | Vignesh N. R. | 2023 | Tamil Nadu |
| 81 | Sayantan Das | 2023 | West Bengal |
| 82 | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2023 | Telangana |
| 83 | Aditya Samant | 2023 | Maharashtra |
| 84 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2024 | Tamil Nadu |
| 85 | Shyaam Nikhil P. | 2024 | Tamil Nadu |
| 86 | Srihari L. R. | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 87 | Harikrishnan A. Ra | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 88 | Divya Deshmukh | 2025 | Maharashtra |
| 89 | Rohith Krishna S. | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 90 | Ilamparthi A. R. | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 91 | V. S. Raahul | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 92 | Aaryan Varshney | 2026 | Delhi |
| 93 | Aarav Dengla | 2026 | Maharashtra |
| 94 | Mayank Chakraborty | 2026 | Assam |
| 95 | Aronyak Ghosh | 2026 | West Bengal |
| 96 | Ethan Vaz | 2026 | Goa |
| 97 | Harshavardhan G. B. | 2026 | Tamil Nadu |
| 98 | S. Aswath | 2026 | Tamil Nadu |
| 99 | V. S. Rathanvel | 2026 | Tamil Nadu |
Note: State affiliations and title chronology can vary between databases depending on whether they use birthplace, state representation or the player’s chess federation records. For a continuously updated database, FIDE records should be treated as the primary reference.
India’s 2025 Grandmasters
The year 2025 was another important period for Indian chess. Several players joined the country’s growing Grandmaster community, including:
- Srihari L. R.
- Harikrishnan A. Ra
- Divya Deshmukh
- Rohith Krishna S.
- Ilamparthi A. R.
- V. S. Raahul
Divya Deshmukh was particularly notable because she became one of India’s leading young female chess players while making rapid progress on the international circuit.
India’s Grandmaster Boom in 2026
The momentum continued strongly in 2026. India moved from the low 90s to 99 Grandmasters in a relatively short period.
The sequence included Aaryan Varshney, Aarav Dengla, Mayank Chakraborty, Aronyak Ghosh, Ethan Vaz, Harshavardhan G. B., S. Aswath and finally V. S. Rathanvel.
Rathanvel’s achievement was especially memorable because he had already completed the required GM norms years earlier. His remaining challenge was reaching the 2500 rating threshold. He finally crossed it at the Guwahati Smart City International Open in July 2026.
V. S. Rathanvel: India’s 99th Grandmaster
V. S. Rathanvel became India’s 99th Grandmaster on July 18, 2026.
The Coimbatore-born player had completed his third GM norm in 2022 but had to wait several years to cross the required 2500 rating mark. He entered July 2026 with a FIDE rating of 2492 and subsequently gained the necessary rating points through tournaments in Assam.
His journey is a reminder that earning the Grandmaster title is not always a quick process. Players may complete their norms but still have to reach the required rating threshold before the title can be secured.
Which State Has Produced the Most Indian Grandmasters?
Tamil Nadu is clearly the leading state in India’s Grandmaster ecosystem.
The state has produced a large number of India’s most prominent players, including Viswanathan Anand, Krishnan Sasikiran, Pentala Harikrishna’s early Indian chess association, R. Praggnanandhaa, D. Gukesh, Aravindh Chithambaram and many other Grandmasters.
Tamil Nadu’s strength is not limited to a handful of elite players. Its extensive chess infrastructure, tournaments, academies, coaches and strong junior culture have helped create a continuous pipeline of talent.
Other major contributors include Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Odisha and Assam.
India’s Most Notable Chess Grandmasters
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand is widely regarded as the pioneer of modern Indian chess. He became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988 and went on to become a five-time World Chess Champion.
His success helped transform chess from a relatively niche sport in India into a mainstream competitive discipline.
Koneru Humpy
Koneru Humpy became India’s first woman to earn the open Grandmaster title. She has been one of the strongest female chess players from India for more than two decades and has won major international titles.
Pentala Harikrishna
Pentala Harikrishna became a Grandmaster in 2001 and has represented India at the highest level for many years. He has been an important member of India’s international chess teams.
R. Praggnanandhaa
R. Praggnanandhaa became a Grandmaster in 2018 and quickly established himself as one of the world’s most promising young players. His victories against elite opposition have made him one of the most recognisable faces of India’s new chess generation.
D. Gukesh
D. Gukesh is one of the defining names of India’s modern chess era. He became a Grandmaster in 2019 and subsequently rose rapidly through the world rankings. His success has helped attract enormous attention to India’s young chess talent.
Arjun Erigaisi
Arjun Erigaisi is another leading member of India’s young generation. Known for his aggressive and highly competitive playing style, he has established himself among the world’s elite players.
