Mumbai, Oct 30 : In a pleasant surprise to Indian chess fans, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand on Thursday announced that 16-year-old Chennai boy Ilamparthi A.R. has become a Grandmaster, joining the prestigious club as another prodigy from the country.

"Happy to announce Ilamparthi as a GM ilamparthi! As part of @WacaChess, we couldn't have been prouder. He has been missing the title on a few occasions, but each time he came back and worked harder. I really believe he has a lot of potential, and we hope to work together towards greater achievements," Anand wrote in a post on X.

Born in 2009, Ilamparthi thus became the 90th chess Grandmaster in the country as he reached the milestone by securing his final GM norm at the Bijeljina Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Thursday. He has a rating of 2518 in Classical chess and thus fulfils the requirements for getting the GM title.

The 16-year-old student of the Velammal School in Chennai, the alma mater of Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, is considered one of the top prospects in the next generation of Indian chess players. He had completed his International Master's title in 2023.

Congratulating the youngster, AICF president Nitin Narang posted on X: 'Grandmaster No. 90 for Bharat! Congratulations to Ilamparthi AR on fulfilling all the requirements to become the 90th Grandmaster of the country. Wishing you many more laurels and continued success in making the nation proud.'

Ilamparthi is a trainee of the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) of which Vishy is a mentor. Indian talents like Nihal Sarin, R. Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani, D. Gukesh and R. Vaishali have been associated with WACA in the past.

He has emerged as another shining star of the Indian chess stable, which has so far produced two World Champions in Classical chess -- Anand and Gukesh -- and numerous winners in rapid, blitz and global age-group chess competitions in the last three decades.

/IANS