Top three finishers: FM Mitrabha Guha, Panesar Vedant, and Om Kharola.
Panesar Vedant of Maharastra was crowned the champion after he played out a draw against Manish Anto Cristiano F of Tamil Nadu in the final round of the 29th National U-17 Open Chess Championship in Sonipat, Haryana on Tuesday.
Panesar Vedant took the first spot while Om Kharola grabbed the second place on tie-break scores after tying on 8.5 points each. Top-seed FM Mitrabha Guha of West Bengal settled for third place with 8.0/11 points.
Meanwhile, Priyanka K of Tamil Nadu emerged champion by securing 9.5 points. WCM Jyothsna, also of Tamil Nadu was runner-up with nine points. WFM Harshini scored 7.5 points in 11 rounds to secure the joint third place in the Girls Category.
In the glittering closing ceremony, Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan, Hon’ble Secretary of AICF gave away the prizes to the winners.
Open: Final Ranking
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 8 | Panesar Vedant | IND | 2124 | Maharashtra | 8,5 | 0,5 | 72,5 | 77,5 | 58,00 | 6 | |
| 2 | 11 | Om Kharola | IND | 2042 | Maharashtra | 8,5 | 0,5 | 68,5 | 74,0 | 55,25 | 8 | |
| 3 | 1 | FM | Mitrabha Guha | IND | 2376 | West Bengal | 8,0 | 0,0 | 76,0 | 81,5 | 57,00 | 6 |
| 4 | 13 | Manish Anto Cristiano F | IND | 1995 | Tamil Nadu | 8,0 | 0,0 | 70,5 | 75,5 | 54,75 | 5 | |
| 5 | 16 | Vinay Thomas Abraham | IND | 1953 | Kerala | 8,0 | 0,0 | 70,5 | 75,5 | 51,25 | 7 | |
| 6 | 3 | Krishnater Kushager | IND | 2333 | Maharashtra | 8,0 | 0,0 | 66,5 | 71,5 | 50,75 | 6 | |
| 7 | 15 | Sibi Visal R | IND | 1959 | Tamil Nadu | 8,0 | 0,0 | 62,5 | 67,0 | 48,25 | 6 | |
| 8 | 18 | Cheela Naga Sampath | IND | 1935 | Andhra Pradesh | 7,5 | 0,0 | 70,5 | 74,5 | 48,00 | 6 | |
| 9 | 2 | Srijit Paul | IND | 2335 | West Bengal | 7,5 | 0,0 | 69,5 | 75,0 | 49,75 | 6 | |
| 10 | 12 | Vaibhav Jayant Raut | IND | 1999 | Maharashtra | 7,5 | 0,0 | 67,5 | 73,0 | 48,50 | 4 |
Girls: Final Ranking
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 2 | Priyanka K | IND | 2163 | Tamil Nadu | 9,5 | 0,0 | 71,5 | 76,5 | 64,50 | 8 | |
| 2 | 7 | WCM | Jyothsna L | IND | 1964 | Tamil Nadu | 9,0 | 0,0 | 72,0 | 77,5 | 61,50 | 7 |
| 3 | 3 | WFM | Harshini A | IND | 2160 | Tamil Nadu | 7,5 | 0,0 | 74,0 | 79,0 | 52,00 | 5 |
| 4 | 1 | WFM | Arpita Mukherjee | IND | 2207 | West Bengal | 7,5 | 0,0 | 73,5 | 79,0 | 50,75 | 5 |
| 5 | 17 | Tejasvi M | IND | 1747 | Tamil Nadu | 7,5 | 0,0 | 72,0 | 76,5 | 49,25 | 4 | |
| 6 | 4 | WFM | Tarini Goyal | IND | 2072 | Chandigarh | 7,5 | 0,0 | 70,5 | 75,5 | 50,25 | 4 |
| 7 | 12 | Toshali V | IND | 1875 | Andhra Pradesh | 7,5 | 0,0 | 66,0 | 70,5 | 45,75 | 5 | |
| 8 | 6 | Sanskriti Goyal | IND | 1965 | Uttar Pradesh | 7,0 | 0,0 | 74,0 | 79,0 | 45,50 | 6 | |
| 9 | 9 | WFM | Tanishka Kotia | IND | 1918 | Haryana | 7,0 | 0,0 | 70,5 | 75,5 | 43,00 | 5 |
| 10 | 5 | WCM | Mrudul Dehankar | IND | 2065 | Maharastra | 7,0 | 0,0 | 69,5 | 74,0 | 44,00 | 5 |



Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Chennai on 27 & 28 February 2026.
21-year-old Aaryan Varshney from Delhi has become India’s 92nd Chess Grandmaster
Certificate of 14th NATIONAL SCHOOL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP-2025 in Guwahati from 27-31 Dec 2025
AICF ARBITER REFRESHER COURSE 2026-2027
Final report of SNA Seminar & Exam in Ahmedabad on 02 & 03 January 2026
Final report of SNA seminar & Exam in Bhopal on 10 & 11 January 2026