Overview
- Anuj Shrivatri clinched the Grandmaster title by winning the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship in Ozamiz City, Philippines on Sunday, scoring 7 points from nine rounds and finishing half a point ahead of Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Hoa.
- The result makes Shrivatri the 100th Indian Grandmaster and the first ever from Madhya Pradesh, completing the FIDE requirements through his tournament performance.
- Shrivatri overcame earlier near-misses and a decision to leave a remote IT job to pursue chess full time, funding travel and events largely from tournament winnings and coaching earnings.
- His achievement drew public congratulations from Viswanathan Anand and AICF president Nitin Narang, who said the federation now aims to grow India’s GM count to 200.
- Shrivatri’s reported sports‑quota appointment with Western Railway is in its final stages after medical clearance, and the milestone underscores a recent surge in Indian GMs and the growing role of coaching, academies and funding in making international play feasible.