IM Fahad fails to earn norm in Vietnam
Sports Desk
Bangladesh’s International Master (IM) Fahad Rahman failed to earn his second Grandmaster (GM) norm from the Hanoi GM2 chess tournament 2025 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The 21-year-old, who achieved his first GM norm after beating FM Banh Gia Hay of Vietnam in the Hanoi GM3 Chess in Vietnam in May 2024, was expecting to earn his GM title this year.
He has to earn at least three norms in the tournaments covering a minimum of 27 games to achieve the GM title from FIDE.
According to the FIDE, the norms can be achieved in those tournaments which fulfill its criteria, such as there should be at least three GMs from different countries playing over a minimum of nine rounds with not less than 120 minutes of thinking time per round.
However, Fahad, who flew to Hanoi last Friday, expected to earn at least 7 points to achieve his second GM norm from this tournament, but he earned 4.5 points from seven games after the round eight.
The Bangladeshi IM drew with GM Tran Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the seventh round and GM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam in the eighth round, both held on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a total of 10 chess players, including three GMs, five IMs and one FIDE Master, from Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam took part there.
