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 |
Commonwealth Chess Championship – 2026 – 27 in Kaluthara, Sri Lanka from 16th to 26th May, 2026. 
GM Suleymenov Alisher Clinches Title at the 1st Chola Chess International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament 2026. 
TENTATIVE NATIONAL CALENDAR FOR 2026-27 
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