Pranay Akula and Naga Sai Sarthak Karanam are the Telangana Rapid and Blitz 2026 state champions

by Aditya Sur Roy - 02/02/2026

The Telangana state rapid and blitz 2026 championships were held on the 31st of January and 1st February respectively at the Yoga Hall, Lal Bahadur Stadium, Basheerbagh in Hyderabad. The top two finishers of the rapid - Pranay Akula and Adhyayan Banerjee and blitz - Naga Sai Sarthak Karanam and Shreyan Thipparthi qualified to represent the state of Telangana in the upcoming National rapid and blitz championships respectively. They received cash prize of Rs. 3,000 each. Around 135 players and 120 players participated in the rapid and blitz championship respectively. Photos by Aditya Sur Roy.

The state of Telangana is growing as a powerhouse in the world of chess and it is evident from the pool of talented youngsters and the rising number of participations in chess events. The qualifiers for the National rapid and blitz for the state was organised by the Hyderabad District Chess Association at the Yoga Hall, Lal Bahadur Stadium, Basheerbagh in Hyderabad.

In the rapid championship, 135 players participated which included players from all districts of Telangana. Pranay Akula clinched the title with a perfect score of 7/7. Adhyayan Banerjee scored 6.5/7 to finish as the first-runner up. Both players remained unbeaten to qualify for the National rapid championship 2026 and won cash prizes of Rs. 3000 each.

Divith Reddy Adulla, Dharmik Virat Mylavarapu, Advik Reddy Moate and Yashvi Jain scored 6/7 to finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively as per tie-break rules. They received cash prizes of Rs. 1,000 each. Yashvi Jain, the top woman finisher couldn't attend her first round and got no points but scored six back to back wins in the next six rounds to finish in the sixth place.

As a token of encouragement, trophies were give to all top three finishers of U7, U9, U11, U13 and U15 categories of both boys and girls and all participants received certificates. Vice president T. Punyavathi and General secretary A Jayachandra were present to award the champions.

Pranay Akula and Adhyayan Banerjee the qualifiers of the National rapid championships | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Pranay Akula receiving the champions trophy scoring 7/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Adhyayan Banerjee the first runner-up, score - 6.5/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Divith Reddy Adulla the second runner-up, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Dharmik Virat Mylavarapu fourth position, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Advik Reddy Moate fifth position, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Yashvi Jain finished sixth, score -6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Standings after seven rounds

In the blitz championship, 119 players participated from all districts of Telangana and after seven rounds of intense games, Naga Sai Sarthak Karanam clinched the championship with a score 6.5/7. Ten-year old Shreyan Thipparthi finished second scoring the same points due to tie-breaks. Both the players qualify to represent the state of Telangana at the upcoming National blitz championship. Both the players received R. 3,000 as cash prize. Nidhish Shyamal, Akhil Repalle, Yashvi Jain and Santosh Hariharan scored 6/7 to finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively as per tie-break rules.

The top two finishers Naga Sai Sarthak Karanam and Shreyan Thipparthi | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Naga Sai Sarthak Karanam the champion, score - 6.5/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Shreyan Thipparthi the first runner-up, score - 6.5/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Nidhish Shyamal finished third, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Akhil Repalle finished fourth, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Yashvi Jain finished fifth, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Santosh Hariharan finished sixth, score - 6/7 | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

Final standings of blitz championships

The top finishers | Photo : Aditya Sur Roy

The two champions with the vice president, general secretary of TGCA and chief arbiter

The two day event witnessed action-packed games bundles with emotions. Checkout some of the photos from the tournaments

Telengana Chess Association Vice president T. Punyavathi and General secretary A Jayachandra playing a fun game

Chief arbiter IA Chandra Mouli Rekhaliga

Focus is the key

Youngster Samhita Pungavanam in action

The rapid champion Pranay Akula in action

Blitz champion Naga Sai Sarthak Karanam on his way to become the champion of the blitz tournament

Young minds in action

Age is just a number in chess

The namaste on the board, rapid final round

In a first, Aditya Sur Roy from ChessBase India also participated in the two championships. This was the first time Aditya participated in a tournament. Aditya scored two wins and a drew one game to score 2.5/7 in the rapid and won three games in the blitz. We would like to thank the Hyderabad District and Telangana Chess Association for organising the event.