Nagpur teen Sankalp is India’s 71st GM

Chennai, November 8

Nagpur teenager Sankalp Gupta has become India’s 71st Grandmaster by earning his third GM norm when he finished second with 6.5 points in the GM Ask 3 round-robin event in Arandjelovac, Serbia. The 18-year-old Gupta secured the three required GM norms in just 24 days by playing three tournaments on the trot. In all the three events, his performance rating was at 2599 ELO level or above. The Maharashtra player also touched the 2500 ELO rating mark during the third tournament.

To achieve the GM title, a player has to secure three GM norms and cross the live rating of 2500 ELO points.

Gupta won five games, drew three and lost one to take the second place.

India’s first GM, former world champion Viswanathan Anand, congratulated Gupta on becoming a GM. “Been a great weekend for Indian chess again! Congrats to our new entrant… Now how long till we get to our 100th GM?” Anand wrote on Twitter.

Gupta became an International Master at age 16 two years ago during an event in Budapest, having breached the 2400 ELO rating mark in July 2019. He started playing at age four and soon started winning local tournaments. — TNS, agencies