Kolkata-based Chess player, Mitrabha Guha, becomes India’s 72nd Grandmaster, two days later India got its 71st Gradmaster Sankalp Gupta.

Mitrabha Guha completed the requirement of becoming a Grandmaster by securing his third and final GM norm at GM Third Saturday Mix 220- Novi Sad, Serbia. He defeated GM Nikola Sedlak of Serbia in the penultimate ninth round. The 20-year old started the event with four consecutive victories before making a draw with GM Pier Luigi Basso of Italy. In the sixth round, he suffered a loss against GM Vladimir Zakhartsov of Russia, but bounced back strongly by winning against GMs Miroslav Markovic and Nikola Sedlak, both representing Serbia, in consecutive games.

Mitrabha scored his first Grandmaster and International Master-norm at the same event at Santi Marti in Spain in 2018. During the pandemic he has won several events including AICF National Online Senior championship. On 3rd April2021, the then IM Mitrabha faced the world champion Magnus Carlsen in friendly blitz matches twice and managed to win against him on both occasions.

Mitrabha,who has become the 9th Grandmaster from West Bengal, started playing Chess at the age of 4. He was trained under India’s second Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua. He became India’s 72nd Grandmaster, just two days later Nagpur-based Sankalp Gupta became the 71st Grandmaster.