Maharashtra Schools Chess Championship: 4 Players Share Under-9 Open Lead After Four Rounds
Mumbai, November 14, 2026: Four players shared the lead in the Under-9 Open category as the battle for supremacy intensified at the SBI Life Maharashtra State Schools Chess Championship 2026 after four rounds of the second stage at Rustomjee Cambridge International School, Dahisar (West), on Saturday.
Organised by Indian Chess School, the three-day championship has attracted 387 players across six FIDE-rated categories in the Under-9, Under-13 and Under-17 Open and Girls sections.
After four rounds, several players maintained their perfect scores, while the closely contested Under-13 Girls category witnessed as many as six players sharing the lead.
Four Players Lead Under-9 Open
In the Under-9 Open category, four players emerged as joint leaders with perfect scores of four points each. ACM Agastya Patwa (1527) of VIBGYOR Rise, Malad (West), Veer Dhaval Shah (1501) of Jamnabai Narsee School, JVPD, AFM Advik Ajay Naval (1476) of Symbiosis Primary & Secondary School and Atharva Mulik (1483) of Sanjeevani World School, Dahisar, won all four games to maintain their joint lead. AFM Shivansh Amit Karia (1506) of Avalon Heights International School, Ishaan Agnihotri (1618) of Podar International School and unrated Viren Rohit Boricha of Matrix Academy School were among the players following closely with 3.5 points each.
In the Under-9 Girls category, unrated Chaitanyaa Nagrale of The J. B. Vachha High School, Dadar, and AFM Manva Shailesh Parkar (1415) of Oxford Public School, Kandivali, emerged as joint leaders with four points each from four rounds. Kanishqa Hemanshu Gala (1479) of SVKM J. V. Parekh International School, Lavanya Singh (1448) of Sanjivani International School, Ishi Singh (1538) of J. B. Petit High School for Girls and Liyaa Krishnan (1558) of Kanakia International School followed closely with 3.5 points each.
Three-Way Contest In Under-13 Open
The Under-13 Open category witnessed a three-way battle for the lead, with Om Dayanand Ramgude (1906) of Lexicon International School, Wagholi, Vihaan Anupam Agrawal (1858) of Narayana Olympiad School and AIM Kashyap Brijesh Khakharia (1789) of Podar International School, Sangli, maintaining perfect scores of four points from four rounds.
The Under-13 Girls category witnessed the closest contest, with as many as six players sharing the lead on 3.5 points each. Top seed Tvesha Ashish Jain (1697) of Greenlawns High School, who had won the Under-11 Girls championship in the first stage, was joined by Pranitha Bhava (1655) of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya, Mahua Vighnesh Deshpande (1527) of C.N.M. School, Vile Parle, Tisyaa Apurva Patt (1524) of Avalon Heights International School, Nishka Agarwal (1562) of Hiranandani Foundation School and unrated Trissha Amit Panchal of I.E.S. Chandrakant Patkar Vidyalaya.
Top Seeds Lead Under-17 Categories
In the Under-17 Open category, top seed AIM Hriday Maniar (1910) continued his impressive run, winning all four games to emerge as the sole leader with four points. He was followed by unrated Arha Gurudutta Waghmare, Yuvraj Avadhesh Pratap Singh (1690) and Shaurya Ashish Modi (1626), who were tied for second place with 3.5 points each.
In the Under-17 Girls category, top seed Drishya Naik (1713) maintained her unbeaten run with four consecutive victories to emerge as the sole leader with four points. Shreeya Vijay Joshi (1525), Saina Nagarkatte (1419) and Iksha Soni (1528) were her closest challengers with three points each.
Top Two Qualify For Nationals
The championship assumes special significance as it serves as the selection tournament for the National Schools Chess Championship, scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad from December 16 to 20, 2026. The top two finishers in each of the six categories will be selected to represent Maharashtra.
Mumbai City FC Appoint Ashvir Singh Johal As Head Coach For Remainder Of 2026–27 SeasonA total cash prize fund of ₹60,000 is on offer across the six categories, with ₹10,000 allocated to each category. The top three finishers in every category will also receive glittering SBI Life trophies, while players finishing fourth to tenth will be presented with SBI Life medals.
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