BREAKING: India gets its 99th Grandmaster - Rathanvel VS
Rathanvel V S is India's 99th Grandmaster, achieving the coveted title after crossing the 2500 Elo mark at the 3rd Guwahati Smart City International Open 2026. The Coimbatore-born chess player had already completed his GM norms in 2022, but his journey to the rating milestone became a remarkable story of resilience and perseverance. A World Youth U-10 bronze medallist and one of India's strongest International Masters for several years, Rathanvel has finally earned the title his strength had long deserved.
Congratulations to Rathanvel V S on becoming India's 99th GM. He is born in 2001 and hails from the city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He crossed the Elo of 2500 at the 3rd Guwahati Smart City International Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament 2026. This also makes it a very memorable moment for the state of Assam as India's 99th GM was created in their tournament.
Rathanvel's journey has been one of the most remarkable in recent years. While a player needs 3 GM norms to become a Grandmaster, Rathanvel amassed an incredible 5 GM norms before finally completing the title. Rathanvel scored his first GM norm at the First Saturday tournament in Hungary in September 2021. The second followed immediately in the same month at the Vezerkepzo GM-MIX. The third GM norm was made in the First Saturday GM tournament in Budapest, Hungary in March 2022.
He had already fulfilled the norm requirement back in 2022. What followed was a long and testing battle with the rating barrier. For nearly four years, he remained one of the strongest International Masters in India and the world, repeatedly coming agonizingly close to the magical 2500 mark.
Many players would have been disheartened. Rathanvel kept fighting. Tournament after tournament, country after country, he continued to prove that he possessed Grandmaster strength. His perseverance has finally been rewarded. As on 1st of July he was rated 2492 when he decided to play 2 rating tournaments in India in the state of Assam. He had a unique approach towards this where he skipped a few rounds playing against players below the Elo of 1600. He won 10 games in a row and gained those coveted 8 Elo points and reached 2500 Elo.
Reflecting on the people who helped him reach this milestone, Rathanvel said, "Over the past couple of years, I have worked with a lot of people. If I had to mention a few names, I would definitely say GM Vishnu Prasanna, GM Srinath Narayanan, GM Shyam Sundar and GM Sundararajan Kidambi."
The road to the Grandmaster title was anything but straightforward. "There were three or four occasions when I came within just one game of crossing 2500," he recalled. He particularly remembered crucial opportunities against Maxim Matlakov in 2023 and David Paravyan in 2024, where a victory would have taken him over the required rating mark. Unfortunately, the breakthrough had to wait.
Check out the games of Matlakov and Paravyan where Rathanvel was better and a win would have given him the GM title.
Rathanvel also acknowledged the support he received along the way. "MPL has been a big part of this journey right from 2019 to 2025 for me. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Dr.M. Manickam sir from Sakthi Finance who has been with me on this journey." he said, expressing his gratitude to those who stood by him during the long pursuit of the Grandmaster title.
Here are some of Rathanvel's excellent achievements:
1. Completed 4 IM Norms and crossed 2400 rating during 2019 Abu Dhabi Masters
2. Highest rated Classical win against Super GM Le Quang Liem ( rated 2727)
3. Classical draws against top players like Abdusattorov Nodirbek (twice) , Artemiev Vladislav , Sindarov Javokhir and Gukesh.
4. World Youth U-10 Bronze Medallist, 2011 held at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
5. Represented Tamilnadu Thrice in SGFI ( School Games Federation of India) and won Gold (twice) and Silver.
6. Multiple age category Tamilnadu state chess champion ( U-9,13,19)
Here are two more games of Rathanvel that are his personal favourites - his wins over David Navara and Bassem Amin.
India now has its 99th Grandmaster - a milestone that also brings the country one step closer to the historic 100th GM.
Congratulations, GM Rathanvel V S! We wish you many more successes in the years to come. 🇮🇳♟️
A special thanks to Ravikant Tiwari for sending us some of the photos from the current tournament in Assam where Rathanvel became a GM.
Rathanvel's GM norms:
Related News
Rathanvel V S wins 3rd SCMA Rapid Rating Open 2023
Nitin and Rathanvel win D A V Krida Kendram Rapid and Blitz Rating Open 2022
Meet the 75 Grandmasters of Indian chess on our 75th Independence Day
Interview with India's 74th GM Rahul Srivatshav
The story of India's 73rd GM - 14-year-old Bharath Subramaniyam
Rathanvel VS clinches R Hanumantha Memorial Cup All India Open Rapid and Blitz Rating 2021
Breaking News: India gets its 69th GM - Harshit Raja
Breaking: Leon Mendonca becomes India's 67th GM
The 64 grandmasters of Indian chess
KIIT Festival: Grachev wins, Rathanvel third