Sahithi Varshini scores her 2nd WGM norm at the Kanizsa Open 2026

WIM Sahithi Varshini had an excellent tournament at the Kanizsa Open 2026 in Hungary. She scored her 2nd WGM norm with a powerpacked performance. Sahithi scored 5.0/9 with a performance of 2429 gaining 37 Elo points. With this Sahithi has once again crossed 2300 Elo. She now just needs one more WGM norm (2400+ performance) to become the latest WGM of the country.

In the tournament Sahithi defeated two strong players - GM Yeshaayahu Tzidkiya (2492) and IM Sahib Singh (2354). Winning the final and getting your norm is always very special.

While the above win against the GM was quite clean, Sahithi's last round win against IM Sahib Singh was nothing short of an amazing adventure. The game was drawn, but Sahib wanted to win at all costs and allowed Sahithi to make a queen in the rook endgame. In the ensuing queen vs rook endgame Sahithi showed excellent technique and got herself the WGM norm.

Sahithi Varshini's father Lokeswara Moogi Rao was not just delighted with her daughter's performance. One of his students Aarav Sinha also performed well scoring his 4th IM norm. Aarav is now around 2350 rated and needs just 50 Elo points to become India's next IM.

The tournament was won by GM Pranesh. We will have a special post dedicated for the same. A huge congratulations to all the amazing performers in Hungary.