Pranav V Wins the World Junior Blitz Title With 10½ Points

India’s Pranav V, already a World Junior Champion in classical chess, has added the blitz crown. At the 2026 FIDE World Junior Blitz Championship in Al Ain, he won the Under-20 title with 10½ points, a full point clear of the field.

Eldiyar Orozbaev of Kyrgyzstan took silver on 9½. Robert Piliposyan of Armenia earned bronze on the same score.

The Girls title

Valeria Kleymenova won the World Junior Girls Blitz Championship, the under-20 title, with 10 points. Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan took silver on 9½. Veronika Iudina was third, also on 9½.

Kleymenova’s half-point margin over the two chasers was thinner than Pranav’s in the Open, but it was enough for gold.

A near miss for a 13-year-old

The fourth-place finisher was Syria’s Mazen Fandi, who is 13. He scored 9½, level with the silver and bronze medallists. Finishing level with two medallists in a field of players up to seven years older is a result worth watching.

Blitz is a volatile format, so the double of classical and blitz junior titles is not common. Pranav’s classical title came from a slower game, in which preparation and endgame technique carry more weight. Blitz rewards speed and nerve, and he showed both here.

The event and its awards

The blitz was the closing leg of the FIDE World Junior Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships, held in Al Ain from November 1 to 7. The field was 185 players from 40 countries, competing for four world titles.

Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Sultan bin Shakhbout Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation and Chairman of the Organising Committee, crowned the champions at Danat Al Ain Resort on Friday evening, November 6.

Chief Arbiter Dr Sultan Ali Al Taher announced the Girls winners.

The Indian national anthem was played after the medal presentations.

Special awards followed, including two new ones, Best Arab Player and Best Arab Female Player. They were introduced to mark Al Ain’s designation as the Arab Capital of Tourism for 2026 and to encourage Arab talent.

• Best Arab Player: Rashid Husain Alhammadi of the UAE, 8 points.
• Best Arab Female Player: Ahoud Eisa Mohamed of the UAE, 8 points.
• Best Al Ain Chess & Mind Games Club Player: Ghaith Saeed Al Nuaimi, 7 points.
• Club Best Female Player: Zainab Darwish Almaamari, 6 points.
• Best Under-12 Female Player: Mariam Khalifa AlQubaisi of the UAE, 6 points.

Al Ain’s third world event

This was the third world championship hosted by Al Ain Chess & Mind Games Club in the city. The first two were the 2012 World Cities Chess Championship for the Sheikh Zayed Cup and the 2013 World Youth Chess Championships. The club also won the Asian Club Championship in 2008 and the World Rapid Team Championship in 2024.