New Delhi: Do you remember what it was like to appear for class 10 board exams? Few people do not feel uneasy in advance. For India’s 98th Grand Master (GM) Aswath S, the chessboard exam meant putting aside his lifelong companion chessboard for four months from the beginning of the year to April to face what many call the first “big challenge” of academic life. With two GM specifications already in his pocket, the lad from Chennai only needed one more to become a grandmaster. That moment happened on Wednesday, his first Classics match of the year.Aswath achieved his third and final GM standard at the International GM Round 2026 in Pune. In the final round, he defeated FM Kannan Vaidyanathan with a black piece, finishing the game with a score of 7/9, securing the final GM standard and winning the coveted title in the process.“It’s great to feel like I’m a master now,” Aswas told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interaction in Pune. “Almost for the last two years, it was gone. I crossed 2,500 in December, so after that, I could only get standard scores, but it took me a long time.”Aswas secured his first standard by winning the powerful Glencoe Open A class in front of several experienced grandmasters.His second goal came in the first Saturday GM round robin in Budapest in December 2025, where he also scored 7/9 and crossed the 2500 FIDE rating mark.
Born into a family of chess coaches
Aswath’s chess roots run deep in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, where his father AC Siva runs a chess academy and works as a full-time professional coach.“I started playing chess when I was three years old, and my coach was my father,” Aswas recalled. “At that age, I used to hang around the academy and read out the names of the chess pieces. Then I started playing chess and entered tournaments at the age of four.”
Aswath S and family (special arrangement)
The decisive moment came early. “At the age of seven, when I participated in the Tamil Nadu Under-7 Championship, I won the tournament with 9 points out of 9. This was one of the biggest motivations for me to choose chess as a career,” he admits.With his mother Sheila teaching beginners at the academy and his sister also playing the sport, chess has been integrated into the family.
The road to becoming a master
Despite his early promise, the road to the general manager title was fraught with many obstacles. Aswas discovered that local competition was a double-edged sword.“Mainly, tournament exposure is a challenge because usually we don’t get to play in such big events in India early on,” Aswas explained. “Also, in India, the lower raters are severely undervalued because they are so strong, stronger than their ratings. If we go abroad, we can easily improve the rating points, but of course, money is a big thing. We need sponsors.”After the pandemic ended, Aswas’ development took a turn when he started working with IM Senthil Maran and, in late 2023, with current coach GM Shyam Sundar.“He is a very hard-working kid, a very responsible person, passionate, determined, and has no social media distractions,” Sundar told SciDev.Net.“In chess, he listens to anything I say. He likes to do a lot of things, like delve into certain openings. But when I say he doesn’t need to do that at his level, he asks why and accepts it. It’s very important to listen to the main points.”The teenager’s general manager title marks a milestone for the coach, with Aswas becoming his sixth pupil to achieve the feat and Shyam revealed the mantra.“I created a culture where people of similar skill levels actually share material. Aswas was among them,” he added. “It’s a very healthy bond. He’s also very focused on his fitness. He does fitness activities at home and is willing to participate in any sport. “
Beyond 64 squares
Despite his tremendous achievements, Aswas remains very down to earth, in part because of his academic commitments. He is a student of Velammal School in Chennai and is currently pursuing his 11th grade commerce course.“This is my first Classical tournament this year because I have to study for my tenth board exam,” he pointed out. “For four months, from January to April, I didn’t see chess.”
Aswath S participates in Pune International General Manager Round Robin 2026 (Special Arrangement)
Now that the board has been cleared and the general manager title is locked in, Aswas has his sights firmly set on the future. India’s 98th grandmaster knows the much-coveted title is nothing more than a checkpoint.“Frankly, GM is really just the beginning of the real world of chess,” Aswas concluded. “There are still many things to do, such as 2,600, 2,700, the highest ranking in the world. My short-term goal is 2,600.”
