Black & White Chess Tournament – Season 1 Wraps Up with Thrilling Moves and Rising Stars

🏁 Day 1: Blitz Brilliance

The opening day featured a FIDE Rated Blitz Event, testing players’ rapid decision-making skills in high-pressure conditions.

Top Overall Winners – Blitz:

• 🥇 Mero Aghiad (Syria) – 8 points

• 🥈 Husain Ayyad (Bahrain) – 7.5 points

• 🥉 Prithvi Raj Prajeesh (India) – 7 points

• 4th: Navaneet Sreekanth (India) – 6.5 points

• 5th: Rudra (India) – 6 points

• 6th: Vaishnav Sumesh (India) – 5 points

• 7th: Jishnu Balajee Meenu (India) – 5 points

Special Recognitions:

• Best Players Under 1500 Rating:
  🥇 Vaishnav Sumesh, 🥈 Noel Abraham Punnoose, 🥉 Aadhav Rakshith Krishnen

• Best Unrated Players:
  🥇 Sriram Palaniappan, 🥈 Vivaan Anand, 🥉 Saatvik Sharma

• Top Women Players:
  🥇 Yashvi Kaushal Shah, 🥈 Devika Anil Jai Prabhakaran, 🥉 Ayushi Dash

Day 2: Young Talents Shine

May 1 brought a showcase of young brilliance, featuring the Under 17, Under 12, Under 10, Under 8, and Girls categories.

Under 17 – Junior Category:

• 🥇 Pranav Bobby Sekhar (India) – 6.5 points

• 🥈 Navaneet Sreekanth (India) – 6 points

• 🥉 Prithvi Raj Prajeesh (India) – 6 points

• 4th: Rudra (India) – 5 points

• 5th: Vaishnav Sumesh (India) – 5 points

• 6th: Avran Mathew Thomas (India) – 5 points

• 7th: Jishnu Balajee Meenu (India) – 5 points

🏆 Under 10:

• 🥇 Ehan Anjam (India) – 6 points

• 🥈 Jeff George (India) – 6 points

• 🥉 Saatvik Sharma (India) – 6 points

• 4th: Tissir Hamza (Bahrain) – 5 points

• 5th: Alqallaf Ali (Bahrain) – 4.5 points

• 6th: Theodore Oberyn Carpio (Philippines) – 4.5 points

• 7th: Rihaan Bibin (India) – 4.5 points

🐣 Under 8:

• 🥇 Brayden Anand (India) – 4 points

• 🥈 Hridik Dhananjay Shetty (India) – 3.5 points

• 🥉 Shreepriyan Sundararajan (India) – 3 points

👧 Girls Category:

• 🥇 Aishwarya Krishnen (India)

• 🥈 Niharika Nithin (India)

• 🥉 (Not awarded)

🏅 Special Mention:

• Youngest Participant: Brayden Anand

From fast-paced blitz battles to emerging junior champions, BLACK & WHITE Chess Tournament – Season 1 has laid a strong foundation for future editions. With overwhelming participation, skilled performances, and international flair, the event underscored Bahrain's growing prominence as a hub for chess talent.

Organizers expressed their heartfelt thanks to participants, parents, volunteers, and supporting bodies for making this debut season a resounding success.