About IM Suyog Wagh

I started playing at around eleven, in Ahmednagar, a city in Maharashtra that isn't exactly on the world chess map. It didn't take long for chess to stop being a hobby.

At school level I was a two-time gold medalist at national school events, and won an individual board gold at the National School Games as captain of the Maharashtra team. I represented India at two World Junior Championships, in 2014 and 2019, and at the Western Asian Chess Championship, and in 2018 I won gold in the Under-20 section of the Commonwealth Championship. Those events showed me what the level above looked like, and how far I still had to go. I became a FIDE Master in 2018, and won the Maharashtra State Rapid and Blitz titles the following year.

Chess has since taken me to tournaments across Asia and Europe, from Vietnam and Malaysia to Spain, the Netherlands and Azerbaijan.

The IM title took longer than I wanted

In January 2022 I went to Serbia to chase my first IM norm. I fell just short in the first tournament, and again in the second. In the third, the Orbis-2 round robin in Paraćin, I finished unbeaten on 7.5/9 and got it. Four months later came a second norm in Prague.

Then nothing, for more than two years. The third norm finally came in Abu Dhabi in 2024. In July 2025 I scored two in ten days, at Andújar in Spain and La Plagne in France, crossed 2400 on the August rating list, and became an International Master.

That stretch taught me more than any win. When you get close to a norm and miss it, you can't blame luck forever. You have to sit with your games and find the decisions that actually cost you. They are almost never the ones you expected.

Why I coach

I teach one to one, online. Students so far have ranged from 7 to 49 years old. Some wanted to reach a rating milestone, some felt stuck and didn't know what to study, and some were parents looking for a proper plan for their child.

What they had in common is what I had in common with myself on the way to IM: they were working hard, but not on the right things. Showing someone the two or three habits that keep costing them points, and then seeing them stop happening, is the most satisfying part of my week.

I enjoy it for a selfish reason too. Explaining a position properly forces you to understand it properly.

Why it matters that I still play

I'm an active tournament player, still working towards the Grandmaster title. When I suggest how to build a repertoire, prepare for an opponent or handle your clock, it's because I'm doing the same thing in my own events, not repeating something from a book.

Away from the board I make chess videos, to share my journey and help people improve.

How I coach →  ·  Full career timeline →