Row after row, board after board: the Koramangala indoor stadium filled up fast for the CircleChess x GCL Grand Open.
What began as a tournament announcement just ten days before the event turned into one of Bengaluru's most talked-about open chess events of the season.
The CircleChess x Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Grand Open Rapid Rated Chess Tournament — organised in collaboration with the Golden Aura Trust as the organizing partner — witnessed an overwhelming response, with 750+ players registering in just 10 days.
The event brought together chess enthusiasts across every age group and playing level for a competitive FIDE-rated rapid tournament, while giving the wider chess community a front-row seat to the scale and energy building around the Global Chess League.
"This event is a statement that the Global Chess League is in Bengaluru. Tech Mahindra Global Chess League has done a wonderful job bringing world-class chess to the city – I am very excited about it." — Mr. Kumar Gaurav, Founder, CircleChess
10 Days, 750+ Players, One Grand Chess Event
With barely a week between registrations opening and the first move being played, the response surpassed every expectation.
Players from across Karnataka and beyond converged on the same stage — from young newcomers experiencing a major rated tournament for the first time, to seasoned competitors fighting hard for the top boards, including 20+ titled players.
The turnout says something bigger about where chess in India is headed: a growing appetite for professionally run, high-quality events that bring the grassroots community and the global chess ecosystem onto the same floor.
"This is a Road to GCL event, which means players who win trophies and finish at the top get a pass to GCL. We actually got the mandate to organise this tournament just a few days before it happened. It's organised by CircleChess in partnership with Golden Aura Trust, and within a few days – even on what is normally a working day for most companies – we managed to bring together 750+ chess lovers who signed up for the event. We're very excited about how it all came together." — Mr. Kumar Gaurav, Founder, CircleChess
A Day That Brought the Chess Community Together
The tournament was elevated further by the presence of distinguished guests and leaders from the chess and sporting world.
The CEO of the Global Chess League — Mr. Gourav Rakshit — joined the event, alongside several other chief guests and dignitaries, including Mr. Prakash Nanjappa, Olympiad and Arjuna Awardee, and GM Tej Kumar (Karnataka's 1st GM) — turning the day into far more than a competition on the board.
Their presence built a bridge between Bengaluru's rapidly growing competitive chess community and one of the world's most ambitious professional chess leagues.
"Actually, this tournament – what I had dreamt was that it should happen during the GCL. I had already taken the event code for this particular tournament for the 5th and 6th of September, but I got a call from CircleChess that we have to organise this tournament prior to the GCL. So we are doing it along with the GCL, and I'm so happy to collaborate with the GCL and CircleChess in conducting this tournament within such a short span." — Mrs. Soumya M.U, Founder, Golden Aura Trust (President, BUDCA; Vice President, KSCA)
Focus in the room was total — every board had its own quiet battle playing out. From opening moves to the final round, the hall stayed packed with players, parents, coaches and chess lovers soaking in the energy of a truly large-scale, over-the-board event.
Winners Who Rose to the Top
After a fiercely contested series of rapid rounds, the strongest performers emerged at the top of the leaderboard.
| Rank | Player | Title | Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
#11 | Apoorv Kamble | IM | 2360 | 8.5 |
#22 | Sammed Jaykumar Shete | IM | 2239 | 8 |
#33 | Vaidyanathan Kannan (U13) | FM | 2224 | 8 |
#44 | Vishnu Prasanna V | GM | 2430 | 8 |
#55 | Harsh Suresh | IM | 2369 | 8 |
#66 | Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh | IM | 2232 | 8 |
#77 | Siddhanth Poonja (U15) | FM | 2187 | 8 |
#88 | Peter Anand A | - | 1976 | 8 |
#99 | Sarveshwaran V | CM | 2120 | 7.5 |
#1010 | Visakh N R | GM | 2414 | 7.5 |
IM Apoorv Kamble won the tournament outright with an impressive 8.5/9 — and the story behind it made the win even sweeter. He had landed back in Bengaluru just six hours before the first round, touching down around 2 a.m. after flying home from the Asian Junior Championship, where he had just won the bronze medal in the Asian Junior Blitz Championship!
Apoorv shared:
"It was lovely winning such a strong event in a convincing manner. It is always extra special to win a tournament in Bangalore. I was not worried about being tired despite reaching home early morning the same day, playing OTB chess is always fun and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to play such a strong tournament in my city." — IM Apoorv Kamble
For others in the field, the tournament carried a different kind of significance. GM Vishnu Prasanna — who finished 4th overall — returned to competitive play after a long break, and the day meant as much to him personally as it did competitively.
"Playing the Road to GCL tournament was special for me personally, as it marked my return to competitive chess after nearly two and a half years. More than the result, I was excited to experience the pressure, decision-making and emotions of tournament chess again. It was also great to see CircleChess create an opportunity that brings the chess community together and connects players with the excitement around the Global Chess League." — GM Vishnu Prasanna
A First for Indian Chess: Instant Prize Money Withdrawal
One of the event's standout innovations came after the games were over.
Instead of making winners wait for their prize money, CircleChess enabled instant payouts through its WhatsApp Bot — a first-of-its-kind feature in an Indian chess tournament.
Winners could receive their prize money directly through the CircleChess WhatsApp experience, making the process significantly faster and friction-free.
It was a small detail with a big impact — a reminder of how technology can quietly remove the friction from traditional tournament operations, letting players focus on what matters most: playing chess.
The winner of the event, Apoorv, shared his thoughts on the instant withdrawal:
"The new prize money withdrawal system is a very good innovation by CircleChess. Receiving the prize money often takes days and weeks. Same-day prize money withdrawal makes it a lot more efficient for the organizers and convenient for the players." — IM Apoorv Kamble
Another parent shared:
"It was really useful as we will not also have the stress of receiving money." — A Parent
More Than a Tournament
To make the intensity lighter, Bangalore Chess Club had also organized light playing stalls where players could play different variants of chess between the rounds.
"Taking out time — be it a weekend or a weekday — for their kids really shows how invested these parents are. They're here because they want to be emotionally available for their children, and chess, as we know, is as much a mind game as it is an emotional one. All the parents here are completely checked in, and the kids are having a good time too — playing in tournaments like this makes them emotionally stronger." — Mrs. Swati Agrawal, Co-Founder, CircleChess
"We were able to bring this crowd here – not only from Bengaluru, but chess players from across India — to witness this wonderful event. I have to thank everyone, especially Tech Mahindra, for bringing the world-class Global Chess League to Bangalore. I thank the Government of Karnataka and the Department of Sports and Youth Empowerment for their cooperation in approving this venue, the Mangala Indoor Stadium, within a very short span of request. I have to thank the whole team of Golden Aura, and all the chess players and parents, for gathering for this event and making it a success. I'm happy to be part of this event as an organiser from Golden Aura." — Mrs. Soumya M.U, Founder, Golden Aura Trust
The success of the Grand Open reflects the changing face of chess in India.
More than 750 players registering in just 10 days. Participation across every level. The presence of Global Chess League leadership and distinguished guests. A seamless layer of technology woven into the tournament experience. Together, they point to one thing: chess events in India are getting bigger, more accessible, and more connected than ever before.
For CircleChess, the Grand Open was another step toward building experiences where competitive chess, technology and community come together on the same board.