Tamil Nadu's Srihari becomes India's 86th Grandmaster

The Hindu

15-05-2025

Tamil Nadu's L.R. Srihari became India's latest and 86th Grandmaster on Thursday. The Chennai-based player, who had crossed the 2500 Elo rating (live) last May at the Dubai Open, got his first GM norm at the Sixdays Budapest GM Round-Robin in August 2023 and the second at the 2023 Qatar Masters.
For one year and nearly nine tournaments, Srihari struggled to get the final GM norm before he gained it in the ongoing Asian individual championships in Al-Ain (Abu Dhabi).
'It was a huge huge relief. In the 8-9 tournaments last year, I came close to getting my final GM norm only to lose it. For some reason or the other, there was some hurdle in my way,' the 19-year-old, a B. Com student of SRM (Vadapalani), told Sportstar from Al-Ain.
In the run-up to the Asian championships, Srihari, by his own admission, was not in great form. 'Honestly, I didn't expect much from the tournament. In the last three to four tournaments, I was not in good form. In Abu Dhabi, I wanted to take one round at a time,' he said, while thanking his parents and coach GM Shyam Sundar.
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Dubai Open