Recent Current Affairs related to Chess

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, an Indian chess Grandmaster (GM), has won the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) 2026 Finals, becoming the first Indian champion. He defeated the USA GM Fabiano Caruana with a score of 15-13 in the finals held at the Saint Louis Chess Club in Missouri, USA.

With this victory, Praggnanandhaa secured the prize of $200,000. He also emerged as the highest overall earner of the GCT, accumulating a total prize money of $404,354.

Pranesh M, an Indian Grandmaster (GM) from Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, has won the “Kanizsa Open 2026” Group A title in Nagykanizsa, Hungary. He clinched the championship title after defeating Vadim Petrovskiy of Germany.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has announced the National Sports Awards 2025. The winners were selected based on the recommendations of a committee chaired by Arun Kumar Mishra, a former judge of the Supreme Court.

A total of 17 athletes have been selected for the Arjuna Award, including Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Divya Deshmukh (Chess), Treesa Jolly (Badminton), and Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton). I Arumainayagam, a former footballer and 1962 Asian Games gold medallist, was honoured with the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) for his long-term contributions.

The Dronacharya Award (Regular) was presented to Parveer Singh (Athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (Boxing), and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (Shooting), while the Lifetime category recognized Dharmendra Singh Yadav (Boxing) and Virender Kumar (Wrestling). Additionally, the Army Paralympic Node in Pune, received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.

Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian Grandmaster (GM) and world no. 1 representing Team Liquid, has won the “Esports World Cup Chess” title 2026 for the second consecutive year. The tournament was held in Paris, France, and the winner was awarded a prize of $250,000.

R Praggnanandhaa, an Indian Grandmaster (GM), has won his maiden Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. He finished the tournament ahead of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan.

Grandmaster (GM) S Rohith Krishna from Tamil Nadu has won the gold medal at the inaugural Menuires International Chess Championship 2026, held at Le Break des Menuires, France.

GM Raja Rithvik from Telangana secured the silver medal at the event.

Aswath S, a 17-year-old from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, has become India's 98th Grandmaster (GM). He attained this title by finishing as the runner-up at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament held in Pune, Maharashtra.

Ethan Vaz from Goa has become India's 96th Chess Grandmaster (GM) after securing his final GM norm at the Sarajevo GM Mix Tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Harshavardhan GB from Chennai has become India's 97th GM after earning his final GM norm at the 2nd Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament held in Chennai.

Viswanathan Anand has been conferred the Sports Journalists' Federation of India (SJFI) Gold Medal in recognition of his exceptional contribution to Indian chess and outstanding achievements in the sport.

The award was presented by former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth at the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) in Chennai.

Savitha Baskar, a 19-year-old Indian International Master (IM), has won the gold medal on tie-breaks at the Women’s Asian Individual Chess Championship 2026, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan secured the silver medal, while Song Yuxin of China claimed the bronze. In the Open section of the championship, Kong Xiangrui of China won the gold medal.

Swara Lakshmi Nair, a chess player from Bengaluru has secured the Woman International Master (WIM) title. She achieved this milestone at the Ptuj International Masters tournament held in Slovenia.

It is to be noted that she is the first WIM from Bengaluru and the second WIM from Karnataka, following Isha Sharma who achieved the title in 2019.

Bharat Singh Chauhan has been re-elected as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Chess Association (CCA) for the 2026–2030 term. The re-election took place during the Annual General Body Meeting of the organization held in Wasakaduwa, Sri Lanka.

It is to be noted that the CCA has announced the launch of a new tournament, the “Commonwealth School Chess Championship”, with its inaugural edition scheduled to be hosted in Malaysia in October 2026.

Faustino Oro, an Argentina-born chess prodigy known as the “Messi of Chess”, has become the second-youngest Grandmaster (GM) in history. He attained the title at the age of 12 years, 6 months, and 26 days after securing his third and final GM norm at the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 in Italy.

He is the 7th player in the history of the sport to earn the GM title before the age of 13. It is to be noted that Abhimanyu Mishra of the USA currently holds the record for being the youngest-ever GM.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has officially joined the International World Games Association (IWGA) as its 40th member. The announcement was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM 2026) held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Aronyak Ghosh from Kolkata becomes the 95th Grandmaster (GM) of India. He secured his third and final GM norm at the 23rd Bangkok Chess Club (BCC) Open 2026, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand.

R Vaishali, an Indian Grandmaster (GM), becomes the first Indian woman to win the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026.

She defeated Kateryna Lagno (Russia) in the final round of the tournament held in Pegeia, Cyprus. It is to be noted that Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan has won the Open Section of the Candidates Tournament.