Relieved he was able to finally achieve the last norm, says GM A.R. Ilamparthi’s father

Chennai’s A.R. Ilamparthi (16) became India’s 90th Grandmaster, securing his final GM norm at the Bijeljina tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

Reacting to his feat, his father Ravikumar said that he felt elated for his son, especially after Ilamparthi failed to achieve the final norm over six tournaments since April this year. “He missed by a whisker in all those tournaments!” he added.

The 47-year-old, who’s a software engineer, said that Ilamparthi could have become a GM earlier had he been able to participate in a lot of tournaments. “I have a younger son, who has epilepsy. So, I wasn’t able to accompany Ilamparthi all the time. Till last year, either his coach (GM Shyam Sundar) or I used to accompany him to tournaments abroad. I used to cook for him. Now, he’s able to travel on his own. I’ve taught him how to manage on his own,” he said.

Ravikumar mentioned that he spoke with Ilamparthi over the phone. “He said he wants to break the 2600 Elo mark and then become a super GM!”

Ilamparthi achieved his first GM norm at the Ha Noi tournament in Vietnam in December 2023. He scored his second GM norm at the Singapore International Open in 2024, and crossed the 2500 Elo mark at the 2024-25 Rilton Cup.

Published on Oct 30, 2025