VS Rathanvel, India’s 99th Grandmaster

NEW DELHI: Last July, the congratulations arrived all at once. Reports and chess pages across India carried the same news that VS Rathanvel, a 25-year-old from Coimbatore, had crossed 2500 at the Guwahati Smart City International Open and become the country’s 99th Grandmaster (GM). It looked as if his four-year wait had just ended.Rathanvel had finished his norms by 2022. What he lacked was a FIDE standard rating of 2500. Throughout this period, he had been stuck in the high 2490s, and by his own count had reached the edge of 2500 “probably 3-4 times”.“You know that feel where you know you’re worthy of it, but somehow you’re not still getting there,” Rathanvel had told TimesofIndia.com after what he, along with many others, believed would be the moment he finally secured the GM title.Then, the August rating list came out, and surprisingly, his rating hadn’t improved. With his rating still below 2500, Rathanvel was still not a Grandmaster.

What went wrong?

In the month of July, Rathanvel, rated 2492 at that time, had gone to Assam, needing eight points in FIDE standard ratings to meet the criteria of becoming a Grandmaster.He played two back-to-back opens in Assam, the Ayodhana International (six games) and the Guwahati Smart City Open (five), seeded first and second.Nevertheless, he didn’t play all the games there. He took zero-point byes in some rounds, which kept his score low and kept the Swiss pairings feeding him lower-rated opponents.He won all 11 games, with ten of his opponents rated between 1451 and 1625 and one unrated.Each win against the rated players was worth only +0.8 because FIDE caps the rating gap at 400 points, and ten of them added up to exactly the eight points he needed to go from 2492 to 2500.In Ayodhana International, he skipped four rounds. And in Guwahati Smart City Open, he chose not to participate in five games. It was perhaps a smart move from Rathanvel.

His performance ratings in the two events, 2225 and 2299, were both below his own rating as he finished 77th and 246th in those tournaments, respectively. But a top finish was never on the agenda, as he just needed eight points to qualify for the GM title.He had achieved it, and it felt as if India had gotten its 99th GM.

The strange part and FIDE’s stance on titles

Both tournaments were rated. Together, over 400 participants each at Ayodhana and Guwahati Open had their ratings updated. Rathanvel’s rating, however, stayed the same.Unlike the Tamil Nadu-based player, his opponents were in the updated rating list, but each of them had one game fewer than they actually played against rated opponents, the missing game being the one against Rathanvel.Therefore, it can be concluded that all games played in those tournaments were counted, except for those involving Rathanvel.“I have no idea (why it happened),” Rathanvel told TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive interaction. “FIDE and the Indian Chess Federation (AICF) may have even had some discussion. I am not sure what happened. I was also not able to get satisfactory responses.”The current rules follow the FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 January 2024, published in the FIDE Handbook under the Qualification Commission’s International Title Regulations, in the section on norm-based titles (clause 1.4).Clause 1.4.2 lists what FIDE refuses to count towards a title. Games against opponents who do not belong to FIDE federations do not count (players with the “FID” federation are accepted but are not treated as foreign players). Games against unrated players who score zero against rated opponents in round robins do not count. Neither do games decided by forfeit, adjudication or any means other than over-the-board play, although other games, once started, are counted.A whole tournament can also be thrown out if “changes are made which have the effect of benefitting one or more players”, for example by altering the number of rounds, or the order of rounds, or “providing particular opponents, not otherwise participating in the event”.The formats allowed in title tournaments are Swiss, round robin, double round robin and knockout, and any other format needs the prior approval of the Qualification Commission Chairperson. The Qualification Commission is described as the “final judging unit” for titles, so it decides whether a result falls under any of these.

The weight of an announcement

The news was out that he was India’s 99th GM, while, in reality, FIDE didn’t approve it. “People had already made an announcement that I was the 99th GM,” he added. “Every media channel covered it.”There was no neat way to handle that.“If people say that you achieved something, and suddenly they also say that it’s not yours,” he recalled. “Pressure was obviously there, probably even much more considering the circumstances.”Even when he knew he had to chase the 2500 rating again, the situation did not help him in his game either.“Strength was obviously there, but my mindset was not in a perfect state. A lot of pressure and other things happening around it, it was very difficult to focus,” he admitted.What helped was a mentor, whose name he chose not to share.“Luckily I managed to find a very nice mentor, and somehow he managed to put me on the right track.” Asked to name him, Rathanvel laughed it off: “I’d like to keep him secret for a while.”

Doing it again

The only way to settle things was on the board, all over again. In October, he played the 22nd Chefchaouen International Open in Morocco and won the title there, finishing unbeaten on 7/9 with five wins and four draws.He beat Grandmasters like Deep Sengupta and David Larino Nieto along the way.Round seven, against Larino Nieto, was the one that counted.“I knew that if I win against Larino in Round 7, I will be very close to 2500, probably 2499.7 or something,” he added. “And they consider 2499.7 as 2500. So I managed to win him, and eventually I crossed it.”FIDE’s Qualification Commission confirmed in 2025 that rating-based titles can be awarded on live ratings, but it was not obvious that a live 2499.7 rounds up the way a published figure would.Rathanvel’s tournament finished with two draws, leaving his live rating at 2497.7.So he kept playing. Last week, at the Dr. Kantor Sandor Memorial in Debrecen, Hungary, he beat WFM Sara Maria Sunea and GM Attila Czebe in the first two rounds. That added 3.4 points and took his live rating to 2501.1, a figure with no rounding argument attached.His norms had been in place for years. The rating, at last, was above the line, and Rathanvel was India’s 99th GM again.Asked how it felt, Rathanvel sighed, “Eventually things went well, and I’m kind of relieved more than a celebration, I would say.”Rathanvel waited four years for a number, saw it celebrated, watched it vanish, and then had to go out and earn it a second time. Strangely, the only thing that feels settled is how he feels about it. He is relieved, not triumphant, and for now that is the part nobody can take back.