Anuj Shrivatri of Madhya Pradesh became India’s 100th chess Grandmaster on Sunday.
The International Master won the 7th ASEAN+ Individual Open Chess Championship in the Philippines.
The winner of the event gets the Grandmaster title directly.
Shrivatri recovered from losing the opening game to finish first with 7 points from 9, according to Chess.com.
Shrivatri is the first Grandmaster from Madhya Pradesh.
Anuj Shrivatri, an International Master from Madhya Pradesh, became India’s 100th chess Grandmaster by winning the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship in the Philippines on Sunday, November 8, 2026, according to PTI, Chess.com and Khel Now.
The event was held in Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental, and The Bridge’s PTI report names the Asenso Global Youth Leadership and Sports Complex as the venue.
Shrivatri lost the opening game and recovered to finish alone in first place with 7 points from 9 games, according to Chess.com.
Reports differ on the score: The Bridge says seven out of a possible eight points, and Khel Now gives both 7 out of 8 and 7 points from 9 games, so the 7 out of 9 figure from Chess.com is used here.
After the opening-round loss, Shrivatri was unbeaten with six wins and two draws and won the final two rounds, according to Chess.com.
A final-round win over International Master James Morris of Australia clinched the title, according to Chess.com.
Shrivatri finished half a point ahead of Grandmaster Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam, and Filipino FIDE Master Alekhine Nouri took third place on tiebreak with 6 out of 9, according to Chess.com.
Shrivatri was seeded fourth with a rating of 2450, and Vietnamese International Master Nguyen Quoc Hy was the top seed at 2474, according to Chess.com.
The ASEAN Plus winner gets the Grandmaster title directly, so the usual requirements of three norms and a 2500 rating did not apply, according to Chess.com and Khel Now.
Playing chess in a park (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
