Anuj Shrivatri Becomes India's 100th Chess Grandmaster

Indian chess has crossed a mark the sport in the country had been moving towards for years: the national count of Grandmasters now stands at 100. The hundredth name on that roll belongs to Anuj Shrivatri, whose title carried India into the small set of countries with a century of players at the game's highest level.

What was said about the feat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the young player and described the moment as India hitting a century in chess. He called the achievement by Anuj Shrivatri a wonderful one and said a figure of 100 Grandmasters stands as proof of the skill, discipline and sheer effort of the country's players, and of how far the game has spread among young people. The message went out on X on 10 November 2026 and the Prime Minister's Office put out a release on it the same day.

Young players at the centre

Attention was drawn to the fact that the new wave of players is not confined to one city or one state. Fresh talent is coming through from many parts of the country and holding its own in competition abroad, on the global stage. The hope was expressed that a hundredth Grandmaster would push many more school and college students to take up the board and chase excellence of their own.

Why aspirants should note it

Grandmaster, shortened to GM, is the senior-most title a chess player can hold, so a country's tally of Grandmasters is read as a measure of the depth of its playing strength. For an examination, the points worth carrying away are the name of the player, the serial number of the milestone, the game involved and the month and year in which India completed its century. General awareness papers lean on precisely this kind of first, hundredth or record, and a sports question built on a round number is among the easiest to set and the easiest to score.