Report by IA Praful Zaveri
The Abu Dhabi Juniors, which is a part of Abu Dhabi Chess Festival – witnessed a complete Indian domination as the first five places were clinched by Indian players.
FM Pranesh won the championship with a whopping 8/9 and became richer by US $ 1500. There was a 3-way tie for the 2nd place but CM Kushagra Mohan became the runner-up with a better tie-break to win US $ 1000. FM Srihari L R & Aaryan Varshney secured 3rd and 4th position to win US $ 700 and US $ 500 respectively. All these players had scored 7.5 points.
The top-seeded Indian for this event, IM Leon Mendonca did not have a good event by his standards and finished 5th with a score of 7 points to win US $ 400.
Asylos Miras from Kazakhstan was the only player outside India to figure in the main prize list. He secured 6th position to bag US $ 300.
The Indian contingent is here as a part of ‘Exposure Tour’.
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
| 1 | 3 | FM | Pranesh M | U14 | IND | 2296 | 8,0 | 0,0 | 53,0 | 45,50 | ||
| 2 | 5 | CM | Kushagra Mohan | U16 | IND | 2252 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 56,5 | 45,50 | ||
| 3 | 6 | FM | Srihari L R | U14 | IND | 2227 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 56,5 | 45,25 | ||
| 4 | 4 | FM | Aaryan Varshney | U14 | IND | 2272 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 56,0 | 45,25 | ||
| 5 | 1 | IM | Mendonca Leon Luke | U14 | IND | 2401 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 57,0 | 42,00 | ||
| 6 | 25 | Assylov Miras | U12 | KAZ | 1535 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 45,5 | 35,00 | |||
| 7 | 26 | Gu Xianghan | U14 | CHN | 1523 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 44,5 | 33,75 | |||
| 8 | 9 | Hamad Essam | U16 | UAE | 1906 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 57,5 | 38,25 | |||
| 9 | 2 | Pranav V | U14 | IND | 2316 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 55,5 | 37,75 | |||
| 10 | 10 | CM | Sindarov Islombek | U12 | UZB | 1830 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 54,0 | 35,00 | ||
| 11 | 20 | Mukumov Arjin | U14 | UZB | 1617 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 51,5 | 34,50 | |||
| 12 | 24 | Satybaldy Adil | U10 | KAZ | 1542 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 49,5 | 31,75 | |||
| 13 | 21 | Singh Gurmeher | U14 | IND | 1605 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 49,0 | 32,75 | |||
| 14 | 19 | Aditya Ramanathan | U12 | IND | 1619 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 33,25 | |||
| 15 | 27 | Raji Sayel Abu Azizah | U14 | PLE | 1499 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 47,5 | 32,50 | |||
| 16 | 22 | Hamad Bader | U16 | UAE | 1581 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 43,5 | 29,50 | |||
| 17 | 18 | Krishnan Ritvik | U12 | IND | 1653 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 53,0 | 33,00 | |||
| 18 | 16 | Sabirov Rasul | U16 | KAZ | 1669 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 52,0 | 31,00 | |||
| 19 | 12 | Al Darmaky Sultan | U16 | UAE | 1776 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 52,0 | 30,00 | |||
| 20 | 11 | Satybaldy Amir | U16 | KAZ | 1781 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 51,0 | 32,00 |

Round 3 : 1st Chola Chess International Grandmaster Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026, Chennai.
Day 2:1st Chola Chess International Grandmaster Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament, Chennai
Fide Arbiter Seminar in Pune 28 Feb -02 March 2026 & Thoothukudi 07-09 March 2026
First Chola chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament in form Chennai from 02 February to 11 February 2026.
Live games link for First Chola chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026
Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Chennai on 27 & 28 February 2026.