G Akash became India’s 66th chess Grandmaster while his Tamil Nadu statemate M Pranesh and Goa’s Ameya Audi earned International Master titles.
The 23-year-old’s GM title was confirmed at the second council meet of International Chess Federation for the year 2020 held recently.
The Chennai-based player (FIDE rating 2495) said he was delighted to become a GM and among his immediate aim was to increase his rating to 2600.
“I am delighted to join the list of GMs in India. It is a special moment for me. I have to keep working hard and the aim is to increase my rating to 2600 as soon as I can,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Akash took a break to complete his studies in 2014 after winning the national title in 2012 and subsequently earning the IM title. He made a comeback in 2018 and worked hard to earn his coveted GM title.
“I took time off from the game to pursue an engineering degree and came back in 2018 and gained my GM norms and the title,” he added.
Akash, an electronics and communication engineering graduate, earned his third GM norm at the National ‘A’ championship in Sikkim last year, and the fourth norm in Prague earlier this year.
Akash is trained by K Visweswaran. Pranesh earned his IM title with a string of impressive performances in the Chennai Open 2019 and Delhi Open earlier this year. In the Aeroflot Open earlier this year, he scored an upset win over GM Boris Savchenko.
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