Anuj Shrivatri emerges victorious at SBI GIC Fide Rated Rapid Tournament 2026 at IITK
Top seed Anuj Shrivatri wins SBI GIC Fide Rated Rapid Tournament 2026 at IIT Kanpur. Anuj scored 8/9 points to secure the victory. He was leading the event with 8/8 points going into the 9th round, Anuj lost to Arnav Agrawal, a young talent from the host state Uttar Pradesh. This important win helped Arnav to secure second place with 8/9 points. India's latest GM Aaryav Varshney and IM Aaditya Dhingra also scored 8/9 points to secure 3rd and 4th positions, respectively, on tiebreaks. This one-day rapid-rated event was organized in the IIT Kanpur campus on 7th February with a total cash prize of ₹2,00,000. Photos: Akshat Srivastava/ChessClub IITK
Anuj's 4th-Rated Tournament victory this year!!
IM Anuj Shrivratri is on an unstoppable winning run right now. This is Anuj's 4th rated tournament victory, and the year just started. Anuj started the year by winning the 2nd Khelo Chess India Rapid and Blitz, then he won the 2nd Rejoice Chanakya CTF Fide Rapid Rating 2026, and now he won this one-day rapid event at IITK.
A total of 336 players took part in this event, including 4 International Masters, 1 Fide master, and 2 Candidate Masters. 9 rounds are played in Swiss format with the time control of 10+5 Minutes at Yoga Hall, New SAC, IIT Kanpur Campus.
Interview with Anuj Shrivatri
Devansh Singh (DS): How does it feel to win this tournament?
Anuj Shrivatri (AS): It feels great, the tournament was overall well organized and it was worth it to visit the IIT Kanpur campus.
DS: Which match was the toughest for you and why?
AS: Maybe against Aaryan, because after opening the position was tense and unclear and it quickly became complicated.
DS: What is one lesson this tournament taught you?
AS: One takeaway was not to relax too early, before last round I was pretty sure that even if I lose, I'll most likely be 1st. So I wasn't too much focused in the last match which caused a lot of blunders.
DS: Anything else you'd like to share, maybe a game from the event
AS: Yes, the game with Aaditya Dhingra
Anuj Shrivatri vs Aaditya Dhingra (1-0)
Performance of IIT Kanpur players
Their results reflected not just individual brilliance but also the serious, competitive playing culture at IIT Kanpur, complementing the club’s broader effort to make chess an engaging spectator sport on campus.
Spandan Pati
Divyesh Bhattacharyya
Jayaraman Balasubramanian
IITK students who had never opened a rating before got paired against seasoned rated players. Some drew. Some won. Many walked away officially rated for the first time. That’s the kind of ripple effect IITK wanted for their own people, as well as many others playing their first rated tournament!
Photo Gallery: Here
What This Meant to Us- Chess Club IITK
This tournament wasn’t perfect. We learned a lot. We improvised a lot. We ran on adrenaline and chai for most of the day.
But it worked.
It proved that IIT Kanpur can host a professional, large-scale, FIDE-rated event!
It proved that UP has both the demand and the strength for stronger tournaments!
It proved that when students are properly supported, they can make a serious impact!Most importantly, it felt personal.
From the first budgeting meeting in September to the last prize distribution photo in February, this was built by people who genuinely love the game :) And this is only the beginning. We plan to scale it bigger. Stronger. Smoother. With more titled players. Larger prize pools. Even better production. And hopefully, more stories like Arnav’s. For now, though, we’re just grateful.
Grateful to the people at Chessbase India for guiding us.Grateful to our sponsors.
Grateful to the arbiters.
Grateful to the players.
Grateful to everyone who believed this could happen.Until next time.
Happy Chessing!!
- Chess Club IITK
Chess At IIT Kanpur
At IIT Kanpur, chess has never been just about selecting five players and sending a team out. While most college clubs across India operate largely as competitive units, we have consciously tried to build something bigger, a culture.
We want casual players to feel just as included as 2300-rated ones. We want chess to feel like a spectator sport on campus. We want freshers who have just learned en passant to sit next to titled players and feel inspired, not intimidated.
Over the years, that philosophy led us to build one of India’s biggest collegiate chess ecosystems.
Thanks to Akshat Srivastava, Coordinator, Chess Club IITK, for sharing photographs and information about the tournament and chess culture at IITK
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | Rtg | Bdld | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | IM | IND | 2317 | MP | 8 | 57 | 60,5 | 52,5 | 0 | 8 | ||||||
2 | 5 | U16 | IND | 2128 | UP | 8 | 55 | 59,5 | 51,5 | 0 | 8 | ||||||
3 | 2 | IM | IND | 2303 | DL | 8 | 54,5 | 59 | 51 | 0 | 8 | ||||||
4 | 4 | IM | IND | 2195 | HR | 8 | 54 | 58 | 50 | 0 | 8 | ||||||
5 | 3 | IM | IND | 2212 | LIC | 7,5 | 51 | 56 | 44,5 | 0 | 7 | ||||||
6 | 19 | U16 | IND | 1763 | UP | 7,5 | 50 | 53,5 | 42,25 | 0 | 7 | ||||||
7 | 7 | CM | IND | 2088 | UP | 7,5 | 46 | 50 | 40,25 | 0 | 7 | ||||||
8 | 12 | IND | 1896 | UP | 7 | 53 | 58 | 43,25 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
9 | 6 | FM | U14 | IND | 2126 | MP | 7 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 39,5 | 0 | 7 | |||||
10 | 15 | IND | 1847 | DL | 7 | 51 | 56 | 41 | 0 | 7 | |||||||
11 | 10 | WFM | w | IND | 1939 | DL | 7 | 50,5 | 55 | 39,5 | 0 | 7 | |||||
12 | 11 | CM | U16 | IND | 1903 | UP | 7 | 50 | 54 | 39 | 0 | 7 | |||||
13 | 14 | U16 | IND | 1887 | UP | 7 | 48 | 52 | 38,25 | 0 | 6 | ||||||
14 | 48 | IND | 1587 | UP | 7 | 47 | 51 | 35,5 | 0 | 7 | |||||||
15 | 34 | U10 | IND | 1646 | UP | 7 | 46,5 | 48,5 | 35,75 | 0 | 6 |
