Prem Pandit | Mumbai: Another golden moment has dawned for Indian chess. Harshavardhan G.B. has become India's 97th Grandmaster following a stellar performance at the '2nd Chola Chess GM Norm Round-Robin' tournament. This historic achievement by Harshavardhan comes hot on the heels of Ethan Vaz becoming India's 96th Grandmaster.
Although a score of 6.5 out of 9 points was required, Harshavardhan remained undefeated throughout the tournament. After securing 3 points in the first five rounds, he won intensely contested matches in the final four rounds. By defeating IM Kushagra Mohan in the 6th round, top-seeded GM Mikhail Krasenkow in the 7th, and Alexey Fedorov in the 8th, he secured the 'norm' needed to become a Grandmaster and crossed the 2500 Elo rating milestone. He sealed the tournament victory by drawing his final round game against Mihai Nikitenko.
Harshavardhan had previously qualified for the FIDE World Cup by securing his first GM norm at the 2022 Asian Junior Championship and his second at the 2025 Asian Continental Championship. Having played chess since the age of four-inspired by his father, FT Gopalakrishnan-Harshavardhan has been coached by Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy and, previously, by Visweshwaran Kameswaran. His unprecedented success is drawing praise from across the country.