Harikrishna aspires to become Super GM

India's youngest chess Grandmaster Pendyala Harikrishna, who won the just-concluded Commonwealth chess championship in London, said his greatest ambition is to become a Super chess Grandmaster.

The 15-year-old Grandmaster, on arrival from London on Wednesday, was felicitated by the IT giant Wipro in Bangalore.

Harikrishna said he was inspired by Indian Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand's fast thinking and play .

Thanking Wipro for sponsoring him, he said the coaching he underwent under Mr Koshy and later Grandmaster Evegeny Vladimirov provided him the much-needed exposure to win the Asian championship at Calcutta and the Commonwealth championship now.

Wipro chairman and managing director Azim Premji, who presented him a silver plaque, congratulated him for his outstanding achievement and said: ''The next step for Hari is to become a Super GM, by getting a 2600-plus Elo rating and then go on to become India's youngest world champion. The entire Wipro family is extremely proud of him and his achievements.''

Wipro has been sponsoring chess players as part of its brand building activities and Harikrishna was appointed its brand ambassador.

Harikrishna, who hails from Chilakaluripet of Andhra Pradesh, is associated with Wipro since April 2000 and during his meteoric rise he attained his first GM norm in november 2000, the second in January 2001 and finally the third norm in August. He had played tournaments in Switzerland, Dubai, Teheran, Delhi and Calcutta to become the youngest GM of the country.