G. Akash has become the country’s 66th Grandmaster. “I am really happy to become a GM even though I was not thinking about it. I know with the process I follow, it was only a matter of time.

Akash got his third GM norm in the National senior chess championship in Majhitar (Sikkim) last year, but his rating fell short of the required Elo mark of 2500.

He played another five tournaments across the world to reach that rating. For three months from January, he played in Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands), Copenhagen (Denmark), Prague and Liberec (Czech Republic). He attained his final norm in Bad Worishofen (Germany) in March. As for future plans, Akash, an engineering graduate from Anna University who is coached by K. Visweswaran, said he had plans for higher studies, but at the moment he wanted to focus on chess.