Vivaan Vishal Shah Becomes 2026 Asian Junior Rapid Champion

by Devansh Singh - 19/08/2026

FM Vivaan Vishal Shah scored 6/7 points to win the 2026 Asian Junior Rapid Chess Championship. Akshay Borgaonkar also scored 6/7, and he secured second place in the tournament according to tiebreak scores. IM Apoorv Kamble of India and Akhilbay Imangali of Kazakhstan tied for 3rd place, and in the tiebreak blitz match, Apoorv defeated Akhilbay 1.5-0.5 to claim 3rd place. The tournament was organised on 17th and 18th August at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. Photos: Tushar Damor

Unexpected Tiebreak Match

Going into the final round, IM Apoorv Kamble was leading the tournament with 5.5/6 points, and he faced FM Vivaan Vishal Shah with the black pieces. The game went in favour of Vivaan, and Apoorv suffered a loss. Vivaan became the champion with 6/7 points, but what happened with Apoorv?

Apoorv vs. Akhilbay Imangali

We got to know that most of the players and officials were expecting a prize distribution ceremony after the tournament was over, as Apoorv finished in 3rd while Akhilbay in 4th place, but according to regulations, if all the tiebreaks are the same, players have to face each other in a blitz playoff. In the blitz match, Apoorv won the 1st game and drew the 2nd game to claim 3rd place.

Champion: Vivaan Vishal Shah

Runner-up: Akshay Borgaonkar

Second Runner-up: Apoorv Kamble

Top 3 (L to R): 3rd IM Apoorv Kamble. 1st FM Vivaan Vishal Shah and 2nd IM Akshay Borgaonkar

Vivaan suffered a loss in the 4th round, but then he scored 3 consecutive wins and also increasrd 98.4 rating points

Replay Available Games

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	12	FM	Vivaan Vishal Shah,	U20	IND	2149	6	6	23,5	26,5
2	4	IM	Borgaonkar, Akshay	U20	IND	2302	6	5	22,5	26,5
3	3	IM	Apoorv Kamble,	U20	IND	2360	5,5	5	26,5	30,5
4	5	FM	Akhilbay, Imangali	U20	KAZ	2302	5,5	5	26,5	30,5
5	8	FM	Madhvendra Pratap Sharma,	U20	IND	2250	5,5	5	23,5	27
6	2	IM	Pingin, Artem	U20	RUS	2397	5,5	5	23,5	26,5
7	10	FM	Sharnarthi Viresh,	U20	IND	2186	5,5	5	23	26,5
8	11	IM	Vignesh Advaith Vemula,	U20	IND	2153	5	5	23,5	26,5
9	32	FM	Arshpreet Singh,	U20	IND	1929	5	5	21	23,5
10	22	CM	Gubatayev, Ahmet	U20	TKM	2011	5	5	20	22,5

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

Organising Committee

Trophies for the winners

Games in action

All winners of 2026 Asian Junior Rapid and Blitz

Venue: ITC Maratha, Mumbai

Such a beautiful venue for this amazing tournament

Playing Conditions

The tournament is played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess, using electronic clocks.
Standard: 90 minutes for the whole game with a 30-second increment per move from move 1. Forfeit time is 30 minutes.
Rapid: 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move from move 1.
Blitz: 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment per move from move 1.
Per FIDE regulations, players from the same federation may be paired against each other in the last round.

Titles and Awards

A minimum of 5 federations per category and 10 participants is required for direct titles in Standard chess (see the FIDE Handbook). Direct titles are awarded for Standard chess per the FIDE Handbook:

Gold medalists are awarded a GM norm and the International Master (IM) title (for women, a WGM norm and the Woman International Master (WIM) title). Players scoring the same number of points as the champion also receive the IM/WIM title.
The silver & bronze medal winners are awarded the IM/WIM norm in addition to the FIDE Master (FM)/Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title.

Minimum Ratings (for immediate award): IM 2200 · WIM 2000 · FM 2100 · WFM 1900