Bangalore Chess Club raises Rs. 61,200 to support chess players
On 25th January 2026, as part of its Republic Day special, Bangalore Chess Club hosted the second edition of its annual fundraiser rapid tournament, bringing together over 200 chess enthusiasts from across the city. The event raised an impressive Rs. 61,200 and donated it towards the HelpChess Foundation to support chess players. Read about the winners, the event highlights, and how BCC continues to grow the game in Bangalore.
Chess for a cause
As part of its Republic Day special, on 25th January 2026, Bangalore Chess Club hosted the second edition of its annual fundraiser rapid tournament, bringing together over 200 chess enthusiasts from across the city. While the event featured attractive prizes and a strong field of participants, it was driven by a larger purpose. A total amount of Rs. 61,200, raised entirely from the event, was donated towards supporting young and aspiring players through HelpChess.org, an initiative by ChessBase India.
The tournament was a 7-round Swiss format with a 10+5 time control, making for nearly six hours of competitive chess. Such tournaments, known as Chess Connect, are held weekly by the Bangalore Chess Club and are eagerly awaited by many in the community, especially the ones with the Rapid time control. Even so, this edition witnessed one of its largest turnouts to date, with players of all ages and Elo ratings coming together to contribute towards this meaningful cause.
The tournament featured a highly competitive and diverse field, with every round producing exciting games. After seven rounds of gruelling chess, Akshay Patil emerged as the champion with a flawless score of 7/7, coming first in dominant fashion.
Samaksh Ashok finished close behind with 6.5/7, and Daniel Raja came in third with 6 points. The podium finishers were rewarded with exclusive Bangalore Chess Club merchandise, with the winner also taking home ChessBase 26 + Mega Database 2026 Combo (Worth Rs. 10,000). The top 10 received assorted chocolate boxes from the event sponsor, Melted Joy.
As is the tradition here in the Bangalore Chess Club, beyond the podium finishers, the tournament also featured lucky draws giving everyone a chance to take something back home. Participants received ChessBase India courses by the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh D. and GM Vidit Gujrathi, premium chess sets from Paramount Chess and Chess.com Diamond memberships.
It comes as no surprise that BCC raised this much towards HelpChess Foundation through just one event, especially since they achieved something similar last year. Yes, they have done this before! On Republic Day last year, BCC held the first edition of their fundraiser event and raised Rs. 42,250.
As the community grows, BCC has continually come up with new initiatives like this one to grow the game and reach a wider audience.
In the past year, BCC has organized various chess camps and also tournaments within schools and corporations, providing an impetus to grow interest among young children and working professionals. They have partnered with various manufacturers for innovative merchandise like themed chess sets. Their team has grown considerably, and so has the number of locations where they hold events.
All in all, there is a lot more to come from the Bangalore Chess Club, and we are eagerly awaiting what’s next!
BCC extends special thanks to the sponsors for making it possible for them to organize events at such a scale. From the cooperation of the staff at RMZ Ecoworld Marketplace to the continued partnership with sponsors such as Paramount Chess and Chess.com, the team at BCC is deeply humbled by the support.
BCC is also grateful to ChessBase India for being a constant backbone of Indian chess. Their valuable support and infrastructure enable them to build on it and come up with various ideas to grow chess further in Bangalore and in India.
About the author
Sharanya has been passionate about chess ever since he was a kid. Nowadays, it also serves him as an escape from all the dullness of his tech day job. Unlike his other hobbies, he tries to keep a left-brained approach to chess because getting too creative with it costs him rating points.
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