Young Talents Make Strong Start At SBI Life State Schools Championship

Mumbai, November 13: The second stage of the SBI Life Maharashtra State Schools Chess Championship 2026 got underway at Rustomjee Cambridge International School, Dahisar (West), on Friday, with young chess enthusiasts battling for early supremacy across six FIDE-rated categories.

Organised by Indian Chess School, the three-day championship has attracted 387 players in the Under-9, Under-13 and Under-17 Open and Girls categories.

After two rounds, several leading seeds maintained their winning momentum, while a number of lower-rated and unrated players also impressed with strong performances.

Under-9 Open Players Share Early Lead

In the Under-9 Open category, top seed Adhvaan Oswal (1724) and Ivaan Dubey (1545), winner of the Under-7 Open title in the first stage, were among the players sharing the lead with two points each. They were joined by Veer Dhaval Shah (1501) of Jamnabai Narsee School, JVPD, Atharva Mulik (1483) of Sanjeevani World School, Dahisar, Arav Chaitanya Deshmukh (1422) of Vishwajyot High School and Nivesh Amit Panchal (1419) of I.E.S. Chandrakant Patkar Vidyalaya. Unrated Dharvik Anand Parab of St. Dominic Savio High School, Shivansh Shreyas Bhala, Viren Rohit Boricha of Matrix Academy School and Zian Fatnani of Lilavatibai Podar High School also scored two points.

Under-9 Girls Continue Winning Momentum

In the Under-9 Girls category, Liyaa Krishnan (1558) of Kanakia International School, who had won the Under-7 Girls championship in the first stage, continued her impressive form with two victories. She shared the lead with Mirai Sardana (1533) of Jamnabai Narsee School, Khanak Gada (1452) of Holy Angels & Junior College, Lavanya Singh (1448) of Sanjivani International School and unrated Manasi Danu of AECS-4, Mumbai. Ishi Singh (1538) of J. B. Petit High School for Girls and Deedhiti Banerjee (1553) of Hiranandani Foundation School were also among the players on two points.

Under-13 Open Leaders Maintain Perfect Scores

In the Under-13 Open category, AIM Kashyap Brijesh Khakharia (1789) of Podar International School, Sangli, was among the leaders with two points from two rounds. Arjun Prabhu (1778) of Utpal Shanghvi Global School, Ritik Sai Boppa (1561) of Atomic Energy Central School-4, Mayan S. Jha (1561) of Kanakia International School and Aaradhya Rupesh Wagh (1554) of Fatima High School, Ambernath, were also among the leading players. Pruthvi PPS (1547), Dhairya Rajesh Bijalwan (1482) of A.F.A.C. English School, Chembur, and Avyan Ingole (1454) of Gundecha Education Academy, Kandivali, were also in the leading group.

Tvesha Jain Leads Under-13 Girls Contenders

The Under-13 Girls category witnessed a strong showing by top seed Tvesha Ashish Jain (1697) of Greenlawns High School, who had earlier clinched the Under-11 Girls championship in the first stage. She shared the lead on two points with Pranitha Bhava (1655) of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya, Mahua Vighnesh Deshpande (1527) of C.N.M. School, Vile Parle, Ariha Sharad Deorukhakar (1485), Nishka Agarwal (1562) of Hiranandani Foundation School and Tisyaa Apurva Patt (1524) of Avalon Heights International School. Myra Ravi Jhavar (1488) of Jamnabai Narsee School and AFM Tanya Bhat (1488) of Rajhans Vidyalaya were also among the players with two points.

Hriday Maniar Shines In Under-17 Open

In the Under-17 Open category, top seed AIM Hriday Maniar (1910) made a confident start, winning both his games. He was joined at the top with two points by Yuvraj Avadhesh Pratap Singh (1690), Soham Sudarshan Sahamate (1667), Ronit Motwani (1613) and unrated Vihaan D. Singh. Shaurya Ashish Modi (1626) and AFM Samvid Bhadri (1576) were also among the players with two points.

Drishya Naik Shares Under-17 Girls Lead

In the Under-17 Girls category, top seed Drishya Naik (1713) maintained her winning form with two victories. Iksha Soni (1528), Trisha Jagtap (1527) and Saina Nagarkatte (1419) also registered two wins to share the lead after the second round.

Top Finishers To Represent Maharashtra Nationally

The championship 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 category will be selected to represent Maharashtra.

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Published on: Friday, November 13, 2026, 08:29 PM IST