Mumbai, 13 November: The second stage of the SBI Life Maharashtra State Schools Chess Championship 2026 began on Friday at Rustomjee Cambridge International School in Dahisar (West). Top seeds Hriday Maniar and Drishya Naik won both of their games in the Under-17 Open and Girls sections.
The three-day event is organised by Indian Chess School and has 387 players across six FIDE-rated categories: Under-9, Under-13 and Under-17, each in Open and Girls sections. It is the selection tournament for the National Schools Chess Championship in Ahmedabad from 16 to 20 December 2026, and the top two finishers in each category will represent Maharashtra.
Under-9
In the Open section, top seed Adhvaan Oswal (1724) and Ivaan Dubey (1545), who won the Under-7 Open title in the first stage, are among those on two points after two rounds. They are joined by Veer Dhaval Shah (1501), Atharva Mulik (1483), Arav Chaitanya Deshmukh (1422) and Nivesh Amit Panchal (1419), as well as unrated Dharvik Anand Parab, Shivansh Shreyas Bhala, Viren Rohit Boricha and Zian Fatnani.
In the Girls section, Liyaa Krishnan (1558), the Under-7 Girls champion from the first stage, won both games. She shares the lead with Mirai Sardana (1533), Khanak Gada (1452), Lavanya Singh (1448) and unrated Manasi Danu. Ishi Singh (1538) and Deedhiti Banerjee (1553) are also on two points.
Under-13
In the Open section, AIM Kashyap Brijesh Khakharia (1789) of Podar International School, Sangli, leads with two points from two rounds. Arjun Prabhu (1778), Ritik Sai Boppa (1561), Mayan S. Jha (1561) and Aaradhya Rupesh Wagh (1554) are in the leading group, along with Pruthvi PPS (1547), Dhairya Rajesh Bijalwan (1482) and Avyan Ingole (1454).
In the Girls section, top seed Tvesha Ashish Jain (1697), who won the Under-11 Girls title in the first stage, is on two points with Pranitha Bhava (1655), Mahua Vighnesh Deshpande (1527), Ariha Sharad Deorukhakar (1485), Nishka Agarwal (1562) and Tisyaa Apurva Patt (1524). Myra Ravi Jhavar (1488) and AFM Tanya Bhat (1488) also have two points.
Under-17
In the Open section, AIM Hriday Maniar (1910) won both games. Yuvraj Avadhesh Pratap Singh (1690), Soham Sudarshan Sahamate (1667), Ronit Motwani (1613), unrated Vihaan D. Singh, Shaurya Ashish Modi (1626) and AFM Samvid Bhadri (1576) are also on two points.
In the Girls section, top seed Drishya Naik (1713) won both games. Iksha Soni (1528), Trisha Jagtap (1527) and Saina Nagarkatte (1419) also have two wins.
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