![\"Anuj](\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/th-online\/1x1_spacer.png\" "\\"Anuj")
<\/picture><\/div>\nA job offer in a Germany-based IT company was on hand, but Anuj Shrivatri chose a career in chess over being a software professional. He doesn\u2019t regret that decision. The 22-year-old provided cheer to India by becoming the country\u2019s 100th Grandmaster on Sunday when it was celebrating the festival of lights.<\/p>\n
Ever since V.S. Rathanvel became the 99th GM, the question of who would the 100th was on the minds of chess-lovers. And, Anuj did it, winning the seventh ASEAN Plus individual open chess championship in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels very good to become a GM and being the country\u2019s 100th is special,\u201d he told The Hindu<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been trying to become a GM and winning the tournament earned me the title directly. All the hard work paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n
He admitted there was some pressure at the business-end but he made it a point not to overthink and miss out on the opportunity. \u201cI played some really good chess in the last two rounds to win and clinch the title,\u201d Anuj, who became the first-ever GM from Madhya Pradesh said.<\/p>\n
Having realised the GM dream, he said \u201cthe focus is to cross the 2600 barrier and win lot of tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Introduced to chess by his father (Ashok) at the age of six, he took a liking to it and made rapid strides with support from the family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t thank my father and mother enough. They encouraged me to pursue chess when there was a good job offer,\u201d Anuj, who admires World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Indian legend Viswanathan Anand, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpenings and end-games are my forte and time-management is something which I can improve on,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Having chosen the game of 64 squares over cloud computing, he is already on cloud nine and aiming for the sky.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n