From Viswanathan Anand to Divya Deshmukh – Complete list of Indian Grandmasters

In 1987, when Viswanathan Anand became India’s first chess Grandmaster, few could have predicted that the country would produce 87 more GMs in just 38 years. Today, with 88 Grandmasters (as of July 2025), India stands as a global chess powerhouse, trailing only behind traditional giants like Russia and the USA. The recent addition of Divya Deshmukh as India’s 88th GM marks another milestone in this extraordinary journey.

What makes this story remarkable isn’t just the numbers—it’s the youth revolution (with teens like Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh dominating world chess) and the geographical spread (from Tamil Nadu’s chess factories to Maharashtra’s rising stars). This article explores the complete list of Indian GMs, their distribution across states, and what’s driving this unprecedented boom.

List of Indian Grandmasters –

From just 1 GM in 1987 to 88 in 2025, India’s chess trajectory mirrors its ambition to become the game’s global epicenter. With:
✔ Teenage phenoms regularly defeating world champions
✔ Grassroots systems producing 5-10 new GMs annually
✔ Corporate sponsorships fueling the ecosystem

The question is no longer if India will produce another World Champion after Anand, but when. As legendary coach R.B. Ramesh notes: “We’re not just creating GMs anymore—we’re building a generation that can dominate chess for decades.”