Former under-10 world champion Sahaj Grover became India's youngest International Master, winning the final round game against the higher-rated Nicolas Clery to finish fifth in the International Open Chess tournament in Le Touquet.

Sahaj was the cynosure of all eyes in a strong field comprising seven Grandmasters and eight International Masters. The class IX student started with two wins, including a spectacular effort against Grandmaster Vyacheslav Ikonnikov of Russia and five draws and a couple of more wins later, he assured himself of his sixth International Master norm which was inconsequential.

Though just 2288 as per ELO ratings of September 2009, Sahaj gained the required points to scale his rating well past the 2400 mark.

The youngster, who also made his maiden Grandmaster norm just a month earlier during the Kolkata open tournament, will be 2372 in the next rating list due on the November 1 and here he gained as many as 35 points to breach the 2400 mark - a must for International Masters.

It was an easy ride for Sahaj after he won against Ikonikkov in the second round, which also got him the award for the best game of the day.

A spate of draws followed, including one against eventual champion IM Jean Noel Riff, and in the last two rounds the 14-year-old was in his element once again as he tormented Frenchman Christan Kieffer in the penultimate round and cruised past Nicolas Clery - ranked 86 points higher than him in current FIDE list -- in his final effort.

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