Rudra Pratap and Liyaa Krishnan are 2026 Under-7 National Champions
Rudra Pratap from Bihar scored 8/9 points to win the 39th National Under-7 Open Chess Championship. Rudra scored a perfect 8/8, and then he lost the final round, but better tiebreaks helped him clinch the title. In the Under-7 Girls group, Ns Liyaa Krishnan of Maharashtra scored a perfect 9/9 to win the National Championship with a clear 1.5 point lead. The tournament was organised in Nagpur from 30th June to 4th July 2026. The total prize fund was ₹5,00,000 with top 3 prizes of ₹50,000, ₹36,000, and ₹30,000 in both groups. Photo: Ayush Jain
9/9 for Liyaa Krishnan
In the Girls section, tiebreaks were not needed as Ns Liyaa Krishnan showed a masterclass to score 9/9 points to top the field. Aaditri Majumdar and Rihanshi Munagala scored 7.5/9 points to secure 2nd and 3rd place on tiebreak scores.
In the open section, the fight was close as Rudra Pratap lost his final round against Nimalan Dharanipathy, Aksh Shrivastava won against Joshua Magnus Katarapu, and the top 3 positions were decided on tiebreak scores.
Final round twist in Open Group
Rudra Pratap was on 8/8 after the penultimate round, and he was leading the field by a full point. In the final round, he suffered a loss against Nimalan Dharanipathy. With the win over Rudra Nimalan, secured 3rd place in the Nationals.
Final Ranking
Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | ACM | IND | 1544 | Bihar | 8 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 47,5 | 0 | 8 | 4 | ||
2 | 5 | IND | 1554 | Maharashtra | 8 | 48 | 52 | 46 | 0 | 8 | 5 | |||
3 | 19 | IND | 1482 | Karnataka | 8 | 46 | 50 | 43,5 | 0 | 8 | 4 | |||
4 | 14 | IND | 1508 | Andhra Pradesh | 7,5 | 48,5 | 50,5 | 40,25 | 0 | 7 | 3 | |||
5 | 10 | IND | 1522 | Telangana | 7,5 | 48 | 52 | 43,5 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |||
6 | 4 | IND | 1562 | West Bengal | 7,5 | 48 | 51,5 | 41,75 | 0 | 7 | 3 | |||
7 | 21 | IND | 1479 | Tamil Nadu | 7,5 | 43 | 46,5 | 38,75 | 0 | 7 | 3 | |||
8 | 8 | IND | 1531 | Maharashtra | 7 | 48 | 52 | 38 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |||
9 | 9 | IND | 1525 | Andhra Pradesh | 7 | 48 | 50 | 34 | 0 | 7 | 3 | |||
10 | 12 | IND | 1519 | Telangana | 7 | 47 | 49 | 35,5 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
Liyaa Krishnan's one-sided victory!
In the girls' group, Liyaa showed total dominance and scored 9/9 points. En route to victory, she defeated 3 rated players and increased her rating by 67.2 points.
Final Ranking
Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | w | IND | 1433 | Maharashtra | 9 | 48 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 9 | ||
2 | 3 | w | IND | 1521 | West Bengal | 7,5 | 53 | 58 | 45,5 | 0 | 7 | ||
3 | 111 | w | IND | 0 | Karnataka | 7,5 | 49 | 52 | 42 | 0 | 7 | ||
4 | 110 | w | IND | 0 | Punjab | 7 | 56 | 60 | 43,5 | 0 | 7 | ||
5 | 1 | w | IND | 1529 | West Bengal | 7 | 50,5 | 55 | 41 | 0 | 7 | ||
6 | 5 | w | IND | 1476 | Tamil Nadu | 7 | 50,5 | 55 | 39 | 0 | 7 | ||
7 | 6 | ACM | w | IND | 1448 | Kerala | 7 | 46 | 49 | 36,25 | 0 | 6 | |
8 | 78 | w | IND | 0 | Gujarat | 7 | 44 | 48 | 33,5 | 0 | 7 | ||
9 | 7 | w | IND | 1433 | Assam | 7 | 43,5 | 47 | 35 | 0 | 7 | ||
10 | 118 | w | IND | 0 | Karnataka | 7 | 43,5 | 46,5 | 36,25 | 0 | 5 |
Important Links
Photos: Closing Ceremony, Rounds
YouTube Gallery: Here