IM Nitish Belurkar emerged champion at the Late Smt. Sunandabai Dayanand Bandodkar Memorial Blitz FIDE Rating Tournament 2026, organised by Tiswadi Taluka Chess Association (TTCA).
Displaying remarkable form, IM Nitish remained undefeated through the tournament and scored an impressive 9.5 points from 10 rounds.
Mandar Lad finished second with 9 points, while IM Rahul Sangma of Gujarat secured third position with 8 points.
The following players bagged other prizes (4th to 25th place): GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, Shreyas Ghadi, FM Ram S Krishnan, Colaco Reuben, Parab Rishikesh, Supriyo Das, Niraj Saripalli, Tata Keerthi Rana, Arav Vinod, Tanad Bandodkar, Phal Satyam, Aarush Bhat, Aryan Raikar, Akshat Negi, Shubh Borkar, Saikat Nath, Aadwik Krishna, Joshua Telles, Prayank Gaonkar, Vihaan Tari, Kherdekar Arnav, Ishaan Bhansali.
U7, U9, U11, U13, U15 Tiswadi Taluka prize-winners : Israa Rikarty, Desai Anvi, Terse Asmi, Skyla Rodrigues, Tvisha Desai, Shravani Naik, Aaradhya Desai, Rao Shivanya, Walke Yashasvi, Jigyasa Gawas, Rajveer Patil, Sai Prabhakaran, Aaryavrat Naik Desai, Kashyap Khakharia, Rejmon Fernandes, Ahaan Kataruka, Evan Telles, Cardozo Joash, Kritin Singh, Pednekar Ivaan, Vihaan Sahakari, Veer Manerika, Aryan Naik, Snithik Sinari, Saras Powar, Atharva Borkar, Kanishk Sawant, Aashman Naik Desai, Amaira Borkar, Viyomi Parab, Vaz Janelly, Shinel Rodrigues, Diya Naik, Jensina Sequeira, Narvekar Saanvi, Nirbhay Kadam, Shreeja Ghanekar. Best Women prizes: Vaishnavi Parab and Saeeja Dessai; Best Veterans: Keran Chopdekar and Coelho Velho.
Dr. Ajay Gaude, Director, Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs and Sports Authority of Goa, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes in the presence of Mahesh Candolkar (Tournament Director & President, Goa Chess Association), Ashok Parab (Member Secretary, IMB), Ashesh Keni (Secretary, GCA), IA Arvind Mhamal (Chief Arbiter & Vice-President, GCA), Dattaram Pinge (Treasurer, TTCA), Tukaram Shetye (Joint Secretary, GCA), and other dignitaries.
The tournament was sponsored by the Bandodkar family in memory of Late Smt. Sunandabai Dayanand Bandodkar and was held at Menezes Braganza Hall, Panaji.
