Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla decimates 6th Navin Kumar Sinha Memorial Rapid Rating Open 2026

IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win 6th Navin Kumar Sinha Memorial Rapid Rating Open 2026. Arnav Agrawal scored sole 8/9 to secure second place. He also remained undefeated. IM Utsab Chatterjee, GM Aaryan Varshney, IM Himal Gusain and CM Prakhar Tripathi scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed third to sixth respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹40000, ₹25000 and ₹15000 along with a trophy each.

Bala Chandra’s first rating tournament triumph of the year

IM Utsab Chatterjee and IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla were the coleaders 7.5/8 each, going into the last round. Arnav Agrawal, Anustoop Biswas and IM Himal Gusain were trailing them by a half point at 7/8 each. Utsab lost to Bala Chandra and the latter became the champion, the former third. Arnav defeated Anustoop to secure second place.

Champion – IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla 8.5/9 | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

Runner-up – Arnav Agrawal 8/9 | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

Second Runner-up – IM Utsab Chatterjee 7.5/9 | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

Closing ceremony
Chief Guest – Utkarsh Kumar, IAS, Deputy Development Commissioner, West Singhbhum,
Nitin Prakash, Mukund Rungta, Basant Khandelwal and Anil Khirwal.

IM Bala Chandra Prasad en route his final round win over IM Utsab Chatterjee | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla scored an unbeaten 8.5/9, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 7.9 Elo rating points

One of the newest GMs of India, Aaryan Varshney scored 7.5/9 to finish fourth | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

Lighting of the lamp | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

Opening ceremony
Chief guest – Deepak Birua, Minister of Transport, Land Reforms and Revenue along with Nitin Prakash, Chairman, Nagar Parishad and Title Sponsor, Patron – Dipendra Prasad Sao, Mukund Rungta, President, West Singhbhum District Chess Association, Basant Khandelwal, General Secretary, West Singhbhum District Chess Association and Pawan Khirwal.

The tournament hall at Khirwal Banquet Hall in Chaibasa, Jharkhand | Photo: Basant Khandelwal

A total of 277 players including a GM and four IMs took part from various parts of the country. The one-day nine-round Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by West Singhbhum District Chess Association at Khirwal Banquet Hall in Chaibasa, Jharkhand on 15th March 2026. The time control of the tournament was 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment.

Final standings

Details