Bengaluru, Nov. 8 -- It all began with a boy from Madras in 1988. Thirty-eight years after Viswanathan Anand became the country's first grandmaster, Indian chess touched a historic milestone.

Anuj Shrivatri of Madhya Pradesh won the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship on Sunday to become India's 100th grandmaster.

"I think it's a remarkable milestone, the pace especially says a lot," Anand told HT. "I think we were at 30 grandmasters 15 years ago. I remember distinctly, just before the Chennai Olympiad, I was thinking, well, if during the 2022 Olympiad, we became 75, that would be nice, because it would match the year of our independence. Four years later, we are at 100. It's a nice moment to sit back and feel satisfied."...