World Youth Chess Championship 2026 Kicks Off: 7 Indians Start Perfect

by Devansh Singh - 17/06/2026

The FIDE World Youth Chess Championships 2026 kicks off at the magnificent Pala Dean Martin Congress Center in Montesilvano, Italy, bringing together hundreds of talented young players from around the globe for one of the most prestigious events on the international youth chess calendar. The tournament started on 15th June with A total of 758 players from 83 countries participating in Montesilvano to compete for the World Title. There are 6 separate categories, including U-14, U-16, and U-18 Open and Girls. Photos: FT Niklesh Jain

7 Indian players start with 2/2

A total of 13 Indian players are taking part in the World Youth Championship across all categories, and after the completion of 2 rounds, 7 players are on a perfect 2/2. Arshiya Das and Akshaya Sathi in Girls U-16, Pratitee Bordoloi and Saranya Devi Narahari in Girls U-18, Shaunak Badole in Open U-14, Goutham Krishna H in Open U-16, and Sriram Adarsh Uppala in Open U-18.

GM Roberto Mogranzini, Tournament Director, is making the inaugural move of round 3

Sriram Adarsh Uppala (L) is on 2/2

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Tournament Hall

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Games in action

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India's Siddhanth Poonja (2164) faced one of the strongest players in the field, Kazakhstan's Mark Smirnov. Check out the game

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Check out the Indian Contingent

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	Group
4	FM	ARSHIYA Das	2251	IND	Girls_16
25	WCM	AKSHAYA Sathi	2053	IND	Girls_16
64		SINGH Myra	1808	IND	Girls_16
16	WFM	PRATITEE Bordoloi	2129	IND	Girls_18
23	WFM	SARANYA Devi Narahari	2097	IND	Girls_18
32	WCM	ANUSHKA Bapu Kutwal	2047	IND	Girls_18
22		BADOLE Shaunak	2249	IND	Open_14
38		SIDDHANTH Poonja	2164	IND	Open_14
6	IM	GOUTHAM Krishna H	2439	IND	Open_16
11	FM	ROSH Jain	2358	IND	Open_16
47	CM	SHERLA Prathamesh	2218	IND	Open_16
5	IM	SRIRAM Adarsh Uppala	2467	IND	Open_18
57	FM	NANDISH V S	2236	IND	Open_18

Details

Schedule

Round starts daily at 15:00 Local Time, Daily except the rest day on 21st June. For more info, click here

Prizes

Regulations

The tournament will be played using the Swiss System with 11 rounds. The national rankings will not be taken into account for pairings. The rate of play will be in accordance with the FIDE rules: each player has 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move. The default time is 15 minutes. For more info, click here.