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 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.