SLUMP TO SUCCESS FOR SIDDHARTH

S'porean grandmaster wins historic U-18 world title, eyes more glory at SEA Games

- Melvyn Teoh

After the high of attaining his grandmaster title in 2024, Siddharth Jagadeesh found himself in a slump.

The 18-year-old, who is the youngest Singaporean holding the highest chess title of grandmaster, played in more than a dozen tournaments from January to August 2025, and dropped nearly 50 Elo rating points — a measurement of a player’s ability - from 2,515 to 2,467.

He admitted that he had found himself uninspired, saying: “The dip in performance was very unpleasant for sure and I think it was caused by some sort of aimlessness and lack of motivation because I had just become a grand master.

“It took me quite some time to figure it out and it was a good learning process... I dropped a lot of points and am not back to my peak rating, but I think I’m a stronger and more mature player.”

With that newfound maturity, Siddharth achieved history for Singapore chess on Oct 15, when he prevailed in the Under-18 category of the World Youth Chess Championships in Durres, Albania.

The Ilth seed took the lead after starting strongly with four straight wins in the International Chess Federation (Fide) event, but had to endure a nervy wait after his loss to Poland’s fourth-seeded Jakub Seemann in the Ilth and final round on Oct 15.