Meet Singapore’s newest GM, Siddharth Jagadeesh

The Singapore Chess Federation is proud to announce that 17-year old Siddharth Jagadeesh has achieved his final Grandmaster norm and is now Singapore’s youngest ever Chess Grandmaster.

After a good start at the 2024 Sharjah Masters where he had a score of 2 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws after 6 rounds against world class opposition, Siddharth was in a comfortable position as he just needed a single point from his last 3 rounds to achieve a Grandmaster norm result. In round 7, he faced the American Abhimanyu Mishra whom at 15, is the world’s current youngest Grandmaster.

The game proceeded according to plan. Siddharth had a very slight disadvantage going into the endgame but the game was heading towards the calm waters of a draw. Disaster struck, as the American youngest applied pressure, bit by bit, move by move, and finally in severe time trouble, Siddharth made a huge mistake resulting in a loss.

There is no doubt that such a heartbreaking defeat would have broken many chess players. It did not help that he was then paired with Andrey Esipenko who is considered one of Russia’s top talents in recent years. Esipenko had defeated Siddharth twice last year in rather convincing fashion, which no doubt played a considerable factor to his psyche in the build up to this round 8 match.

However, Siddharth played a thrilling game, sacrificing a piece early in the opening and obliterating Black’s queenside defences. Esipenko was visibly shaken at his opponent’s approach and with very little time, failed to put up the best resistance to the game. And finally at move 31, he extended his hand in resignation, handing Siddharth a much cherished win, his final GM norm, and us, a new chess grandmaster.

Remarkable resilience from the young man and congratulations to him and his family who have sacrificed so much for his chess playing career!