Odisha: The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) had a thumping victory in both Open and Women categories respectively in the National Team Chess Championship which concluded today in KIIT Campus, Bhubneshwar. Team PSPB amassed 9 match points in the nine-round Open category. Followed by Airport Authority of India (AAI) at 7 match points and Railway Sports Promotion Board – B with 5 match points.
In the 8th round, Odisha-KIIT proved no match for PSPB as the host team lost 0:4. This win pushed PSPB to claim the National title with a round to spare. In the final round, BSNL’s Hemal Karsanji Thanki held higher rated GM Adhiban Baskaran (PSPB) to a draw. Apart from this minor hiccup, PSPB made a clean sweep in next three boards. The final score was ½ :3½.
As PSPB claimed the title, the battle was for second position among other teams. In the penultimate round, AAI outclassed Bengal Chess-B and convincingly (3 : 1 ) defeated stronger Railway Sports Promotion Board – A.
Railway Sports Promotion Board – B finished 3rd with 5 match points.
GM Adhiban Baskaran was awarded the best player prize. He scored 8.0/9 points.
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Games | + | = | – | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 1 | Petroleum Sports Promotion Board | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 32,0 |
| 2 | 2 | Airport Authority of India | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 28,0 |
| 3 | 5 | Railway Sports Promotion Board – B | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 25,0 |
| 4 | 3 | Railway Sports Promotion Board – A | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 24,0 |
| 5 | 4 | Air India | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 23,0 |
| 6 | 6 | Life Insurance Corporation | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 19,5 |
| 7 | 9 | Bengal Chess-B | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 19,0 |
| 8 | 10 | Odisha-A | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 19,0 |
| 9 | 8 | Odisha-KIIT | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 18,0 |
| 10 | 16 | Bihar | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 21,0 |
| 11 | 15 | Uttar Pradesh | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 20,0 |
| 12 | 17 | Defence Accounts Sports Control Board | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 20,0 |
| 13 | 7 | Bengal Chess-A | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 19,5 |
| 14 | 11 | Tamilnadu | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 19,0 |
| 15 | 12 | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 17,0 |
| 16 | 18 | Gujarat | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 21,0 |
| 17 | 21 | Odisha-MCF-2 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 18,5 |
| 18 | 19 | Services Sports Control Board | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 17,5 |
| 19 | 14 | Assam | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 17,0 |
| 20 | 23 | Reserve Bank of India | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 16,0 |
| 21 | 27 | Telangana | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 18,5 |
| 22 | 20 | Odisha-MCF-3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 16,5 |
| 23 | 29 | Himachal Pradesh | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 16,5 |
| 24 | 22 | Andhra Pradesh | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 16,0 |
| 25 | 13 | Odisha-MCF-1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 18,5 |
| 26 | 28 | Maharashtra-B | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 16,0 |
| 27 | 25 | Maharashtra-A | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 16,0 |
| 28 | 26 | Odisha-B | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 15,5 |
| 29 | 31 | Odisha-KCA | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 14,5 |
| 30 | 30 | Punjab | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 12,5 |
| 31 | 24 | Odisha-MCF-4 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 14,0 |
| 32 | 34 | Himachal Pradesh-A | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 13,5 |
| 33 | 32 | Karnataka | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 13,0 |
| 34 | 33 | Haryana | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 13,0 |
| 35 | 35 | UP-Kaushambi Academy | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2,0 |
Team Women
PSPB Women’s team followed the footsteps of Open’s team. In the penultimate round, they dismantled host Odisha-KIIT with 4 : 0. and made a clean sweep against Telangana to walk away with first place.
Two teams tied for the second spot with 5 match points.
WGM Swati Ghate of LIC took home the best player prize. She had the highest individual score of 7.0/7 points
Final Ranking after 7 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Games | + | = | – | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 1 | Petroleum Sports Promotion Board | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 23,0 |
| 2 | 2 | Air India | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 21,5 |
| 3 | 3 | Airport Authority of India | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 19,5 |
| 4 | 4 | Tamilnadu | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 15,0 |
| 5 | 6 | Life Insurance Corporation | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 19,0 |
| 6 | 7 | Uttar Pradesh | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 15,5 |
| 7 | 9 | Odisha-MCF-5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14,5 |
| 8 | 10 | Punjab | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13,5 |
| 9 | 5 | Odisha-KIIT | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14,0 |
| 10 | 8 | Telangana | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 11,0 |
| 11 | 13 | Karnataka | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6,5 |
| 12 | 11 | Himachal Pradesh | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6,0 |
| 13 | 12 | Himachal Pradesh-A | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3,0 |
Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Guwahati ,Assam on 15 & 16 June 2026 . 
Live Game Link -17th KIIT Chess Festival 
FIDE ARBITER SEMINAR, Vijayawada (INDIA) from 24-26 April 2026 
Asian Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2026, scheduled to be held from 27th to 31st July 2026 at Hong Kong. 
CHESS IN SCHOOLS BOOK