Two thousand players took part in FIDE rated event at LJ University Ahmedabad

by R Anantharam - 25/02/2026

Have you ever seen or heard two thousand chess players in action in a huge playing hall? The venue and the organizer were the LJ University, Ahmedabad, which hosted the mammoth tournament, providing free AICF registration, lunch, and dinner on both days, plus unlimited snacks and coffee & tea. The nine-round rapid rating tournament, an attempt at a Guinness world record (around 2000 players from a single university playing in a rating tournament), was organized by the LJ University at its campus on 16th and 17th February. Krunal K Solanki, an invited rated player, won the tournament with a perfect score of 9/9 points. Photos: LJ University, Ahmedabad

A world record attempt

Exactly, a year ago, the university organised an unrated tournament with 867 players, which shows the interest of the university to go for mega events in chess. This time, a record-breaking 2000 players took part in this event, making it a grand success. The tournament was well organized under the leadership of Ankit Dalal, an alumnus of LJ University, who runs the Brain Power Chess in Ahmedabad and is also the founder of My Chess Trip, helping Indian chess players visit Europe to participate in chess tournaments. He is also a good ChessBoxing player.

A View of the huge playing hall, accommodating all two thousand players in one place

Lok Jagruti Kendra University, Ahmedabad

Krunal K Solanki, an invited rated player, won the tournament with a perfect score of nine points from nine games. Second-seeded Saumil Nair, a professor at LJ University, won second place with 8.5 points.

Krunal K Solanki won the tournament, with a perfect score of nine points from nine games

Saumil Nair, a professor at LJ University, was the runner-up

Ranpura Yatharth won first place among the LJ University students

Prajapati Ayush won second place among the university players

Jash Mistry is the second runner-up among the university players

Oza Dhir was declared fourth among the university players

Among the top ten-ranked players, 1445th-seeded Ranpura Yatharth of LJ University won the tournament for LJ University students, with a score of 8 points. Overall, he secured seventh place among the 2000 students. Parajapati Ayush, who also scored eight points and was eleventh in the overall rank, was the runner-up. Jash Mistry and Oza Dhir also scored eight points to finish third and fourth, respectively.

Kushi Chauhan was the best girl player in the tournament from the university

Zarafsha Shaik was second best girl player from the university

The tournament was inaugurated by Dev Patel, Hon. Secretary of All India Chess Federation, the Vice Chancellor of LJU, Dr. Dinesh Awasthi, GM Tejas Bakre, Bhavesh Patel, former joint secretary of AICF, and Ajeet Kumar Verma, Head of Operations AICF

The tournament was inaugurated by Dev Patel, Dr. Dinesh Awasthi, GM Tejas Bakre, Bhavesh Patel, and Ajeet Kumar Verma, Head of Operations, AICF

Ankit Dalal, the Tournament Director, executed a splendid job in the organization part

Mahesh Kela, Director LJ University Polytechnic, played an important role in the organization

Bhavesh Patel, the architect of Gujarat Chess

GM Tejas Bakre and Dev Patel, Secretary, All India Chess Federation

Ten-year-old Amit Dhairya Shroff of Canada, a special invitee, has a rating of 1891 and was fourth among the rated players

WCM Hanya Shah was placed fifth

Sohil Shaik obtained the fifth place

Players in white & officials in black - 1st day

All players in black & Coordinators in white - 2nd day

It was a game of fun, joy, and bliss

Players entering the hall to start the round

College professors who contributed to the success of the tournament

Prize winners with LJU officials

Some of the coordinators are professors at LJ University

Krunal K Solanki (right) won against Jay Ajay Pusal

Saumil Nair defeated Mohit Gangwani in the seventh round

Sohil Shaik drew with Adalja Vanssh in the eighth round

Amit Shroff (black) defeated Rex Khristi

Nishit Kushalani (white) lost to J Geet Dabri

Ten-year-old Amit Dhairya Shroff of Canada, a special invitee has a rating of 1891

December 24 is a special day in five-time world champion Vishy Anand’s life, as he won his first world championship on this day in 2000. On the same day in 2010, the chess champion was a part of the Guinness World Record in Ahmedabad, where 20,480 players assembled to play chess against 1,024 masters.

Vishy Anand won the championship on 24th December 2000, and ten years later, he was part of a Guinness World Record on the same day

Today, LJK University oversees 32 institutes across two eco-friendly, well-developed campuses in Ahmedabad, nurturing over 21,000 students and supported by a team of more than 1000 faculty members. These institutions span diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs across a wide range of disciplines. LJK emphasizes value-based, holistic education that balances academic excellence with empathy, innovation, and social responsibility.

A sky-rise building on the LJ University campus

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	TB6
1	5		Krunal, K Solanki		IND	1773	GJ	9	51,5	54,5	54,5	9	4
2	2		Saumil, Nair		IND	1847	GJ	8,5	56,5	60	55,75	8	4
3	4	AGM	Dabhi, Geet H		IND	1798	GJ	8,5	56	61	57	8	5
4	3		Shroff, Dhairya Amit		CAN	1816		8,5	52,5	56,5	52,75	8	4
5	9	WCM	Hanya, Shah	w	IND	1619		8,5	51,5	54,5	50,25	8	4
6	1		Shaikh, Sohil		IND	1885	GJ	8	57,5	60,5	52,75	7	3
7	1445		Ranpura, Yatharth		IND	0	GJ	8	57	62	54	8	5
8	14		Jay, Ajay Bhai Pusal		IND	1514		8	57	62	53	8	5
9	21		Patel, Shrushti Trishulkumar	w	IND	1420		8	57	62	53	8	3
10	18	ACM	Khushalani, Nishit		IND	1427	GJ	8	55,5	60,5	52	8	4
11	1356		Prajapati, Ayush		IND	0	GJ	8	55,5	58,5	50,5	8	4
12	1811		Suvagiya, Het		IND	0	GJ	8	54,5	59,5	51,5	8	4
13	20		Mohit, Gangwani		IND	1424	GJ	8	54	57	48,5	8	4
14	13		Shah, Parv Amit		IND	1522	GJ	8	53,5	58	49,75	7	3
15	276		Dave, Devam		IND	0	GJ	8	53	58	51	8	5

Details

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of the Titles Commission in the All India Chess Federation, Vice President of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International, and National Championships.

Devansh Singh edited the report

NEW ARRIVALS

Two thousand players took part in FIDE rated event at LJ University Ahmedabad

A world record attempt

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

About the Author