Madhvendra Pratap Sharma and Aaradhya Das Win National Under-13 Titles

Madhvendra Pratap Sharma won the National Under-13 Open Chess Championship 2026 with 10/11, and Aaradhya Das won the Girls title with 9.5/11.

The 39th National Under-13 Chess Championships in Puducherry have finished, and India has two new national champions. FM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma of Madhya Pradesh won the Open section and WCM Aaradhya Das of Tripura won the Girls section.

Madhvendra finished with an outstanding 10 points from 11 games, winning nine and drawing two without losing. His most important win came in round 7, when he beat his co-leader FM Avirat Chauhan with the black pieces. Avirat played superbly for the rest of the event and finished second with 9.5 points. Advik Reddy Moate of Telangana took third place with 9 points.

The Girls section had a dramatic finish. WCM Aaradhya Das won her last two games, including a decisive round 10 win over top seed WCM Aadya Gowda. She finished with 9.5 points from 11. Aadya Gowda of Karnataka and WCM Pooja Shree R of Tamil Nadu both scored 9 points and took second and third place on tiebreak.

Arpita Patankar, who led the Girls section after six rounds, lost in round 8 but still finished with a strong 8 points.

Madhvendra's title shows the value of consistency. Even after his big win in round 7, he kept his focus for four more rounds and never lost. Aaradhya Das's victory shows something different: the importance of finishing strongly. She was not leading at the halfway point, but her excellent final rounds made her the champion.

For every young player who took part, the experience of a national championship is valuable whatever the result. Review your games, especially the losses, and note one thing to work on. Many of today's grandmasters remember their national youth championships as the events where they learned the most.

Congratulations to both champions, to all the medal winners, and to every player who competed in Puducherry.