Raahul V S clinches 6th ASEAN Individual Open 2025 and becomes the 91st Grandmaster of India
IM Raahul V S became the 91st Indian to achieve the Grandmaster title on Saturday 8th November 2025. Raahul became a GM by the virtue of direct title as he won 6th ASEAN Individual Open Governor Henry S Oaminal Cup 2025. He won the tournament with a round to spare as he scored 7/8 and was 1.5 points ahead of the rest. Thus, the last round loss against IM Quoc Hy Nguyen (VIE) did not affect the overall outcome. Previously, Raahul had only one GM-norm by winning the Asian Junior Open 2021. In the past six months, India has gotten six Grandmasters which is same as 2013, 2017 and 2019. One more GM would make it the highest ever Indian GMs in a calendar year.
Raahul wins the tournament with a round to spare
IM Raahul V S is working with GM ShyamSundar M for quite some time. He is also one of the best trainers of India today. Four out of the six GMs India got this year are trained by ShyamSundar.
First GM-norm: Asian Junior 2021
IM Raahul V S earned his first GM-norm by winning Gold at Asian Junior Open in December 2021 in Waskaduwa, Sri Lanka. Raahul defeated IM Vardaan Nagpal, IM Harshavardhan G B, then IM Mitrabha Guha, and drew with IM Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari.
Raahul - Mitrabha, Round 5
Raahul V S (2387) won a wild game against then IM Mitrabha Guha (2509) in the fifth round.
Direct Title: 6th ASEAN Individual Open Governor Henry S Oaminal Cup 2025
Nearly four years later, Raahul earned direct GM title by winning 6th ASEAN Individual Open Governor Henry S Oaminal Cup 2025 in Misamis Occidental, Philippines. He won the tournament with a round to spare. Thus, the last round result became immaterial towards his championship and the title. Raahul scored 7/9, performed at 2601, drew against GM Tran Tuan Minh (VIE) en route to his GM title.
Raahul - Fabian, Round 8
29...f6? shifted things completely in White's favor. Raahul (2437) seized his opportunity 30.a4+- Rxe3 31.a5 Be6 32.Rff1 Re2 33.Rfd1 Ne2 34.Rd2 Nh3+ 35.Kf1 Re3 36.a6 Bc4+ 37.Kg2 Bxa6 38.Rxa6 White won the game, tournament and GM title.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | IM | Raahul, V S | IND | 2437 | 7 | 2403 | 43 | 47,5 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 5,16 | 1,84 | 10 | 18,4 | |
| 2 | 10 | IM | Nguyen, Quoc Hy | VIE | 2409 | 6,5 | 2337 | 40,5 | 43 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 6,5 | 5,61 | 0,89 | 10 | 8,9 | |
| 3 | 24 | FM | Bacojo, Mark Jay | PHI | 2298 | 6 | 2428 | 42,5 | 46 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3,03 | 1,97 | 20 | 39,4 | |
| 4 | 2 | IM | Amilal, Munkhdalai | MGL | 2446 | 6 | 2411 | 45 | 49,5 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 5,08 | 0,92 | 10 | 9,2 | |
| 5 | 13 | IM | Soham, Kamotra | IND | 2400 | 6 | 2325 | 38,5 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 5,65 | 0,35 | 10 | 3,5 | |
| 6 | 16 | IM | Yap, Kim Steven | PHI | 2387 | 5,5 | 2426 | 43,5 | 47 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 5,5 | 4,40 | 1,10 | 10 | 11 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | Tran, Tuan Minh | VIE | 2430 | 5,5 | 2385 | 45 | 48 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 5,5 | 5,37 | 0,13 | 10 | 1,3 | |
| 8 | 4 | IM | Bersamina, Paulo | PHI | 2431 | 5,5 | 2382 | 41,5 | 46 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 5,5 | 5,22 | 0,28 | 10 | 2,8 | |
| 9 | 1 | IM | Pham, Tran Gia Phuc | VIE | 2465 | 5,5 | 2379 | 43,5 | 48 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5,5 | 5,67 | -0,17 | 10 | -1,7 | |
| 10 | 7 | IM | Garcia, Jan Emmanuel | PHI | 2423 | 5,5 | 2379 | 41,5 | 44 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 5,5 | 5,30 | 0,20 | 10 | 2 |
Replay Raahul's games
GM ShyamSundar M shared with us - Becoming a GM is a dream for every chess player, and achieving a direct GM title is truly special. It gives a huge sense of relief at the moment of accomplishment. But the real journey starts after that! Maintaining the level and rising even higher requires continuous hard work. With his dedication and passion, I’m sure this GM title will serve as an extra boost and motivation for him, not a distraction.
Raahul's best achievements
• Gold - 6th ASEAN Individual 2025
• Gold - Asian Junior Classical and Blitz Open 2021
• Gold - Western Asian Junior Blitz Rating 2023
• Silver - Commonwealth Under-16 Open 2018
• Bronze - Asian Youth Under-16 Blitz 2016
• Bronze - Asian Club Champions League 2025
• Champion for Howling Jackals - Kavala Team Blitz 2023
• Champion - 1st Talent Chess Academy Rating Open 2019
• Champion - National Junior Open Online 2021
• Champion - 5th National Amateur 2016
• Champion - Queenstar Blitz Rating 2023
• Runner-up - 5th SKG Open - Greek Individual Championship 2024
• Second Runner-up - National Rapid 2022
• Second Runner-up - 23rd Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Under-2100 2016
• Champion - 44th Tamil Nadu State Sub-Junior Under-15 Open 2018
• Runner-up - 29th Tamil Nadu State Under-13 Boys 2016
• Second Runner-up - 27th Tamil Nadu State Under-11 Open 2014
• Champion - Chennai District Under-19 Boys 2020