CHENNAI: India’s dream of a century of Grandmasters is now within touching distance. The country is just two GMs short of the milestone, with three players earning the title in the last 12 days. The latest is Tamil Nadu’s S Aswath, who became India’s 98th GM after securing his third and final norm at the Pune International GM tournament on Wednesday.Interestingly, the 17-year-old Nagarcoil boy had already crossed the 2500 FIDE rating threshold before completing his set of GM norms. He earned his first norm by winning the Grenke Open A in 2025 and followed it up with a second at the First Saturday GM Round Robin in Budapest later that year, where he breached the 2500-mark.The Pune event was Aswath’s first classical tournament in six months, with the teenager taking a break from competition to prepare for his Class X board examinations.Aswath, TN’s 38th GM, learnt the ropes at the Cape Chess Academy, which is run by his father AC Siva, who is also his coach. His mother, too, is a chess coach.“I was three years old when I was first introduced to chess. At home, of course now our dinner table conversations are always about chess. Now, my next target is to cross the 2600 rating mark,” said Aswath, who became an International Master at 15.Fresh off his Grandmaster title, Aswath is now headed to compete at the Serbia Open.
