On January 9, 2022, Fourteen-year-old Bharath Subramaniyam became India’s 73rd chess Grandmaster. He secured the third and final Grandmaster norm at an event at Cattolica in Italy.

Key Points

• He scored 6.5 points from nine rounds along with four others and finish seventh in the event.
• He secured his third GM norm here as well as touched the requisite 2,500 (Elo) mark.
• Fellow Indian player M R Lalith Babu became the winner in the tournament, with seven points. He won the title on the basis of a better tie-break score as he tied with three others including Anton Korobov from Ukraine.

Six wins for Bharath

Bharath finished with six wins and one draw. He lost two games, against Korobov and Lalith Babu.

When did Bharath won first GM norm?

• He won his first GM norm at Aeroflot Open in Moscow in February 2020, after securing 11th place.
• He won the second GM norm in the Junior Roundtable Under 21 tournament in Bulgaria in October 2021. He was placed 4^th, with 6.5 points.

By: Brijesh Kumar