Ujan Chanda and Shruti Sarkar are West Bengal State Under-13 Open and Girls 2026 Champions
Ujan Chanda and Shruti Sarkar scored an unbeaten 7.5/8 and 8/8 respectively to win West Bengal State Under-13 Open and Girls Chess Championship 2026
Ujan’s first, Shruti’s fifth State title
Abir Mitra, Ujan Chanda and Monoskam Mitra, all three from Hooghly district were the leaders at 6.5/7 each, going into the last round. Rehant Dhiraj Koche (Paschim Bardhaman) lost to Ujan and the latter became the champion. Abir suffered defeat against Monoskam who finished second. Aniket Das (Kolkata) defeated Aratrik Majumder (Hooghly) to finish third scoring sole 7/8.
In the Girls event, Shruti Sarkar (North 24 Parganas) was the sole leader at a perfect score 7/7. 8-year-old Arpitangshi Bhattacharya (Kolkata) was the sole pursuer at 6/7. Although a draw would have sufficed for Shruti to become a clear champion, she went for the maximum and defeated Arpitangshi to become the champion with a 100% score 8/8. Adwitiya Chakraborty lost to her North 24 Parganas district mate Asmita Biswas who scored 6.5/8 to secure second place. Subhandri Maity (Purba Medinipur) suffered defeat against the top seed and the defending champion, Rajanya Mondal (Howrah). Rajanya finished third scoring 6.5/8.
This was Ujan’s maiden State title while for Shruti it was her fifth. Shruti has won Under-7 Girls in 2022, Under-9 Girls in 2023 and 2024, and Under-11 in 2025. It means since 2022, Shruti has won a State title every year.
West Bengal State Under-13 Girls and Open Champion – Shruti Sarkar (with her father Narayan Sarkar) 8/8 and Ujan Chanda 7.5/8
Champion in Open – Ujan Chanda (Hooghly) 7.5/8
Interview with Ujan Chanda
Champion in Girls – Shruti Sarkar (North 24 Parganas) 7.5/8
Interview with Shruti Sarkar
Runner-up in Open – Monoskam Mitra (Hooghly) 7.5/8
Runner-up in Girls – Asmita Biswas (North 24 Parganas) 6.5/8
Second Runner-up – Aniket Das (Kolkata) 7/8
Second Runner-up – Rajanya Mondal (Howrah) 6.5/8
Top two in Girls and Open (L to R): 2nd Asmita Biswas 6.5/8, 1st Ujan Chanda 7.5/8, 1st Shruti Sarkar 8/8 and 2nd Monoskam Mitra 7.5/8
Ujan Chanda en route his third round win
Ujan Chanda vs Reyansh Rawani, Round 7
Ujan Chanda scored an unbeaten 7.5/8, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 5.28 Elo rating points
Round 7 Girls: Rajanya Mondal – Shruti Sarkar: 0-1
Unbelievable blunder in a winning position – Rajanya Mondal vs Shruti Sarkar
Shruti Sarkar scored a perfect 8/8, finished a whopping 1.5 points ahead of the rest and increased her Elo rating by 155.6 points
Open: 4th Abir Mitra (Hooghly) 6.5/8
6th Aayan Gupta (Kolkata) 6.5/8
7th Somiddho Rajbangshi (North 24 Parganas) 6.5/8
8th Nishan Mondal (Darjeeling) 6.5/8
9th Khushal Bagri (Kolkata) 6.5/8
10th Dabangshu Mazumder (North 24 Parganas) 6.5/8
Girls: 5th Aryahi Bhattacharya (Paschim Bardhaman) 6.5/8
7th Arpitangshi Bhattacharya (Kolkata) 6/9
8th Anushka Saha (North 24 Parganas) 6/8
9th Adwitiya Chakraborty (North 24 Parganas) 5.5/8
10th Rahini Das (Howrah) 5.5/8
Top boards in Open and Girls events
Players in action
The tournament hall at Eastern Railway Sports Complex in Kolkata, West Bengal
The tournament banner
Beautiful and huge trophies for the prize winners
For more photos, please click here.
The most insane and unpredictable finish
The incredible resiliency of a 5-year-old
Passed pawn supremacy in the endgame
The joy of winning against the top seed
Queen and knight endgame with a surprising finish
How to Outplay your opponent
5-year-old channels his inner Tal
Blunder after missing a win
Never Give Up!
Why rush in a Queen endgame
5-year-old realizes his advantage
Checkmate outta nowhere
He went all-in and it almost paid off
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A total of 347 players took part from various districts across the state of West Bengal. The four-day eight-round Under-13 Open Rating tournament was organized by Classical Chess Academy at Eastern Railway Sports Academy Complex in Kolkata, West Bengal from 18th to 21st June 2026. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.
A total of 120 players took part from various districts across the state of West Bengal. The four-day eight-round Under-13 Girls Rating tournament was organized by Classical Chess Academy at Eastern Railway Sports Academy Complex in Kolkata, West Bengal from 18th to 21st June 2026. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.
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