Bhubaneswar: Indian Grand Master (GM) five-time Commonwealth Champion Abhijeet Gupta gathered 8 points by the end of 10th rounds and emerged champion of the Odisha Open 16th International GM Chess Festival at SoA University here on Saturday. Being organized by the All-Odisha Chess Association (AOCA) in association with the E-Sports Association of Odisha (ESPOA), under the aegis of the All-India Chess Federation (AICF). Top seed Abhijeet registered seven wins, two draws and a defeat in the Category-A 1900 elo rating and above, which inaugurated on 16th January 2026.
Duc Hoa Nguyen and Van Huy Nguyen both Vietnam GM scored eight points each and finished 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up respectively. Total 220 players from across 14 countries including 10 GM, 19 IM, 2 WIM, 8 FM, 4 WFM, 12 CM and 10 WCM participated. Similarly, top seeded Soumalya Mondal of West Bengal with 8,5 points clinched the title of Category-B (Elo below 1900) titles. 19th ranked Prakash Satyam of Delhi and fifth ranked N Rohith of Telangana scored eight points each and finished 1st runner up and 2nd runner up respectively.
The Category-C (below elo 1600 rating) title was claimed by Vaibhav Sah of Jharkhand with eight points in the nine-round event. The local boy Suraj Kumar Maharana and Vyas Yajat of Rajasthan with 7.5 points each bagged the 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up titles respectively. A record number of 1,376 players participated in the festival across four different categories. The total prize fund for all categories amounted to ₹45 lakhs.
The closing ceremony was graced by Samir Mohanty, President, Olympic Association of Odisha, Rajib Sahu, prominent Chartered Accountant, Kalandi Samal, Secretary, BJP Odisha, PaIly Pattanaik, Chairman, Mothers public School, Debabrata Bhatta, Secretary All Odisha Chess Association, Abhishek Mitra, Secretary, ESPAO, Sujit Kumar Rout, President, Rotary Club Bhubaneswar- Neeladri, Rakesh Dalai, Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar-Neeladri, Gopakumar MS, International Arbiter, Paul Arokiaraj, Chief arbiter and Karunakar Pradhan, Secretary Bharatiya Sikhsha Bikas Sansthan.
