List of Indian Chess Grandmasters 2026
India's chess prowess continues to surge, reaching 99 Grandmasters by August 2026. This rapid growth, spearheaded by legends and young talents like R Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh, reflects a thriving chess culture. The nation consistently produces top players, cementing its position as a global powerhouse in the sport.
As of August 2026, India had produced 99 Grandmasters (GMs), marking a significant milestone in the game and demonstrating the country's rising chess culture and international renown.
India's 99th latest Grandmaster is V.S. Rathanvel from Tamil Nadu, crossed the mandatory 2500 FIDE rating threshold on July 18, 2026, at the Guwahati Smart City International Open.
Full List of Indian Grandmasters 2025)
Check the below list featuring their state of origin.
| No. | Name | Title Year | State |
| 1 | Viswanathan Anand | 1988 | Tamil Nadu |
| 2 | Dibyendu Barua | 1991 | West Bengal |
| 3 | Praveen Thipsay | 1997 | Maharashtra |
| 4 | Abhijit Kunte | 2000 | Maharashtra |
| 5 | Krishnan Sasikiran | 2000 | Tamil Nadu |
| 6 | Pentala Harikrishna | 2001 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 7 | Koneru Humpy | 2002 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 8 | Surya Shekhar Ganguly | 2003 | West Bengal |
| 9 | Sandipan Chanda | 2003 | West Bengal |
| 10 | Ramachandran Ramesh | 2004 | Tamil Nadu |
| 11 | Tejas Bakre | 2004 | Gujarat |
| 12 | Magesh Chandran Panchanathan | 2006 | Tamil Nadu |
| 13 | J. Deepan Chakkravarthy | 2006 | Tamil Nadu |
| 14 | Neelotpal Das | 2006 | West Bengal |
| 15 | Parimarjan Negi | 2006 | Delhi |
| 16 | Geetha Narayanan Gopal | 2007 | Kerala |
| 17 | Abhijeet Gupta | 2008 | Delhi |
| 18 | Subramanian Arun Prasad | 2008 | Tamil Nadu |
| 19 | Sundararajan Kidambi | 2009 | Tamil Nadu |
| 20 | R. R. Laxman | 2009 | Tamil Nadu |
| 21 | Sriram Jha | 2010 | Delhi |
| 22 | Deep Sengupta | 2010 | West Bengal |
| 23 | Baskaran Adhiban | 2010 | Tamil Nadu |
| 24 | S. P. Sethuraman | 2011 | Tamil Nadu |
| 25 | Harika Dronavalli | 2011 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 26 | M. R. Lalith Babu | 2012 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 27 | Vaibhav Suri | 2012 | Delhi |
| 28 | M. R. Venkatesh | 2012 | Tamil Nadu |
| 29 | Sahaj Grover | 2012 | Delhi |
| 30 | Vidit Gujrathi | 2013 | Maharashtra |
| 31 | M. Shyam Sundar | 2013 | Tamil Nadu |
| 32 | Akshayraj Kore | 2013 | Maharashtra |
| 33 | V. Vishnu Prasanna | 2013 | Tamil Nadu |
| 34 | Debashis Das | 2013 | Odisha |
| 35 | Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury | 2013 | West Bengal |
| 36 | Ankit Rajpara | 2014 | Gujarat |
| 37 | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2014 | Tamil Nadu |
| 38 | Karthikeyan Murali | 2015 | Tamil Nadu |
| 39 | Ashwin Jayaram | 2015 | Tamil Nadu |
| 40 | Swapnil Dhopade | 2015 | Maharashtra |
| 41 | S. L. Narayanan | 2015 | Kerala |
| 42 | Shardul Gagare | 2016 | Maharashtra |
| 43 | Diptayan Ghosh | 2016 | West Bengal |
| 44 | K. Priyadharshan | 2016 | Tamil Nadu |
| 45 | Aryan Chopra | 2016 | Delhi |
| 46 | Srinath Narayanan | 2017 | Tamil Nadu |
| 47 | Himanshu Sharma | 2017 | Haryana |
| 48 | Anurag Mhamal | 2017 | Goa |
| 49 | Abhimanyu Puranik | 2017 | Maharashtra |
| 50 | M. S. Thejkumar | 2017 | Karnataka |
| 51 | Saptarshi Roy | 2018 | West Bengal |
| 52 | R. Praggnanandhaa | 2018 | Tamil Nadu |
| 53 | Nihal Sarin | 2018 | Kerala |
| 54 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2018 | Telangana |
| 55 | Karthik Venkataraman | 2018 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 56 | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2018 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 57 | P. Karthikeyan | 2018 | Tamil Nadu |
| 58 | Stany G.A. | 2018 | Karnataka |
| 59 | N. R. Visakh | 2019 | Tamil Nadu |
| 60 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2019 | Tamil Nadu |
| 61 | P. Iniyan | 2019 | Tamil Nadu |
| 62 | Swayams Mishra | 2019 | Odisha |
| 63 | Girish A. Koushik | 2019 | Karnataka |
| 64 | Prithu Gupta | 2019 | Delhi |
| 65 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2019 | Maharashtra |
| 66 | G. Akash | 2020 | Tamil Nadu |
| 67 | Leon Luke Mendonca | 2021 | Goa |
| 68 | Arjun Kalyan | 2021 | Tamil Nadu |
| 69 | Harshit Raja | 2021 | Maharashtra |
| 70 | Raja Rithvik R. | 2021 | Telangana |
| 71 | Sankalp Gupta | 2021 | Maharashtra |
| 72 | Mitrabha Guha | 2021 | West Bengal |
| 73 | Bharath Subramaniyam | 2022 | Tamil Nadu |
| 74 | Rahul Srivatshav P. | 2022 | Telangana |
| 75 | Pranav V | 2022 | Tamil Nadu |
