Kannappan Priyadharshan is an Indian chess player who acquires the title of Grandmaster, typically viewed as among the most prestigious landmarks in chess. He was born on September 19, 1993 in Salem, a city located in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He picked up chess at five years old and achieved International Master status in 2011. He won a gold medal in an under-12 national tournament held in Calicut in 2005, and was also triumphant in the Salem State Championship, Chennai Open, Kottayam Nationals, and National "B" Rapid tournaments.
Priyadharshan moved to the United States in 2014 to pursue his higher studies and further his chess career. He has also trained under several known figures in the chess community, such as the Grandmaster Magesh Panchanathan and International Master Ramaswamy Balaji.
Notable achievements include winning a gold medal in under-18 category at the Commonwealth Chess Championship held in New Delhi in 2011. He obtained his first Grandmaster norm in the Barcelona Sitges tournament in 2009 and received his Grandmaster title on October 6, 2017.
At the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Georgia in 2018, he was part of the Indian chess team.
In the academic front, Priyadharshan graduated from the University of Texas, Dallas in 2019 with a degree in ITM (Information Technology Management).