JAMMU, Aug 27: Surinder Gupta and Amrita Gupta emerged winners in the Open Boys and Open Girls categories respectively at the 5th Open Khelo Jammu Raksha Bandhan Cup Chess Tournament 2026, organised by the Vivek Chess Academy (VCA) in Jammu.
The tournament witnessed enthusiastic participation from young chess players across different age groups. Anuradha Gupta, Scientist, Pollution Control Board, Jammu, was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony and distributed cash prizes amounting to Rs 3,400, along with trophies and medals, to the winners.
In the Open Boys category, Surinder Gupta secured the top position with 6 points, while Amrita Gupta topped the Open Girls category with 4 points.
In the Under-13 Boys category, Keshav Mahajan won the Gold medal with 4 points, followed by Triyansh Verma with Silver and Gaurav Kumar with Bronze, scoring 4 and 3.5 points respectively.
In the Under-13 Girls category, Ruby Kumari claimed Gold with 2.5 points, while Bhargavi Kapoor and Pearl Thothla secured Silver and Bronze respectively.
The Under-10 Boys category saw Divyansh Khanna take Gold with 3 points. Agastya Bhat won Silver with 3 points, while Triyam secured Bronze with 2 points.
In the Under-10 Girls category, Raesha Thothla won Gold with 3 points, followed by Naisha Handoo with Silver and Manushree Nishal with Bronze, both securing 3 points.
The tournament featured six competitive rounds. Surinder Gupta maintained an impressive winning streak, defeating Keshav, Aryaveer, Aarav, Amrita, Ishaan and Triyansh in successive rounds to finish with a perfect 6/6 score.
Other notable encounters included Amrita’s victories over Manushree, Bhargavi, Triyansh and Naisha, while several closely contested games were witnessed among the junior players. The tournament also provided valuable competitive exposure to emerging chess talents in the region.
Stuti Gupta, National Senior Arbiter, served as the Chief Arbiter of the tournament. The pairings were conducted using the latest Swiss pairing software, ensuring systematic and fair conduct of the competition.
The event concluded with the felicitation of the winners and recognition of the young players who displayed determination, strategic thinking and sporting spirit throughout the tournament.