IM Rahul Sangma wins Chess for Everyone Classical Fide Rating 2026

by Devansh Singh - 25/03/2026

IM Rahul Sangma scored an unbeaten 7/8 points to win the Chess for Everyone Classical Fide Rating tournament 2026 by Premier Chess Academy. Five players scored 7/8 points. Rahul Sangma secured 1st place according to tiebreaks, while GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, IM Subhayan Kundu, GM Petr Kiriakov, and IM Vasil Trickov secured 2nd to 5th places respectively. This 4-day FIDE classical event took place at Premier Chess Academy, Trivandrum, Kerala, from 20th to 23rd March. It was a social cause event with free entry fees and no cash prizes. Main prize winners and category prize winners received trophies for their brilliant performance. Photos: Ravindra Potawad / PCA

Rahul's second triumph of 2026

Earlier this year, IM Rahul Sangma won the Late Shri Vasudeva V. Dempo Memorial Fide Rating 2026. Rahul scored an unbeaten 8/9 in the Dempo Memorial and, here at Chess for everyone by PCA, remained unbeaten to win the tournament. Going into the last round, IM Subhayan Kundu and IM Vasil Trickov were leading the event with 6.5/7 points. They drew their game while Rahul won an important game against RKT Dissanayake of Sri Lanka with the white pieces to win the title.

Champion: Rahul Sangma (IND)

Runner up: GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (IND)

Second runner up: Subhayan Kundu (IND)

4th Place: GM Petr Kiriakov (FIDE)

5th Place: IM Vasil Trickov (CZE)

Tournament Hall at Premier Chess Academy, Trivandrum

Trophies for the winners

A total of 194 players took part in this Classical FIDE Rating Chess tournament. Players from 11 National Federations took part in this tournament, making it a huge success. 2 Grandmasters and 5 International Masters played this event, making the field strong for young players.

Photo Gallery: Here

Kids received their trophies from fellow players....IM Anup Deshmukh is awarding a trophy to little kid

INDIA!!!! INDIA!!!

IM Rahul Sangma is addressing the players and parents

That's the way to celebrate the victory

IM Vasil Trickov of the Czech Republic with the Czech Flag

IM Mamombe Kudzanai of Zimbabwe is awarding the trophy to the winners

Beautiful trophies

Arbiters: Deputy Chief (Middle): FA Swapnil Raj and Chief (right): IA Ajinkya Pingale

Getting a trophy from the champion is a great feeling

The team behind making this event a huge success with the top players

Sajib Das was the sole participant from Bangladesh

Krishna Thapa, Dhami Deepak, and Sudip Tamang represented Nepal

Players also received signed chessboards

Read about the Organiser: Renjith Balakrishnan

Man with a plan: Renjith Balakrishnan

My idea was to bring foreign GMs & IMs to India and make them play with our unrated to rated kids. Many can’t travel internationally due to financial constraints. That goal is accomplished, as many of these foreigners want to come back for next season. Chess for Everyone was designed to reverse the system, bringing International Grandmasters to Kerala instead of sending our children abroad, while removing entry fees and prize money to eliminate financial barriers and keep the focus purely on long-term development. The tournament encouraged players to focus on experience, improvement, and genuine learning, rather than chasing cash prizes. Premier Chess Academy fully supported the participation of international players. We covered their flight tickets and provided accommodation in 4/5 star hotels for the duration of the tournament. We also took care of local hospitality, including transport and on-ground arrangements.
This is just a beginning; we are planning many more events to boost chess in Kerala as well as India.

GM Kiriakov Petr (2477) vs GM Saptarshi Chowdhury Roy

Check out more games: Here

Final Ranking

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	TB6
1	5	IM	Sangma, Rahul			IND	2137	RSPB	7	41,5	45	38,25	6	3
2	4	GM	Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi			IND	2217	Railway Sports Promotion Board	7	41,5	44,5	37,5	6	3
3	2	IM	Subhayan, Kundu			IND	2359	Railway Sports Promotion Board	7	41	45	38	6	3
4	1	GM	Kiriakov, Petr			FID	2477	Fide	7	41	43,5	36,5	6	3
5	3	IM	Trickov, Vasil	S56		CZE	2287	Czech Republic	7	39,5	43,5	37,25	6	3
6	18		Sreehari, S			IND	1761	Kerala	6,5	39,5	43	32,5	6	1
7	8	CM	Thapa, Krishna			NEP	1968	Nepal	6,5	36	38,5	29,5	6	3
8	9	AIM	Dissanayake, R K T			SRI	1967	Sri Lanka	6	39,5	43,5	29,5	6	3
9	13		Mahadev, J S	U15		IND	1806	Kerala	6	39	42	29	6	3
10	11		Janaki, S D	U12	w	IND	1842	Kerala	6	38,5	41,5	27,5	6	3
11	6	IM	Deshmukh, Anup	S56		IND	2121	Maharashtra	6	38	40	27	6	3
12	17		Nirmal, D Ansera	U15		IND	1764	Kerala	6	37,5	41,5	28	6	3
13	24		Rohith, S Navneet	U12		IND	1671	Kerala	6	37	40	28	5	2
14	23		Deekshit, Maheswaran	U15		IND	1671	Kerala	6	35	39	28,75	5	1
15	75		Niranjan, Shravan	U15		IND	1456	Kerala	6	34,5	38	27,25	5	2