Twenty-three-year-old chess player Srinath Narayanan become India’s 46th Grandmaster after beating David Anton Guijarro at the Sharjah Masters on Wednesday, reported ChessBase India.
The chess prodigy crossed the 2500-mark on the FIDE rankings with the 1-0 victory over Spain’s Guijarro who has a FIDE rating of 2676 and has already secured five GM norms.
Congrats srinath narayan. Welcome to the GM fold. Still remember you visiting us many years ago & I tried suggesting books! Impressive play
— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) March 29, 2017
In 2002, Narayanan had become India’s youngest FIDE-rated player at the age of just eight. He is a former Wonder Under-12 champion and became an International Master at the age of just 14. The 23-year-old won his first GM norm in 2012 by winning the Asian Junior Chess Championship in 2012 which he retained in 2013.
The player from Chennai’s passion for the game emerged at the age of five after he got his dad to buy him a chess board, after observing his elder brother, father and and cousin play the game. Narayanan was admitted into a chess academy at that young age and soon sped up the ranks, winning the state Under-9 championships and even the State championship.