While the rest of the city sweltered through early July, one of the coolest heads-down battles in Jammu was happening over 64 squares. An International FIDE Rating Chess Tournament got under way on July 2, 2026 at the LA-VEERAZ Chess Hall, Khara Madana, Bari Brahmana, drawing 157 players from six states for an eight-round event.
The tournament is organised by the Jammu District Chess Association under the aegis of the All J&K Chess Association and the All India Chess Federation (AICF), and is being run under FIDE Laws of Chess with FIDE Arbiter Bindu Pathania as chief arbiter, assisted by five deputies. A FIDE-rated event matters because results here can earn players an official international rating — the number that follows a chess player around for the rest of their competitive life.
Local names near the top
What should make Jammu take notice is who is leading. Through the early and middle rounds, home-grown players kept appearing at the top of the standings. After six rounds, Medansh Goyal, Krishna Kundu, Aarav Arora and Alankrita Sharma shared the lead on 5.5 points each, with young local competitors such as Paras Sharma, Vaibhav Dwedi and Tejasvpreet also in the mix from the opening rounds.
That is not a small thing. It says the grassroots chess scene around Jammu is producing players who can hold their own — boys and girls alike — against opponents from across the region in a properly rated, arbiter-run event.
Why a rated tournament is a big deal
For a teenager serious about chess, a FIDE-rated tournament close to home removes one of the sport's biggest barriers: cost and travel. Instead of chasing rating events in far-off cities, players in the Jammu belt can build their rating, gain match temperament and learn tournament discipline right here in Bari Brahmana.
Ratings open doors — to seedings, scholarships and selection for higher-level events.
Local hosting builds depth — the more rated events Jammu holds, the deeper its pool of experienced young players becomes.
Chess is genuinely inclusive — as the mixed leaderboard shows, it is one of the few competitive arenas where age and gender are no barrier to sharing the lead.
The final standings will be settled once all eight rounds are complete, but the headline is already written: Jammu is not just hosting serious chess — it is producing serious players. Keep an eye on these names.
Sources: Daily Excelsior — FIDE rating chess tourney begins; Daily Excelsior — Alankrita joins leaders in Int'l FIDE Rating Chess event.
