Nineteen-year-old Hyderabad IM P. Ajay Santhosh finished third at the 360 One Masters in Mumbai. Having crossed the 2500 FIDE rating milestone, he now targets a grueling four-tournament international circuit to secure his final two Grandmaster norms
Published Date – 18 June 2026, 07:48 PM
Hyderabad:IM P. Ajay Santhosh kept his Grandmaster dream firmly on track with a third-place finish at the 360 One Masters Chess Tournament, held at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai.
Competing in a 56-player field with an average rating of 2356, the Hyderabad-born IM scored 6 points from 9 rounds — finishing behind winner GM Iniyan P (7.5/9) and Russian GM Boris Savchenko (6.5/9). Seeded fourth with a FIDE rating of 2503, Ajay outsmarted several seasoned Grandmasters to claim his spot on the podium.
The 19-year-old is now tantalizingly close to the GM title, having already crossed the 2500 FIDE rating barrier and secured his first GM norm at the Baku Open 2026 earlier this year. Two more norms stand between him and India’s most coveted chess distinction.
A packed international schedule awaits. Ajay will next compete at the Chola Chess GM Round Robin in Chennai (June 20–28), before heading to Europe for the Chess Festival Ceske Budejovice 2026 in the Czech Republic, the Paris Masters, and the Dole Open in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Backed by his family and travel sponsor Viyona Fintech, Hyderabad, Ajay is pursuing his title campaign largely without institutional support. The cost of competing across four tournaments on two continents is substantial, and his camp continues to seek corporate backing to sustain one of Indian chess’s most promising GM pursuits.
