Nagpur: Chennai’s Harshavardhan GB became India’s 97th chess Grandmaster in his hometown on Sunday.In the second Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament, the 23-year-old Harshavardhan remained unbeaten to secure his third and final norm and also crossed the required 2500 Elo rating to achieve the GM title.The 2493 Elo Harshavardhan won four games, drew five rounds to finish the tournament at the second position with 6.5 points. He performed at a rating of 2620 and gained 15.3 Elo points on his way to cross the requisite 2500 mark.Last year at the Asian Continental Championship in UAE, Harshavardhan achieved his second norm while finishing the event in the ninth position, delivering a performance rating of 2634, and secured his qualification for the FIDE World Cup in Goa. He lost the opening round of the World Cup against Yilmaz Mustafa of Turkey 0.5-1.5.Way back in 2022, Harshavardhan secured his first GM norm during the Asian Junior Championship.In the nine-round GM norm tournament at Chennai, Harshavardhan had a slow start. Of the initial five rounds he scored just three points, and to achieve his final norm, Harshavardhan needed 3.5 points from the remaining four games. He registered three straight victories over Mohan Kushagra, Polish GM Michal Krasenkow, and Bulgarian Alexei Fedorov, respectively, and drew his final round with Mihail Nikitenko to reach his destination.
