Srujan Keerthan won the AIM Chess League 2026 championship. The Grand Finale took place on October 9, 2026, in Bengaluru, bringing together 18 finalists from six city franchises for five rounds of competition.
Keerthan received ₹3 lakh in prize money for first place. Yashas D finished second with ₹1.5 lakh, while Augustin A took third and received ₹1 lakh.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi attended the finale as chief guest. Raunak Sodhani served as Chief Arbiter, and Lokesh Natoo was identified as the founder of Chess Advisory.
From Online League to Bengaluru Finale
The AIM Chess League began with the National Online League on July 6 and concluded on August 31. Players were assigned to six city franchises according to their declared work locations, creating a route from online competition to in-person city qualifiers.
The franchises were Kingslayers Bangalore, Chennai Checkmates, Nawabs of Hyderabad, Delhi Wazirs, Mumbai Mavericks, and Pune Legends. The top 32 players from each city qualified for their respective in-person qualifiers, which took place between September 5 and 27.
Bengaluru opened the qualifier stage on September 5 at AIM Studio in Bellandur, with 38 participants. Augustin A, Parthasarathy R, and Yashas D qualified for the final stage.
The Delhi Wazirs qualifier followed on September 12 at Paras Twin Towers in Gurugram. Gursimar Singh Arneja, Jai Prakash Singh, and Shubham Chaudhary secured qualification there.
Chennai Checkmates held its qualifier on September 19 at Millenia Business Park in Perungudi. Hirthickkesh, Naveen K. S, and Rathina Sabapathy advanced to the finals.
Six City Qualifiers, One Wild Card
The Nawabs of Hyderabad qualifier took place on September 20 at 71 Hitech in HITEC City. Srujan Keerthan, Saurav Suman, and Shubham Garg qualified for the next stage, giving Keerthan the path that eventually led to the title.
Pune Legends held its qualifier on September 26 on Baner Road, where 22 players participated. After five rounds, Saurabh Gupta, Sunny Gugale, and Vikram Vaishampayan advanced.
The Mumbai Mavericks qualifier concluded on September 27 at Supreme Business Park in Powai. Om Dave, Bhaskar Brahma, and Gaurav Pradeep Temkar secured the final three qualifying spots.
The Grand Finale featured 17 city qualifiers and one wild-card entrant. Organisers invited seven wild-card participants from among the top players in each city, then used a lucky draw to determine which one would compete alongside the city qualifiers.
The remaining six wild-card participants played Erigaisi in a simultaneous exhibition. It was a neat way to keep the wider field involved without pretending that every qualifier could occupy the same final board.
All qualified players received three-day passes to Cypher 2026, each valued at ₹20,000. That benefit sat alongside the championship prize money, giving the finalists a reward beyond the results recorded on the tournament table.
Keerthan’s victory completed the league’s progression from the National Online League through six city qualifiers and into a five-round Bengaluru finale. Yashas D and Augustin A completed the top three, while the 18-player field gave the inaugural championship a clear city-based structure.
