12-Year-Old CM Vyom Malhotra Scores 2nd IM Norm at Czech Open 2026

Interview with Vyom

Devansh Singh: How was your experience of scoring 2nd in norm?
Vyom Malhotra: I felt very happy, and it had been an excellent tournament at the start, but later it did not turn out as I wanted. I am happy at the end; I got the norm. I had a good experience playing with such strong players and scoring a norm among them.

Devansh: Which was your favourite game from the tournament?
Vyom: The Game with IM Sahidi Samir

Devansh: Who has been your coach, and who are the people you would like to thank for helping you to make this norm?
Vyom: I would first like to thank Krishna and his devotees for their blessings; without that, we couldn't think of this success. I would also like to thank my Gurus,

GM Shardul Gagare Sir, who helped with preparation throughout the trip and motivated my parents to continue with the Czech Open after not-so-good results in the 2nd tournament. GM Debashis Das Sir who keeps believing in me in spite of not having any good results in nationals or other tournaments. Puneet Sir first coach who sparked the love for chess in me. Prasenjit Dutta sir who taught failures are the most important and unavoidable part of the sportsman journey. Special thanks to Shantharam sir who always motivates me to focus on improvement.

Chola Chess for making me part of their beautiful initiative. Grateful to my grandparents, parents, relatives and friends for continuously supporting me and praying for my success

Devansh: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced on your path to this norm?
Vyom: Before the last tournament, my laptop stopped working, and we were a little worried initially; however With the kind of results in initial rounds of the Czech open we feel confident that more important is to relax and play good chess on board but in later stages I over tried and started focusing more on winning instead of playing Good chess which made us nervous before the last round.

Overall, I feel this achievement is the result of my previous hard work, and I am grateful for that. Hopefully, I can work on my mistakes fast and improve my skill

Another Talent to watch out for

Vyom is working with GM Shardul Gagare, and after Vyom's wonderful achievement, Shardul shared a note on his Instagram.

Congratulations to my 12-year-old student, Vyom Malhotra, on achieving his 2nd IM Norm at the Czech Open 2026 and crossing the 2400 FIDE rating mark. Despite technical issues with his laptop throughout the event, he did all his preparation and training sessions on a mobile phone. His fearless approach, relentless hard work, and determination helped him achieve another IM norm and come agonizingly close to his first GM Norm. I'm sure his IM Title and GM norms are not far away. Proud to be a part of his journey.

Replay all the games played by Vyom

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Details

Huge congratulations to Vyom, his parents, and his coaches on this wonderful achievement!