October 14 will be a memorable day for Chennai lad G Akash, who won the National Premier Chess Championship in Kolkata ahead of strong players like B Adhiban, GN Gopal and MR Venkatesh. The win is all the more special as he equalled the record of World champion Viswanathan Anand by winning the National title at 16.
Starting as 29th seed, it was a sensational performance by Akash, who defeated three GMs (Neelotpal Das, S Kidambi & MR Venkatesh) en route to his title triumph, and had a performance rating of 2598.
“I feel happy,” was how the new national champion summed up his title triumph from Kolkata. “Daily practice before the tournament helped me,’’ said a modest Akash.
Akash has been training under RB Ramesh and the partnership has worked wonders. “I worked hard with Ramesh, my coach. We worked a lot on the openings and on all other aspects of the game,” pointed out Akash.
Ramesh had words of praise for his ward and predicted a bright future for the youngster. “I was expecting an IM norm. Winning a junior national title is a good feat, but Senior national is something out of the world,” said Ramesh. “Even I have not won the senior national title but I’m happy that my student has won it,” said an elated Ramesh.
Akash’s cool, calm approach and never-say die attitude helped him join the illustrious company of Anand. “He has a cool head, not too excited and always focussed on the game. His fighting qualities sets him apart and I’m sure he has a great future. He is a quick learner and has been making rapid strides. His game is sure to get better with time,” observed Ramesh.