Adhiban clear first at Festival Caissa Sceptre Rapid Rating Open 2026

GM Adhiban Baskaran scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win Festival Caissa Sceptre Rapid Rating Open 2026. He finished a half point ahead of the field. GM Mitrabha Guha, IM Suyog Wagh and IM Kashish Manoj Jain scored 7.5/9 each. They secured second, third and fourth places respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund was ₹500000. The top three prizes were ₹100000, ₹75000 and ₹50000 each. This was Adhiban’s first tournament triumph of the year.

Adhiban’s first tournament triumph of the year

This was the fourth event of the Festival Caissa Grand Prix series. The tournament was already a success due to an enormous participation of GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs – 52 in total, the highest in the GP series. It is not everyday one get to see so many titled and top players of the country take part in a non-GM tournament. It might be difficult to top this series for the rest of year in any rating open tournaments in India.

GM Pranav Anand, IM Mayank Chakraborty and GM Adhiban Baskaran were the three leaders at 7/8 each, heading into the last round. Pranav lost to Adhiban and the latter became a clear champion. GM Mitrabha Guha defeated Mayank to secure second place. IM Suyog Wagh won against IM Kushagra Mohan to finish third.

Champion – GM Adhiban Baskaran 8/9 | Photo: FI NA Sushruta Reddy / Innovators Chess Academy

Runner-up – GM Mitrabha Guha 7.5/9 | Photo: FI NA Sushruta Reddy / Innovators Chess Academy

Second Runner-up – IM Suyog Wagh 7.5/9 | Photo: FI NA Sushruta Reddy / Innovators Chess Academy

GM Adhiban Baskaran during one of his games | Photo: FI NA Sushruta Reddy / Innovators Chess Academy

Adhiban scored an unbeaten 8/9, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 11.2 Elo rating points

Best Female 1st – WGM Priyanka Nutakki 6.5/9 | Photo: FI NA Sushruta Reddy / Innovators Chess Academy

Best Female 2nd – IM Nisha Mohota 6.5/9 | Photo: FI NA Sushruta Reddy / Innovators Chess Academy

A total of 229 players including 12 GMs, 34 IMs, 3 WGMs and 3 WIMs took part from all over the country, one from Kenya, New Zealand and USA each. The one-day nine-round Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by Innovators Chess Academy at Silicon City Academy of Secondary Education in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 26th January 2026. The time control of the tournament was 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment.

Final standings

Details