The Aurionpro International Grandmaster Chess Festival after a five- year sabbatical is back with a big bang, scheduled from 16th to 24th June at the prestigious World Trade Centre, Mumbai.

The festival features an International Open Grandmasters Chess event and an Under-13 tournament, touted as the highest prize money tournament in the World for juniors.

Interestingly there are no traditional tournaments hosted for juniors on such a magnificent scale in the World, adding a certain uniqueness to the event. If there are the proverbial stepping stones for success, then this under-13 junior tournament surely counts as one of them!

Reigning World Champion, 19-year-old, GM Dommaraju Gukesh was the winner here in 2018 and GM Raunak Sadhwani ranked 50th in the World in the recently released July FIDE Ratings had won the inaugural edition in 2016. GM Pranav Venkatesh after winning the 2nd edition in 2017 is the reigning World junior Champion.

Other prominent players who played in these events from 2016 to 2020 and made their mark in international chess include World number 3 GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Aditya Mittal, GM Leon Mendonca and IM Divya Deshmukh.

In fact, this tournament provides a perfect platform for prodigy players who are on the thresh hold of entering the domain of ‘chess elites.

This junior event has attracted 70 children from 6-countries, which includes 1 women international master, Oshini from Sri Lanka and 5 indian age-group national champions, Aansh Nerurkar, Avirat Chahan, Madhavendra Sharma, Samuel Stephen, Vairaj Sogerwal & Saranya Devi.

The Grandmaster Open has attracted entries from 19 countries with 19 GMs already registered. This tournament is a good hunting ground for those aspiring to complete their title requirements by garnering norms and even for those seeking fresh norms. Players can also enhance their rating strengths with fine performances without pinching their pockets in playing overseas events.

This festival, an initiative taken in 2016 has been the brainchild of Praful Zaveri, the tournament director for this 6th edition and is sponsored by Aurionpro Solutions Limited with World Trade Center, Mumbai as the Venue Partner.

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Aurionpro Mumbai International Grandmaster Chess Tournament 2025