Vidit Gujrathi
Vidit Gujrathi has been one of India’s strongest players for many years. His consistency at elite tournaments and international team events has made him a key figure in Indian chess.
Nihal Sarin
Nihal Sarin earned the Grandmaster title in 2018 and became known internationally at a very young age. He has represented India across classical, rapid and blitz competitions.
Indian Women Grandmasters
India has also produced several outstanding women chess players who have competed successfully at the highest level.
Among the most prominent names are:
- Koneru Humpy
- Harika Dronavalli
- Vaishali Rameshbabu
- Divya Deshmukh
Vaishali’s achievement was particularly significant because she joined her brother R. Praggnanandhaa as a Grandmaster, making them one of the most prominent sibling combinations in elite chess.
Divya Deshmukh has also become an important name in the next generation of Indian women’s chess.
How Does a Chess Player Become a Grandmaster?
The FIDE Grandmaster title is one of the highest titles a chess player can achieve.
In general, a player needs to satisfy the required GM norm criteria and reach a FIDE rating of at least 2500 at some point, subject to FIDE’s title regulations.
A GM norm is earned through a sufficiently strong performance in an eligible tournament against appropriately rated and titled opposition. Meeting the requirements can take years of competition and preparation.
Rathanvel’s career illustrates this process particularly well: he had already completed the norm requirement but had to continue working toward the rating threshold before finally securing the title in 2026.
India’s Journey from One Grandmaster to 99
India’s Grandmaster story began in 1988 with Viswanathan Anand.
For several years, the number of Indian GMs increased gradually. The growth became much faster during the 2000s and especially the 2010s, as more academies, coaches, tournaments and junior competitions developed across the country.
The emergence of players such as Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and others demonstrated that India’s chess pipeline was producing elite players at an increasingly young age.
By July 2026, the country had reached 99 Grandmasters, placing it just one player away from the landmark of 100.
Why Is India Producing So Many Grandmasters?
Several factors have contributed to India’s remarkable growth in chess:
Strong junior chess culture: Children are introduced to competitive chess at increasingly young ages.
Improved coaching: Players now have access to experienced coaches, international trainers and sophisticated chess engines.
More tournaments: Regular rating and international tournaments provide players with opportunities to earn norms and improve their ratings.
Online chess: Online platforms have made training, practice games and international competition more accessible.
Role models: Anand’s career and the success of today’s young stars have inspired a new generation of players.
Family and academy support: Dedicated parents, chess academies and local organisations play an important role in developing young talent.
India and the Future of World Chess
The rise from Anand’s first Grandmaster title in 1988 to 99 Grandmasters in 2026 is more than a statistical milestone. It represents the development of an entire chess ecosystem.
India now has established veterans, world-class professionals and a large group of ambitious young players competing internationally. The country is no longer dependent on a single superstar to represent its chess ambitions.
The next major milestone is the 100th Indian Grandmaster. With the country already at 99, the arrival of the century mark is expected to be another landmark moment in India’s chess history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was India’s first chess Grandmaster?
Viswanathan Anand became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988.
How many chess Grandmasters does India have?
India reached 99 Grandmasters in July 2026, with V. S. Rathanvel becoming the 99th.
Who is India’s 99th Grandmaster?
V. S. Rathanvel is India’s 99th Grandmaster. He secured the milestone after crossing the 2500 FIDE rating threshold in July 2026.
Who was India’s first woman Grandmaster?
Koneru Humpy was India’s first woman to earn the open Grandmaster title.
Which Indian state has produced the most Grandmasters?
Tamil Nadu is the country’s leading Grandmaster-producing state and has produced numerous elite players across multiple generations.
Who could become India’s 100th Grandmaster?
India’s 100th Grandmaster had not yet been determined as of the latest information available for this article. The milestone will depend on which Indian player next fulfils all FIDE requirements for the title.
How many Indian Grandmasters were there in 2025?
The list includes six players who achieved the GM title in 2025: Srihari L. R., Harikrishnan A. Ra, Divya Deshmukh, Rohith Krishna S., Ilamparthi A. R. and V. S. Raahul.
Final Takeaway
India’s chess journey has changed dramatically since Viswanathan Anand became the country’s first Grandmaster in 1988. More than three decades later, the nation is on the verge of reaching 100 Grandmasters.
The progression from Anand to today’s stars—including Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh—shows how deeply chess has taken root in India.
With strong junior programmes, professional coaching, increasing tournament opportunities and a growing pool of talented players, India’s influence on international chess is likely to continue for years to come.
Editorial note: This is a living list. Grandmaster titles and player records can change as FIDE ratifies new titles. For the most current status, title information should be checked against official FIDE records.
