The AIM Chess League 2026 Grand Finale was held on October 9, the third day of Cypher 2026, at KTPO, Bengaluru.
Srujan Keerthan won the championship and received ₹3 lakh in prize money, followed by Yashas D in second place with ₹1.5 lakh and Augustin A in third place with ₹1 lakh.
The final featured 18 players, comprising 17 city qualifiers and one wild-card entrant. The players competed across five rounds to determine the final standings.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi attended the event as the chief guest. Raunak Sodhani, Chief Arbiter, conducted the finals, while Lokesh Natoo, founder of Chess Advisory, helped curate the league’s intellectual property.
From Online League to City Qualifiers
The AIM Chess League began with the National Online League on July 6 and concluded on August 31. The competition was open to full-time employees in the technology, IT, AI and product sectors, technology entrepreneurs, and eligible interns.
Players were assigned to six city franchises based on their declared work locations: 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 city qualifiers.
Six Cities, 18 Finalists
The city qualifiers took place between September 5 and 27, with the top three players from each city advancing to the Grand Finale.
The Bengaluru qualifier was held on September 5 at AIM Studio in Bellandur, with 38 participants. Augustin A, Parthasarathy R and Yashas D qualified for the finals.
The Delhi Wazirs qualifier took place on September 12 at Paras Twin Towers, Gurugram. Gursimar Singh Arneja, Jai Prakash Singh and Shubham Chaudhary secured qualification.
The Chennai Checkmates qualifier was held on September 19 at Millenia Business Park in Perungudi. Hirthickkesh, Naveen K. S and Rathina Sabapathy advanced to the finals.
On September 20, the Nawabs of Hyderabad qualifier took place at 71 Hitech in HITEC City. Srujan Keerthan, Saurav Suman and Shubham Garg qualified.
The Pune Legends qualifier was held on September 26 on Baner Road, with 22 players participating. Saurabh Gupta, Sunny Gugale and Vikram Vaishampayan advanced after five rounds.
The Mumbai Mavericks qualifier concluded the city rounds on September 27 at Supreme Business Park, Powai. Om Dave, Bhaskar Brahma and Gaurav Pradeep Temkar secured the final three qualifying spots.
Wild Cards and Simultaneous Exhibition
In addition to the city qualifiers, organisers invited seven wild-card participants from among the top players in each city. A lucky draw determined which wild-card entrant would compete in the Grand Finale alongside the 17 city qualifiers.
The remaining six wild-card participants played Erigaisi in a simultaneous exhibition, in which the Grandmaster faced all six players at once.
All qualified players received three-day passes to Cypher 2026, valued at ₹20,000 each.
The AIM Chess League brought together professionals from the technology and product sectors to compete in chess.
Chess Advisory Founder Lokesh Natoo curated the Grand Finale IP, with Chief Arbiter Raunak Sodhani overseeing and conducting the final tournament rounds.
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