| Leon Luke Mendonca | |
|---|---|
 Mendonca in 2023 | |
| Born | 13 March 2006 Goa, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2021) |
| FIDE rating | 2631 (November 2024) |
| Peak rating | 2642 (December 2024) |
| Peak ranking | No. 91 (December 2024) |
Leon Luke Mendonca (born 13 March 2006) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He is the sixty-seventh Indian to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in January 2021.
Mendonca became an International Master (IM) in 2019 at the age of 12 years, 11 months and 3 days. [1] He got stuck in Eastern Europe due to COVID lockdowns in March 2020. He attained his first Grandmaster norm at the Rigochess Grandmaster tournament in Hungary in October 2020. Within a span of 21 days, he won another Grandmaster tournament at Budapest earning him the second Grandmaster norm. [2] Mendonca achieved his third and final norm in December 2020 by finishing second at the Vergani Cup in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. He became the second grandmaster from the state of Goa after Anurag Mhamal achieving the feat at 14 years, 9 months and 17 days. [3] [4] He was officially awarded the title of grandmaster (GM) in January 2021. [5]
In January 2024, Mendonca won the Challengers' section of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, qualifying him for the Masters section in 2025.
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the title can be revoked for cheating.
A chess prodigy is a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even titled chess masters. Some chess prodigies have progressed to become grandmasters or even World Chess Champions.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess grandmaster. She's a runner-up of the World Championship and the winner of the World Rapid Championship 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster aged 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, a record only since surpassed by Hou Yifan. Humpy is a gold medalist at the Olympiad, Asian Games, and Asian Championship. She is also the first Indian female grandmaster.
Events in chess in 2006:
Anish Kumar Giri is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he completed the requirements for the grandmaster title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days. Giri is a five-time Dutch champion and won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has represented the Netherlands at seven Chess Olympiads. He has also won major international tournaments, including the 2012 Reggio Emilia tournament, 2017 Reykjavik Open, 2023 Tata Steel Chess, and shared 1st place in the 2015 London Chess Classic. In 2019 he won clear first at the Third Edition of the Shenzhen Masters.
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms. Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE.
Richárd Rapport is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungarian Chess Champion in 2017 and was the fifth-rated player in the world in May 2022.
Akshayraj Kore, is an Indian chess player and a Grandmaster. In 2006, he became Maharashtra's youngest International Master at the time after he won the Invitational IM Norm Round Robin Chess Tournament in Luhansk, Ukraine. In February 2013, he became India's 32nd Grandmaster.
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi is an Indian chess grandmaster. He is a double gold medalist at the Olympiad. He is also a silver medalist at the Asian Games. Gujrathi attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating of 2700. He became the third Indian to qualify for the Candidates tournament by winning Grand Swiss 2023.
Akshat Chandra is an American chess player. He started playing Chess during a visit to India in 2009 when he was nine years old. In 2015, he won the US National K-12 Championship and was also the US Junior Champion, the first time both titles were held by the same person in a single year. He earned the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in March 2017.
Vaishali Rameshbabu is an Indian chess grandmaster. Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is an Indian chess grandmaster. As of 2 September 2024, Praggnanandhaa is ranked 12th in the world by the International Chess Federation. Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
Aryan Chopra is an Indian chess prodigy who became a grandmaster (GM) in 2016, at the age of 14 years, 9 months and 3 days. The title was officially awarded by FIDE in 2017. He became the second youngest Indian to become Grandmaster, after Parimarjan Negi.
Gukesh Dommaraju, also known as Gukesh D, is an Indian chess grandmaster. He is the third-youngest grandmaster in history, the third-youngest to reach a chess rating of 2700, the youngest to reach a rating of 2750, and is the eighteenth-highest rated player in history with a peak rating of 2794. He is also the youngest Candidates Tournament winner and the youngest contender to compete for the World Championship. He has won one team and two individual gold medals at the Olympiad as well as one bronze team medal. He is a silver medalist at the Asian Games.
Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess grandmaster and chess prodigy. He is the youngest player to attain the grandmaster title, having obtained it at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days. Along with the feat of becoming the youngest GM in history, Mishra also holds or has held additional "youngest" chess performance titles and records.
Bharath Subramaniyam is an Indian chess grandmaster (GM).
Srija Seshadri is an Indian female chess player. FIDE awarded her the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in July 2019.
Arjun Kalyan, is an Indian chess player. He has the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in April 2021.
Ivan Zemlyanskii is a Russian chess grandmaster.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
