Mihir Shah convincingly wins 2025-26 Grand Prix at Phoenix ChessBase India Club
Mihir Shah displayed a dominant performance throughout the year at Phoenix ChessBase India Chess Club in Mumbai. 12 monthly blitz tournaments were held on the 4th Saturday of every month at the club, and the winners secured Cash prizes, ChessBase India gift hampers, as well as Grand Prix points. Mihir participated in all 12 events, starting from April 2025, and won 7/12 tournaments. The Finale was conducted on 4th April with the higher Stakes as the Grand Prix points were double, but Mihir showed his consistency and won the finale too, and finished on 289 points. FM Anirudhha Potawad scored 153 points and secured 2nd place, while Iyer Arvind scored 105 to secure 3rd place. Photos: Nehal Deshmukh, Aanchal Dhakar/ChessBase India
A year of Consistency
Mihir Shah, who performed exceptionally well in all the events, already won the Grand Prix even before the start of the Finale, as he was in a big lead and it was impossible to catch him, but as usual, he came to the club and clinched that first spot. In the Finale, he scored 9/11 points to secure first place. The last tournament of the Grand Prix was a round robin event between 12 players with the time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move 1.
Editor's Note: I never met Mihir, but I saw his performance in the National Blitz Championship 2023 (J&K), where I was also playing, and it was very impressive!! Mihir won against 5 titled players in a row, and everyone, including me, was completely shocked!! As far as I remember, he was even better against Aravindh.
Chief Guest: Sneha Waykar
Sneha Waykar has been a trailblazer in Chessboxing in India. In 2024, she became the first female Indian Chessboxing Champion, and she has consistently represented India at national and international competitions. In 2023, she became the Indian and Asian Chessboxing Champion. ChessBoxing is a combination of two very different yet similar sports, chess and boxing. It is very popular in Europe and Russia, and Sneha has played a big role in popularizing the sport in India.
Prizes and Titles
Monthly Prizes: Each tournament features a prize fund of ₹10,000, with cash and trophies for the top 3 and vouchers/gifts for ranks 4 through 8.
The Ultimate Prize: The Finale offers a larger cash prize pool and a grand prize for the winner.
Player of the Year: The individual with the highest total GP points (including double points awarded during the Finale) is crowned the "Player of 2025-26."
Grand Prix Rules and Points System: Here
RANK | PLAYER NAME | APR PTS | MAY PTS | JUN PTS | JUL PTS | AUG PTS | SEPT PTS | OCT PTS | NOV PTS | DEC PTS | JAN PTS | FEB PTS | MAR PTS | GRAND PRIX | TOTAL |
1 | Shah Mihir | 12 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 12 | 4 | 25 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 18 | 50 | 289 |
2 | Potawad Anirudhha | 18 | 18 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 153 | ||||||
3 | Iyer Arvind | 25 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 36 | 105 | |||||||
4 | FM Nagarkatte Vedant | 18 | 25 | 2 | 30 | 75 | |||||||||
5 | Kherdekar Arnav | 18 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 68 | ||||||
6 | Somaiya Shreyansh | 15 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 62 | ||||||
7 | Shah Jeet | 15 | 1 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 54 | ||||||||
8 | Guru Prakash | 4 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 53 | ||||||||
9 | Rachit H Gurnani | 8 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 50 | |||||||||
10 | Shah Veer Kunjan | 8 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 46 |
Final Standings of Grand Prix Finale
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | IND | 2016 | 9 | 1 | 46 | 8 | 4 | ||
2 | 11 | ACM | IND | 1842 | 9 | 2 | 40 | 9 | 4 | |
3 | 3 | FM | IND | 2087 | 9 | 3 | 39 | 9 | 4 | |
4 | 4 | FM | IND | 2056 | 8 | 0 | 38,5 | 8 | 3 | |
5 | 10 | IND | 1905 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 6 | 3 | ||
6 | 7 | IND | 1953 | 4 | 0 | 13,5 | 3 | 2 | ||
7 | 8 | IND | 1917 | 3,5 | 1 | 11,25 | 3 | 1 | ||
8 | 2 | IND | 2110 | 3,5 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 1 | ||
9 | 9 | IND | 1907 | 3,5 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 1 | ||
10 | 12 | IND | 1797 | 3,5 | 4 | 12,25 | 3 | 1 | ||
11 | 5 | IND | 2034 | 3,5 | 5 | 16,5 | 2 | 2 | ||
12 | 1 | IND | 2120 | 2,5 | 0 | 13,5 | 0 | 0 |