Chess: Shyamnikhil became India’s 85th Grandmaster, had waited for 12 years

Indian chess player P Shyamnikhil finally paid off his patience and became India’s 85th Grandmaster. Shyamnikhil, who started playing chess at the age of eight, had to wait for 12 years to achieve this feat with the third norm. However, his wait ended at the Dubai Police Masters chess tournament where he achieved his third and final Grandmaster (GM) norm.

It took a long time to achieve the third norm

Shyamnikhil needed just one win and eight draws to achieve the long-awaited GM norm, which he achieved in a tournament played in Dubai. The 31-year-old had achieved the required 2500 ELO rating points with two Grandmaster norms in 2012, which is the minimum requirement to become a GM. However, he had to wait for 12 years to achieve the third norm. Shyamnikhil achieved his first GM norm in the Mumbai Mayors Cup 2011. He achieved the second norm shortly after this during the Indian Championship at the age of 19 and then fulfilled the rating requirement in early 2012. He missed his final norm in the Dubai Open in 2012. He failed to take advantage of many opportunities after that till now.

‘Now I can play with more freedom’

After achieving the GM feat, Shyamnikhil said, I started playing at the age of eight. My parents taught me the game but I could not play any tournament for three years. After winning the Under-13 state championship, opportunities opened up for me as I could play the Asian and age group world championships. I played tournaments in Europe only in 2017, till then I was trying to play in Vietnam or UAE and trying to achieve the final norm, but these places are not so easy as the tournaments are very strong. Now that I have achieved the GM norm, I can play with more freedom.