Abhijeet Gupta wins 16th Odisha GM Open 2026

GM Abhijeet Gupta scored 8/10 to win 16th Odisha GM Open 2026. He edged past four other players on tie-breaks who also scored the same points. Among them, GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE) and GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE) were placed second and third respectively. The total prize fund in Category A (>1900) was ₹2500000. The top three prizes were ₹550000, ₹350000 and ₹200000 along with a trophy each. Abhijeet won the first tournament he played in the year.

Abhijeet clinches the first tournament he plays in 2026

GM Boris Savchenko, GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE) and GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE) were the three players at 7.5/9 each, heading into the final round. Savchenko defeated GM Abhijeet Gupta to move to the top. Abhijeet was trailing by a half point at 7/9. The top seed of the event, Abhijeet defeated IM Diasmany Otero Acosta (CUB) to become the champion. Duc Hoa drew against Savchenko to secure second place. GM Vladimir Burmakin shared the point against GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE) and the latter finished third.

The top seed, Soumalya Mondal won Category B (Below 1900) scoring an unbeaten 8.5/10. 14-year-old Vaibhav Sah became champion in Category C (Below 1700). He scored 8/10 and remained undefeated. 15-year-old Ahaz E U scored a perfect 9/9 to win the Blitz Rating Open.

Champion – GM Abhijeet Gupta 8/10 | Photo: Prameya News

GM Abhijeet Gupta scored 8/10, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 6.2 Elo rating points

Abhijeet – Diasmany, Round 10

Position after 31…Qd7?

31…Qd7? allowed White to play what he was aiming for 32.Bxf6!+- gxf6 33.Qxf6+ Rg7 34.Qxh6+ Nh7 35.f5 Bg8 36.f6 Rf7 37.Bg6 d4 38.Bxf7 Qxf7 39.Ref1 d3 40.Rg3 GM Abhijeet Gupta (2500) won the crucial final round game against IM Diasmany Otero Acosta (CUB, 2341) and the tournament.

Replay all available Open A games

A total of 217 players including 10 GMs, 19 IMs and two WIMs took part from a dozen countries across the world. The nine-day ten-round Above 1900 Rating tournament was organized by All Odisha Chess Association at SOA University Campus in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 16th to 24th January 2026. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Final standings in Category A

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