Sri Vijaya Puram, March 15: The Ugadi Open Chess Tournament 2026 concluded successfully today evening (15.03.2026) at Haddo, Ward No.1. The tournament was organized by the Youth of Boddapadu Shri Jagadeswar Sangam, Haddo in collaboration with the Andaman Nicobar Chess Association (ANCA) in connection with the celebration of the Telugu New Year festival Ugadi.
Around 120 chess players participated enthusiastically in the tournament, which was conducted over seven rounds and witnessed several exciting and closely fought games.
In the Open category, B. Lalith emerged as the winner of the tournament after an impressive performance throughout the tournament. Saw Jinson Samuel secured the second position while Yuvan Singh finished third. Y. Rushil and Shrestha Vijay secured the fourth and fifth places respectively. Shailender Singh, B. Hari Prasad, Jaivardhan Rao, PR Ajeesh Kumar, and S. Sakthish completed the top ten positions in the final standings.
Apart from the Open category prizes, several age category prizes were also awarded to encourage young players and senior participants.In the Girls categories, Shreenika N secured first position in the Under-09 category while Rudrani secured second place. In the Under-11 category, T. Aarohi secured the first place while T. Vanshika Rao finished second. In the Under-13 category, Bhavishya emerged as the winner while Krishna Priya Rajesh secured second place. In the Under-15 category, B. Navya clinched the first place followed by G. Veeksha.
Among the boys categories, V K Nuhaan Siddique secured first position in the Under-09 category while Easanth T stood second. In the Under-11 category, S. Eshaan secured first place while AFM Vyom Tiwari finished second. Rohan Singh won the Under-13 category with S. Lukshan finishing second. In the Under-15 category, Pranesh secured first place while G. Sreedhar finished second. In the Senior 60+ category, P. Tata Rao secured the first place while Chittiboina Mageswari was adjudged the Best Female Player of the tournament.
The tournament witnessed enthusiastic participation from young talents as well as experienced players, reflecting the growing popularity of chess in the islands. . The event concluded with a prize distribution ceremony, where the winners were felicitated for their outstanding performances.