Mumbai, August 12, 2026: A strong field of 157 players from 10 countries, including six International Masters and 24 FIDE Masters and Women FIDE Masters, will compete in the Asian Junior Open & Girls Chess Championship 2026 in Mumbai from August 16 to 26.
The championship is being hosted by the Maharashtra Chess Association under the auspices of the All India Chess Federation, Asian Chess Federation and FIDE. The tournament will be held at ITC Maratha, Mumbai.
The event will feature nine rounds of Classical Swiss chess, along with seven rounds each of Rapid and Blitz. A total of 157 players will compete in the Classical event, while 153 will participate in Rapid and 151 in Blitz.
The Open section has an average Elo rating of 2054, while the Junior Women’s section has an average Elo of 1885. Indian IM Mayank Chakraborty, rated 2500, leads the Open field, followed by Russia’s IM Artem Pingin (2477) and India’s IM Apporv Kamble (2441).
In the Junior Women’s section, India’s WFM Pratitee Bordoloi (2252) is the top seed, followed by Kazakhstan’s WFA Mariya Kholyavko (2217) and Turkmenistan’s WFM Lala Shohradova (2159).
Other Indian players expected to make an impact include Vignesh Advaith Vemula, Aaditya Dhingra and Akshay Borgaonkar. Among the women, WFMs Swara Lakshmi Nair and Mrittika Mallick are among the players to watch.
Winners who are already IMs will receive a Grandmaster norm, while non-IM winners will earn an IM norm.
