Dhruvi Shrikant Panigrahi emerged as the champion of the 23rd ACA Blitz Chess Tournament – FIDE Rated, held on 26 September 2026 at Arjun’s Chess Academy Bahrain.
The tournament was played over 9 rounds in Swiss-system format with a fast-paced time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.
Dhruvi produced a superb performance to finish on top with 8.5 points from 9 rounds. Charles H Storey secured second place with 8 points, while Safvan Subair Khan claimed third place with 7 points.
Aradhy Roy, Mikael Vivek Joseph and Noel Abraham Punnoose each scored 6.5 points to finish fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, while Prithvi Raj Prajeesh completed the top seven with 6 points.
Winners List
🥇 1st Place Dhruvi Shrikant Panigrahi 8.5 points
🥈 2nd Place Charles H Storey 8 points
🥉 3rd Place Safvan Subair Khan 7 points
4th Place Aradhy Roy 6.5 points
5th Place Mikael Vivek Joseph 6.5 points
6th Place Noel Abraham Punnoose 6.5 points
7th Place Prithvi Raj Prajeesh 6 points
Best 1400–1599 Player Trishan Moorkoth 6 points
Best Under-15 Player Arnav Singh Dewan 6 points
Best Under-10 Player Hridik Dhananjaya Shetty 5 points
Best Unrated Player Arjun Rahul 4.5 points
Best Women Player Gunjan Pal 4.5 points
The tournament featured exciting and competitive blitz chess throughout the nine rounds, with strong performances across the overall, age and rating categories.
The 23rd ACA Blitz Chess Tournament was organised by Arjun’s Chess Academy Bahrain, continuing ACA’s series of FIDE-rated tournaments and providing players in Bahrain with regular competitive chess opportunities.
Congratulations to all the participants and prize winners!