Grandmaster no

World Champion Viswanathan Anand: In a pleasant surprise to Indian chess fans, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand on Thursday announced that 16-year-old Chennai boy Ilamparthi A.R. has become a Grandmaster, joining the prestigious club as another prodigy from the country.

"Happy to announce Ilamparthi as a GM ilamparthi! As part of @WacaChess, we couldn't have been prouder. He has been missing the title on a few occasions, but each time he came back and worked harder. I really believe he has a lot of potential, and we hope to work together towards greater achievements," Anand wrote in a post on X.

Born in 2009, Ilamparthi thus became the 90th chess Grandmaster in the country as he reached the milestone by securing his final GM norm at the Bijeljina Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Thursday. He has a rating of 2518 in Classical chess and thus fulfils the requirements for getting the GM title.