Akash becomes India's 66th chess GM; Ameya gets International Master title

"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 said

Tamil Nadu's G Akash became the country's 66th chess Grandmaster while his statemate M Pranesh and Goa's Ameya Audi earned International Master titles.

Akash's GM title was confirmed at the second council meet of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the year 2020 held recently.

The Chennai 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 told PTI.

Having won the national title in 2012 and earned the IM title subsequently, Akash took a break to pursue an engineering degree in 2014. 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.

The Chennai-based player, a former national champion, is trained by K Visweswaran.

Like all sportspersons, he has been forced to remain at home due to the Covid-19 lockdown and said he does miss playing tournaments and is waiting for normalcy to return.

Chennai-based Pranesh earned his IM title with a string of impressive performances in the Chennai Open 2019 and Delhi Open earlier this year. He did well in the Aeroflot Open earlier where he scored an upset win over GM Boris Savchenko.