Nihal Sarin bags maiden Grand Master norm

KOCHI: Promising chess player Nihal Sarin, who became an International Master (IM) recently, bagged his first Grand Master (GM) norm finishing fourth in the Fagernes GM group championship, also the open Norwegian championship in Norway on Sunday. The 12-year old Kerala boy finished the 9-round event with six points. Nihal needs two more GM norms to become a GM.
Nihal's performance in the Fagernes championship has been of great quality as he played six GM's in the 9-round tournament.He successfully registered five draws and a win against those better ranked GM's to finish the tournament on a high note. Nihal's convincing win in the event came in the sixth round as he beat 35-year old Russian GM Evegeny Postny.
Nihal who had a below par campaign in Sharjah Masters chess last month, got off to a great start in Norway beating hosts' Frode Lillevold in the first round. Nihal continued his good show in the next round too as he defeated India's Garg Aradhya. Nihal was in contention for a top three finish till the eighth round but a draw in the final round against Israel GM Alon Greenfeld saw him finishing fourth in the tournament.
Nihal, who idolises world champion Magnus Carlsen, would be eyeing to bag two more norms in the remaining tournaments to become the GM. Former national and Asian champion Parimarjan Negi holds the record as the youngest GM from India. Negi achieved the feat when he was 13 years and 142 days of age.
Nihal will be travelling to Iceland this week to participate in the Reykjavik Open from 19th April to 27th April.