National Junior Girls Chess Championship (India)

The National Junior Girls (Under-19) Chess Championship is an annual national-level chess tournament for Indian female players under the age of 19. The championship is held in different cities across India and serves as one of the most important junior chess competitions in the country. As of 2025, a total of 39 editions of the tournament have been conducted.

The competition is open to players who are under 19 years of age and actively competing in professional chess. The championship provides a significant platform for emerging Indian chess players to gain competitive experience and advance toward the international level.

Soumya Swaminathan (chess player) holds the record for the most titles, having won the championship three times in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Shubhi Gupta is the reigning National Junior Girls Chess Champion, having also won the title in 2023. The winner of the tournament receives a cash prize of ₹1,00,000 from the event organizers.

Several former National Junior Girls Champions, including Nisha Mohota, Harika Dronavalli, Tania Sachdev, Padmini Rout, Bhakti Kulkarni, and Soumya Swaminathan (chess player), later went on to win the Indian Chess Championship, highlighting the tournament’s role in developing top-level players in Indian chess.

Winners & runner-up list

Edition Year City Champion Runner-up
1 1987
2 1988
3 1989
4 1989
5 1990
6 1991
7 1992
8 1993
9 1994
10 1995
11 1996
12 1997
13 1998
14 1999 Nisha Mohota[1] Sangeetha M. R.
15 2000 Nisha Mohota[2]
16 2001[3] Chennai, Tamilnadu Harika Dronavalli
17 2002[4] New Delhi Harika Dronavalli Saheli Nath
18 2003[5] Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Prathiba Y Gounder Raghavi N
19 2004[6] Kozhikode, Kerala Tania Sachdev Kruttika Nadig
20 2005[7] Sivakasi, Tamilnadu Soumya Swaminathan (chess player) Mary Ann Gomes
21 2006 New Delhi Soumya Swaminathan (chess player) Kiran Manisha Mohanty
22 2007[8] Nagpur, Maharashtra Bhakti Kulkarni Kruttika Nadig
23 2008[9] West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh Soumya Swaminathan (chess player) Padmini Rout
24 2009[10] Chennai, Tamil Nadu Bhakti Kulkarni Padmini Rout
25 2010[11] Puri, Odisha Padmini Rout Divyasri Ch
26 2011[12] Goa Pon Krithikha Rucha Pujari
27 2012[13] Ajmer, Rajasthan Rucha Pujari Saranya J
28 2013[14] Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Ivana Maria Furtado Rucha Pujari
29 2014[15] Pune, Maharashtra Saranya J Michelle Catherina P
30 2015[16] Dindigul, Tamil Nadu Vaishali Rameshbabu G. K. Monnisha
31 2016[17] Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh Vaishali Rameshbabu Bidhar Rutumbara
32 2017[18] Patna, Bihar Mahalakshmi M Chitlange Sakshi
33 2018[19] New Delhi Chitlange Sakshi Aakanksha Hagawane
34 2019[20] Gurgaon, Haryana Srishti Pandey Arpita Mukherjee
— 2021[21] Online format Savitha Shri Baskar Vantika Agrawal
35 2022[22] Gurgaon, Haryana Nutakki Priyanka Bhagyashree Patil
36 2022[23] Pune, Maharashtra Rakshitta Ravi Mounika Akshaya Bommini
37 2023[24] Ahmedabad, Gujarat Shubhi Gupta Dhanashree Khairmode
38 2024[25] Karnal, Haryana Mrittika Mallick Sarayu Velpula
39 2025[26] Jamshedpur, Jharkhand Shubhi Gupta Nivedita V C

References

  1. ^ https://sportstar.thehindu.com/magazine/the-best-news-i-have-ever-heard/article29640171.ece
  2. ^ https://sportstar.thehindu.com/magazine/the-best-news-i-have-ever-heard/article29640171.ece
  3. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/harika-wins-national-jr-girls-chess-tourney/articleshow/270407065.cms
  4. ^ https://ratings.fide.com/report.phtml?event=23198&t=0
  5. ^ https://ratings.fide.com/tournament_information.phtml?event=37065
  6. ^ https://ratings.fide.com/report.phtml?event=27729
  7. ^ https://www.chessbase.in/news/Sivakasi-Chess-Club-celebrates-50th-year-Triple-Tournament-Treat-for-the-Chess-Lovers#:~:text=GM%20Deep%20Sengupta%20and%20WGM,winner%20in%20the%20girls'%20section
  8. ^ "G.H.RAISONI MEMORIAL 22ND NATIONAL JUNIOR (U-19) GIRLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP, NAGPUR,2007 January 2008 India FIDE Chess Tournament report FIDE Rated Tournaments". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  9. ^ "23rd National Junior Under-19 Girls Chess Championship - 2008 January 2009 India FIDE Chess Tournament report FIDE Rated Tournaments". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  10. ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 24th National Junior Girls Chess Championship - 2009". s2.chess-results.com. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  11. ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 25th National Junior (Under-19) Girls Chess Championship-2010". s1.chess-results.com. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  12. ^ https://ratings.fide.com/report.phtml?event=57008
  13. ^ https://ratings.fide.com/report.phtml?event=68509
  14. ^ https://ratings.fide.com/report.phtml?event=76936
  15. ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 29th National Junior (U-19) Girls Chess Championship 2014". s2.chess-results.com. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  16. ^ https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr182197.aspx
  17. ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 31st National Junior (U-19) Girls Chess Championship-2016". s2.chess-results.com. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  18. ^ https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr300542.aspx
  19. ^ https://www.chessbase.in/news/Aradhya-Garg-and-Srishti-Pandey-are-the-new-National-Junior-champions
  20. ^ https://www.chessbase.in/news/Savitha-Shri-wins-AICF-National-Junior-Girls-Online-2021
  21. ^ https://www.chessbase.in/news/Savitha-Shri-wins-AICF-National-Junior-Girls-Online-2021
  22. ^ https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr617005.aspx
  23. ^ https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr654313.aspx
  24. ^ https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr819285.aspx
  25. ^ https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1008900.aspx
  26. ^ https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1311328.aspx
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