Hailing from Maharashtra, Aditya Samant’s remarkable journey in the chess world culminated in him achieving the esteemed title of India’s 83rd Grandmaster during the Master Tournament (MTO) at the renowned Biel International Chess Festival. The path to this achievement commenced with his first GM norm earned at the Abu Dhabi Masters in August 2022, followed by securing the second GM norm at the 3rd El Llobregat Open in December of the same year.
Drawing his eighth-round game against Bu Xiangzhi was a crucial moment for Samant as he only needed to complete one more round, regardless of the outcome, to fulfill the requirements for the GM norm. As the ninth round commenced, his live rating stood at 2525.4. In the BielChess MTO 2023 tournament held in Switzerland, Samant faced Aryan Chopra in a gripping ninth-round match.
The title of Grandmaster (GM) holds immense significance in the world of chess, bestowed upon players by the esteemed world chess organization FIDE. It stands as the highest attainable title for a chess player, second only to the illustrious World Champion title. To be awarded the prestigious Grandmaster title, a player must achieve a 2500 FIDE classical (or ‘standard’) rating and obtain three GM norms, as per the current regulations set by FIDE.
The Biel Chess Festival 2023, which took place from 17th to 27th July in Biel, Switzerland, adopted a captivating 10-round Swiss tournament format. Competing players were allotted 100 minutes for their initial 40 moves, followed by 15 minutes for the remaining part of the game, with a 30-second increment for each move from the beginning. Ultimately, Lê Quang Liêm emerged as the champion, while the talented Indian player Aryan Chopra secured an impressive third position in the tournament.
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