11-year-old Advik Agrawal secures first International Master norm

Advik Agrawal secures first International Master Norm

11-year-old Advik Agrawal showed an impressive performance at the Baku Open 2026. The Pune-based player secured his first International Master norm, crossed the 2400 rating mark, and gained an astonishing 103 rating points! After this achievement, IM Sagar Shah interviewed Advik to understand his journey, mindset and preparation.

What stood out the most was his mindset. He didn't enter the tournament obsessed with points or norms. He simply wanted to play his best chess. This mindset removes the pressure and lets a player focus on the board rather than the scoreboard! This quality is something Advik's coach believes separates him from many others.

“What stands out most about Advik is his attitude towards self-learning and improvement. Many young players are talented, but often depend heavily on coaches. Advik is very serious about understanding the game deeply himself. Whenever an input is given, he evaluates his own thinking process and learns from his mistakes.”

- GM Shardul Gagare, Advik's coach

Shardul also pointed to another important quality in Advik’s game: his ability to stay calm in practical positions instead of relying only on opening preparation. That balance is very important for long-term growth. Advik’s games at the Baku Open reflected exactly that maturity. After losing the very first round, he remained unbeaten for the rest of the tournament. Advik defeated WGM Umida Omonova, WGM Ekaterina Goltseva, drew against IM world no 1 under 11 Roman Shogdzhiev, IM Sahib Singh, IM Ayush Sharma and IM Khagan Ahmad.

Advik's career highlights

Behind this success is also a strong support system at home. Despite Advik’s growing achievements, his family consciously tries to maintain balance in his life and protect his childhood from becoming entirely result-oriented.

“To us, he is a child first and a chess player second,” Advik's father, Amit shared. The family ensures that chess does not completely take over his life. Time with friends, family outings, and moments away from the board remain equally important. His father explained that their focus has always been on effort, discipline, and learning rather than only results.

He also admitted that pursuing chess professionally at such a young age comes with emotional and financial challenges. Tournament travel, coaching, and preparation demand enormous commitment from the entire family. Yet, Advik’s love for the game continues to motivate them to support his journey wholeheartedly!

Advik has shared two of his best games with us:

India’s current chess environment has also helped shape Advik’s growth. Being surrounded by exceptionally strong young players inspires him to keep improving while staying focused on his own path. Looking ahead, Advik’s coach believes consistency and mindset will play the biggest role in his future progress. "If he keeps the same hunger to improve, he has the potential to reach very high levels,” he said.

We wish Advik all the very best to achieve the remaining two International Master norms!

Old videos of Advik on our channel

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