India has 98th CEO! Both parents chess coaches, 10th board exam forced a break: The making of Aswath S

NEW DELHI: Do you remember that feeling when you gave your class 10 board exam? Few people do not feel butterflies in their stomach beforehand. For India’s 98th Grandmaster (GM) Aswath S, the checkerboard exam meant putting aside the chessboard, his lifelong companion, for four months, from the start of the year until April, for what many are calling the first “big challenge” of academic life.With two GM norms already in his pocket, the teenager from Tamil Nadu only needed one more GM norm to become a grandmaster. That moment came Wednesday in his first Classic of the year.Aswath scored his third and final GM norm at Pune International GM Round Robin 2026. Defeating FM Kannan Vaidyanathan with black pieces in the final round, he finished the tournament with 7/9 points, securing the final GM norm and winning the coveted title in the process.“It’s amazing to feel like I’m a grandmaster right now,” Aswath told TimesofIndia. com during an exclusive interaction from Pune. “Pretty much the last two years have gotten away from me. I broke the 2,500 mark in December, so I only had to score the norms after that, but it took me so long.”Aswath secured his first norm by winning the strong Grenke Open A in front of several seasoned grandmasters.His second came at the First Saturday GM Round Robin in Budapest in December 2025, where he also scored 7/9 and broke the 2500 FIDE rating threshold.

From a family of chess coaches

Aswath’s chess roots run deep in Tamil Nadu’s Nagercoil, where his father AC Siva runs a chess academy as a full-time professional coach.“I started playing chess when I was three and my father was my coach,” Aswath recalled. “At that age I was wandering around the academy saying the names of the chess pieces. Then I started playing and entered a tournament at the age of four.”

Aswath S with his family (special arrangement)

The decisive moment came early. “At the age of seven, when I played in the Tamil Nadu State Championship Under-7, I won the tournament with a score of 9 out of 9. That was one of the biggest motivations for me to take up chess as a profession,” he admitted.With his mother Sheela teaching beginners at the academy and his older sister once competing in the sport, chess was already woven into the fabric of the family.

The path to becoming a grandmaster

Despite his early promise, the road to the GM title was riddled with many obstacles. Aswath has found that playing local is a double-edged sword.“Mainly, the tournament exposure was a challenge because we generally didn’t play such big events in the earlier days in India,” explained Aswath. “And in India, people with lower ratings are very underrated because they are so strong, stronger than their rating. If we go abroad, we can increase the rating points quite easily, but of course money is a big thing. We need sponsors.”Aswath’s development shifted gears when he started working with IM Senthil Maran after the pandemic and later with his current coach, GM Shyam Sundar in late 2023.“He is a very hardworking kid, a very responsible guy, passionate, determined and has no distractions on social media,” Sundar told the site.“He obeys everything I tell him chess-wise. There are a lot of things he likes to do, like working on certain holes in depth. But when I say it’s not necessary for his level, he asks for a reason and accepts it. Listening to the point is very important.”With the teenager’s GM title a milestone for the coach as Aswath becomes the sixth of his students to do so, Shyam reveals the mantra.“I’ve created a culture where guys of similar caliber actually share material. Aswath is in that,” he added. “It’s a very healthy bond. He also focuses well on his fitness. He does gym at home and is open to all sports.”

Outside of 64 squares

Despite his monumental success, Aswath remains incredibly grounded, in part due to his academic commitments. He is a student of Velammal School, Chennai and is currently pursuing Commerce in Class 11.“It was my first classic tournament of the year because I had to study for my tenth board exams,” he noted. “For four months, from January to April, I did not see chess.

Aswath S at Pune International GM Round Robin 2026 (Special Arrangement)

Now that the slate is cleared and the GM title secured, Aswath’s eyes are firmly set on the future. India’s 98th grandmaster knows the title he is chasing is nothing but a checkpoint.“GM is really just the beginning of the real chess world, to be honest,” Aswath concluded. “There’s a lot more, like 2600, 2700, the top world ranking. My short-term goal would be 2600.”

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