Next international master?

I’d just returned from the 20th Malaysia Chess Festival about a week ago. It was a good experience, slipping back into the groove as a working arbiter after such a long lay-off, though I must admit it wasn’t without anxieties. Knowledge fades and confidence wavers when they're not used, and I often found myself second-guessing small details. If I’m serious about continuing as an arbiter, I’ll need more hands-on practice. But do I really want that? The hours on my feet were longer than any chess game, and at my age, it’s not something I relish. The truth is, I only wanted to take the “inactive” tag off my name on the FIDE list. Whether I’ll succeed in doing so remains to be seen.

Still, there were plenty of bright moments during the festival, and one in particular stood out. I watched a 14-year-old boy, Kavin Mohan, achieve his second international master norm in the Open tournament. Kavin has been around the circuit since he was six, and I’d noticed him several times before. Last year in Penang, he turned up at the Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championships, playing in the under-14, but he didn’t make much of an impact there. Even then, he was already a Candidate Master. By October he had broken into the national team, playing on board three at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. That experience, the exposure to world-class opposition at such a young age, must have been transformative. He came back brimming with confidence and the following months proved it.

In December 2024, he tested himself again at the Singapore International Open. Then, in April this year, he made a breakthrough at home by winning the Malaysian national championships. July brought him back to Penang for the ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships, and I began to watch him more closely. He looked a little overwhelmed by the occasion there, his results indifferent, but something had already begun to shift. In August, at the Chess Hub–MCF GM-IM Invitational in Kuala Lumpur, he scored his first international master norm. Barely a month later, in September, he came roaring at the Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia Open, winning the event outright and collecting his second norm in the process. Two norms in the space of two months, that’s impressive for anyone, let alone a 14-year-old boy.

What’s more, his rating tells the same story. In May last year, he had only just scraped past the 2000 barrier. Today, even before his Malaysia Open victory is counted, he sits at 2309. Once the September results are published, I expect another 37 points will be added, pushing him close to the 2350 mark. From there, the next big milestones will be obvious: secure a third IM norm and cross 2400. That will take him into new territory, and I suspect it won’t be long.

Of course, Kavin is not alone on this road. He belongs to a generation that is already reshaping Malaysia’s chess landscape. Alongside him is Poh Yu Tian, only a year or two older, who is now chasing his first grandmaster norm after proving himself in tough European tournaments. And always ahead, setting the standard, is Yeoh Li Tian, Malaysia’s first grandmaster-elect and the player who showed that the barrier could finally be broken.

It would be too simple to label them as past, present and future. The truth is, their journeys are happening together. Li Tian continues to fly the flag at the top, Yu Tian is pushing hard towards the same goal and Kavin, not far behind, is steadily ticking off each milestone. Three different points on the same road, their struggles and triumphs feeding into one another. To me, they represent the strongest wave of Malaysian chess talent we’ve seen for a long time and perhaps the best chance yet to make our mark on the wider stage.