E. Arjun becomes 54th Indian GM

The boy from Telangana becomes a chess Grandmaster at the age of 14.

E. Arjun (left), India's 54th Grandmaster, seen here with Telangana Chess Association secretary K. S. Prasad. Photo: Special Arrangement

E. Arjun of India has become the 54th Grandmaster from India.

The Telangana boy, who began the year 2018 without a single IM norm, achieved his first at IIFLW Mumbai, the second at the Aeroflot Open and the third one at the HD Bank Championship in Vietnam this March.

Then, the 14-year-old Arjun got his first GM norm in the Kolkata Grandmasters International tournament in May (also crossing 2500 in the tourney) and his second in a closed round-robin event in Serbia; the third and final one came with a win in the last round of the Abu Dhabi Masters 2018.

Surreal

Significantly, Arjun, who is a native of Warangal and coached by Victor Mikhalevski, also crossed the ELO 2500 mark in the course of getting three GM norms which is mandatory to get the coveted title.

Read: Nihal Sarin becomes India's 53rd GM

The achievement of this young lad from Telangana is surreal. He becomes a GM at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 13 days.

India’s latest GMs, before Arjun, were R. Praggnandhaa and Nihal Sarin.

“It is a great day for Telangana chess and we believe that Arjun has the potential to be a world champion one day given his amazing skills and temperament even when up against some of the best players,” says Telangana Chess Association secretary K. S. Prasad.