Harikrishnan A Ra turns into Indias 87th Grandmaster

The 23-year-old lastly earned his third and closing GM-norm within the La Plagne International Chess Festival in France on Friday (July 11, 2025). Harikrishnan drew together with his countrymate P. Iniyan within the closing spherical to complete fourth and turn into India’s 87th GM.

Speaking from La Plagne (France), Harikrishnan expressed a sigh of aid. “Feel very pleased. It’s been seven years. I agree there was an enormous delay to turn into a GM. From 2022, I’ve been competing usually in tournaments, however couldn’t get the GM norms. It was actually a battle,” Harikrishnan informed The Hindu on Saturday (July 12, 2025).

He acquired his first GM-norm within the Biel International Chess Festival in 2023 in Switzerland and his second norm within the Lince Andujar Chess Open in June this 12 months in Spain.

According to Harikrishnan, he knew that he wanted 1.5 factors within the final two rounds to turn into a GM. “There was stress and I’m glad I did it,” he mentioned. He defeated Jules Moussard of France within the eighth spherical and drew with Iniyan within the ninth and final spherical to finish his third GM-norm.

Harikrishnan, who simply accomplished his M. Com from SRM, is considering enjoying in fairly a number of tournaments in Spain and Portugal earlier than returning to his hometown Chennai. “I wish to proceed enjoying until I get the Elo score of 2600. I additionally plan to do my Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in USA,” he mentioned.