In Chess, Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram won the 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial chess tournament held in Jermuk, Armenia. Arvind finished with 6.5 points from 9 rounds, tying with compatriot Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa but winning on tie breaks. He prevailed due to the Sonneborne-Berger, a tiebreak system which factors in the strength of opponents each player has defeated.
Aravindh remained unbeaten in the 10-player round-robin event, scoring four wins and five draws. In the final round, playing with the black pieces, he defeated Armenia’s Aram Hakobyan, while Praggnanandhaa secured a win against Robert Hovhannisyan. This win follows Aravindh’s earlier victory at the 2025 Prague Chess Festival Masters, making it a strong year for the 25-year-old Chennai-based player. The Stepan Avagyan Memorial continues to grow as a major international event, attracting top players worldwide.
