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Rohith Krishna S becomes India’s 89th Grandmaster

Rohith Krishna S became India's 89th Grandmaster after he made his final GM norm at the Almaty Masters Qonaev Cup in Kazakhstan where he scored 6/9 and also surpassed 2500 Elo ratings mark.

Rohith defeated International Master Artur Davtyan in the final round. The youngster is coached by K.Visweswaran. (File)

Rohith Krishna S on Tuesday became India’s 89th Grandmaster after he made his final GM norm at the Almaty Masters Qonaev Cup in Kazakhstan where he scored 6/9 and also surpassed 2500 Elo ratings mark. To grab the honour, he defeated International Master Artur Davtyan in the final round. The youngster is coached by K.Visweswaran.

Last month, Divya Deshmukh had become India’s 88th Grandmaster after she won the FIDE Women’s World Cup by defeating the veteran Koneru Humpy in the final via the tiebreakers. Divya winning the Women’s World Cup also makes her eligible to be India’s fourth woman to become a grandmaster, which is significant because before the event started, she had none of the three norms required for it. But in one fell swoop, thanks to a regulation in the FIDE rules, Divya bypassed the criterion to earn three norms and became a grandmaster as well.

Who is a Grandmaster?

Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve. It is awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE, from its French acronym Fédération Internationale des Échecs), the global governing body headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Among the hierarchy of chess titles that include International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM), and their female-specific counterparts (WGM, WIM, WFM, WCM), the Grandmaster title stands as the most prestigious and challenging to obtain.

What is a GM norm and how to earn it?

Earning a GM norm in chess is a challenging process governed by strict FIDE regulations. Typically, a player must compete in a tournament of at least nine games, though exceptions exist for shorter events, such as seven-game norms in World or Continental Team Championships and eight-game norms in the World Cup or Women’s World Championship.

To achieve a GM norm, a player must perform at a high level, achieving a tournament performance rating (TPR) of at least 2600. The competition must also include a strong field where at least 33% of the opponents must hold the GM title, and players from at least three different federations must participate. Some tournaments are specifically organised to help players secure norms by ensuring these conditions are met.

Ultimately, earning the full GM title requires three such norms across a minimum of 27 games, along with achieving a FIDE rating of 2500 at some point.