World Youth Chess Championship 2026: Title Race Intensifies After Round 7

by Devansh Singh - 23/06/2026

After completion of 7 rounds at the World Youth Chess Championship 2026, the battle for the titles in the Open and Girls Under-14, Under-16, and Under-18 categories remains wide open. In all categories, there is no favourite yet, as exciting results and upsets are coming in each round. From Indian players, Goutham Krishna H is co-leading in the Open U-16, while Pratitee Bordoloi is currently in 2nd place in Girls U-18. Photos: FT Niklesh Jain

U-14 Open

Ethan Gua is leading the U-14 Open with 6.5/7 points, while Top-seeded Mark Smirnov and Arseny Kleschevnikov are in joint second place with 6/7 points. Siddhant Poonja and Shaunak Badole are on 4.5/7 points.

Ethan Guo defeated Antoni Radzimski on board 1

Andrei Negrean loses to Mark Smirnov

U-14 Girls

Zahra Allahverdi and Zuzanna Kaminska are co-leading with 6/7 points.

Sarvinoz Bergmuratova- Allahverdi Zahra drew on board 1

U-16 Open

Goutham Krishna H, Hongfu Dong, and Henry Edward Tudor are co-leading this group with 6/7 points

Goutham Krishna H defeated Artem S Lebedev

U-16 Girls

Tianyu Jiang is the sole leader in U-16 Girls after 7 rounds; LI, Rachael, and Olina Smirnova are trailing with 6/7 points. India's Arshiya Das is on 4.5/7 points

Tianyu Jiang drew against Batpelden B with black pieces

U-18 Open

Louis Valle is leading the Open U-18 Group with 6.5/7, and Bennet Hagner is on 6/7 points.

Louis Valle defeated Vache Hovakimyan to gain the sole lead

U-18 Girls

Valeria Kleymenova is leading the U-18 Girls with 6.5/7, while Pratitee Bordoloi is in second place with 6/7 points.

Pratitee Bordoloi drew against Valeria Kleymenova

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who made the ceremonial first move on Board 1 of the Girls Under-18 section

Pratitee in action

Photo Gallery: Here

Video Gallery: Here

Jiang Tianyu vs Rachael Li Game

Let's see how the battle unfolded and which player handled the critical moment better.

Check out the performance of Indian players after 7 rounds

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Rk.	Group
4	FM	ARSHIYA Das	2251	IND	1	1	0	1	1	½	0	4,5	19	Girls_16
25	WCM	AKSHAYA Sathi	2053	IND	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	4	34	Girls_16
65		SINGH Myra	1808	IND	0	1	1	0	½	0	1	3,5	46	Girls_16
16	WFM	PRATITEE Bordoloi	2129	IND	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	6	2	Girls_18
23	WFM	SARANYA Devi Narahari	2097	IND	1	1	0	½	0	1	1	4,5	25	Girls_18
32	WCM	ANUSHKA Bapu Kutwal	2047	IND	1	½	0	1	½	1	1	5	13	Girls_18
22		BADOLE Shaunak	2249	IND	1	1	1	½	0	½	½	4,5	27	Open_14
38		SIDDHANTH Poonja	2164	IND	1	0	1	½	½	1	½	4,5	29	Open_14
6	IM	GOUTHAM Krishna H	2439	IND	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	6	1	Open_16
11	FM	ROSH Jain	2358	IND	0	1	½	0	1	½	1	4	56	Open_16
47	CM	SHERLA Prathamesh	2218	IND	1	0	1	0	1	0	½	3,5	65	Open_16
5	IM	SRIRAM Adarsh Uppala	2467	IND	1	1	½	0	1	0	1	4,5	18	Open_18
57	FM	NANDISH V S	2236	IND	1	½	½	0	1	1	½	4,5	22	Open_18

Details

Pairings of the next round for India

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
8	10	27		TOKARZ Gabriela	POL	2037	4½	4½	FM	ARSHIYA Das	IND	2251	4
8	18	25	WCM	AKSHAYA Sathi	IND	2053	4	4	WCM	HE Ziyu	CHN	1892	48
8	28	65		SINGH Myra	IND	1808	3½	3½	WCM	CARA ROMEO Lavinia	ITA	1934	42
8	2	14	WFM	TABERMAKOVA Leila	FID	2132	5½	6	WFM	PRATITEE Bordoloi	IND	2129	16
8	7	32	WCM	ANUSHKA Bapu Kutwal	IND	2047	5	5	WCM	HAJDINIC Ema	CRO	1966	46
8	10	6	WFM	PEGLAU Charis	GER	2238	4½	4½	WFM	SARANYA Devi Narahari	IND	2097	23
8	12	38		SIDDHANTH Poonja	IND	2164	4½	4½	FM	ABDSATTAR Alisher	KAZ	2429	2
8	19	22		BADOLE Shaunak	IND	2249	4½	4½	CM	WIJERATHNA Vinuka Dihain	SRI	2165	37
8	1	6	IM	GOUTHAM Krishna H	IND	2439	6	6		DONG Hongfu	CHN	2353	15
8	19	60	FM	TAMER WAGUIH Farid	EGY	2167	4	4	FM	ROSH Jain	IND	2358	11
8	37	47	CM	SHERLA Prathamesh	IND	2218	3½	3½	WFM	VITI Greta	ITA	2077	87
8	11	5	IM	SRIRAM Adarsh Uppala	IND	2467	4½	4½	FM	BAYANTAS Asman	KAZ	2263	50
8	13	57	FM	NANDISH V S	IND	2236	4½	4½	FM	ASSYLOV Miras	KAZ	2409	14

Details

Schedule

Round starts daily from 15th June to 26th June at 15:00 Local Time, Daily except the rest day on 21st June. For more info, click here

Prizes

Regulations

The tournament will be played using the Swiss System with 11 rounds. The national rankings will not be taken into account for pairings. The rate of play will be in accordance with the FIDE rules: each player has 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move. The default time is 15 minutes. For more info, click here.