Rudra Pratap and Liyaa Krishnan are 39th National Under-7 Open and Girls 2026 Champions
Rudra Pratap (BIH) and Liyaa Krishnan Ns (MAH) scored 8/9 and 9/9 each respectively to win 39th National Under-7 Open and Girls Chess Championships 2026.
Rudra and Liyaa’s first National title
Bihar State Under-7 Open 2026 champion, Rudra Pratap made a perfect start by winnning eight games in-a-row. Joshu Magnus Katarapu (AP), Aksh Shrivastava (MAH) and Nimalan Dharanipathy (KAR) were trailing by a full point at 7/8 each. Rudra lost to Nimalan in the final round. However, that did not deter his championship chances as he still became the champion, Nimalan finished third. Joshua lost to Aksh and the latter finished second. A fun fact: This was Rudra’s seventh tournament of his career and he became a National champion. In case you are wondering, his first tournament of his career was back in January this year.
In the Girls event, the Maharashtra State Under-7 Girls 2026 champion, Liyaa Krishnan Ns (MAH) also made a perfect start by scoring 8/8. Aaditri Majumdar (WB) and Myra Rathore (PUN) were trailing by a full point at 7/8 each. Myra lost to Liyaa in the final round and the latter became champion with a 100% score. Aaradhya Kommery Rajaneesh (KER) drew against Aaditri and the latter finished second. Shaik Shazwa (TEL) lost to Rihanshi Munagala (KAR) and the latter claimed third place.
The total prize fund was ₹500000, ₹250000 in Open and Girls section each. The top three prizes were ₹50000, ₹36000 and ₹30000 along with a trophy each.
39th National Under-7 Girls and Open 2026 Champion – Liyaa Krishnan (MAH) 9/9 and Rudra Pratap (BIH) 8/9 | Photo: Ayush Jain
Champion in Open – Rudra Pratap (BIH) 8/9 | Photo: Ayush Jain
Champion in Girls – Liyaa Krishnan Ns (MAH) 9/9 | Photo: Ayush Jain
Runner-up – Aksh Shrivastava (MAH) 8/9 | Photo: Ayush Jain
Runner-up – Aaditri Majumdar (WB) 7.5/9
Second Runner-up – Nimalan Dharanipathy (KAR) 8/9 | Photo: Ayush Jain
Top 3 in Girls (L to R): 2nd Aaditri Majumdar (WB) 7.5/9, 1st Liyaa Krishnan Ns (MAH) 9/9 and 3rd Rihanshi Munagala (KAR) 7.5/9 | Photo: Ayush Jain
Rudra Pratap scored 8/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 13.6 Elo rating points
Liyaa Krishnan Ns scored a perfect 9/9, finished a whopping 1.5 points ahead of the rest and increased her Elo rating by 67.2 points
A total of 262 players took part from various states and union territories across the country. The five-day nine-round Under-7 Open Rating tournament was organized by Maharashtra Chess Association and Chess Association Nagpur at G H Raisoni Institute of Engineering and Technology in Nagpur, Maharashtra from 30th June to 4th July 2026. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.
A total of 145 players took part from various states and union territories across the country. The five-day nine-round Under-7 Girls Rating tournament was organized by Maharashtra Chess Association and Chess Association Nagpur at G H Raisoni Institute of Engineering and Technology in Nagpur, Maharashtra from 30th June to 4th July 2026. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.
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