| 76 | Pranav Anand | 2022 | Karnataka |
| 77 | Aditya Mittal | 2022 | Maharashtra (Mumbai) |
| 78 | Koustav Chatterjee | 2023 | West Bengal |
| 79 | Pranesh M | 2023 | Tamil Nadu |
| 80 | Vignesh N. R. | 2023 | Tamil Nadu |
| 81 | Sayantan Das | 2023 | West Bengal |
| 82 | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2023 | Telangana |
| 83 | Aditya Samant | 2023 | Maharashtra |
| 84 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2024 | Tamil Nadu |
| 85 | Shyaam Nikhil P. | 2024 | Tamil Nadu |
| 86 | Srihari L. R. | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 87 | Harikrishnan A Ra | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 88 | Divya Deshmukh | 2025 | Maharashtra |
| 89 | Rohith Krishna S. | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 90 | Ilamparthi A. R. | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 91 | V. S. Raahul | 2025 | Tamil Nadu |
| 92 | Aaryan Varshney | 2026 | Delhi |
| 93 | Aarav Dengla | 2026 | Maharashtra (Mumbai) |
| 94 | Mayank Chakraborty | 2026 | Assam (1st from NE India) |
| 95 | Aronyak Ghosh | 2026 | West Bengal |
| 96 | Ethan Vaz | 2026 | Goa |
| 97 | Harshavardhan G.B. | 2026 | Tamil Nadu |
| 98 | Aswath S | 2026 | Tamil Nadu |
| 99 | V. S. Rathanvel | 2026 | Tamil Nadu |
This list points to the leading states developing chess talent: Tamil Nadu stands far ahead, followed closely by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi in producing top players every year.
Some Notable Recent GMs are:
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Aswath S (Tamil Nadu): Became India's 98th Grandmaster in July 2026 after securing his third and final GM norm at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament.
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Rameshbabu Vaishali (Tamil Nadu): Fourth Indian woman to become a GM.
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D. Gukesh (Tamil Nadu): Youngest Indian to have beaten previous world champion Magnus Carlsen, currently among the world's top-rated.
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R. Praggnanandhaa (Tamil Nadu): First Indian player to win Grand Chess Tour in 2026 and young global sensation.
Background and Evolution
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First Indian GM: Viswanathan Anand in 1988.
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Growth: India had one GM in 1988, crossed 50 GMs in 2018, and had 99 by August 2026 - closing onto the iconic 100th GM.
Legendary and Modern Grandmasters
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Legendary Grandmasters: Viswanathan Anand, Pentala Harikrishna, Krishnan Sasikiran, Koneru Humpy.
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Modern-Era Stars: Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani.
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Women GMs: Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R. Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh.
Milestones and Achievements
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First female GM: Koneru Humpy.
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Significant achievements: Major tournament victories, Olympiad golds, and breakout performances by India's youngsters.
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Contribution to World Chess: India remains a global force, with young GMs regularly participating in elite tournaments worldwide, reflecting the sport's grassroots development across the country.
The large and expanding roster of Indian Grandmasters is a special chess boom, supported by sound institutions, world-class trainers, and a dedicated fan base. As more talent continues to be fostered in India, it is likely to stay at the top of world-class chess for many years to come.
Kirti Sharma is a journalist in the education domain with three and a half years of experience creating high-quality content for the education technology (EdTech) and digital media industries. She has an expertise in covering education news. Kirti has experience in writing data backed informational pieces on General knowledge.
Kirti holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, which helped build her strong foundation in writing and research. Over the course of her career, she has brought her skills to a variety of well-known companies, including ThoughtPartners Global, Infinite Group, and MIM-Essay. Through these roles, she has learned how to take complex information and turn it into engaging, easy-to-understand content for readers online.
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