IM Sammed Shete, IM Goutham Krishna and IM Suyogh Wagh win at Lions Chess Festival

by Jyotsna Bhushan - 13/11/2026

The 1st Lions Club of Belgaum and Leo Club of Belgaum All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament featured rapid, blitz and puzzle competitions in Belagavi. IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete won the rapid with 8/9, ahead of IM Goutham Krishna and IM Ravi Teja S. (7.5/9 each). Goutham Krishna scored a perfect 9/9 to claim the blitz title, followed by FM Niranjan Navalgund and IM Kashish Manoj Jain, while IM Suyogh Wagh, IM Sammedh Shete and IM Nitesh Belurkar finished first, second and third in the puzzle competition. Photos: Aakash Madiwalar.

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete scored 8/9 and claimed the rapid title.

Rapid tournament

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete scored 8/9 to claim the rapid title. IM Goutham Krishna and IM Ravi Teja S. both finished on 7.5/9, taking second and third place, respectively. Shete received ₹1,50,000 and a trophy. Goutham Krishna was awarded ₹1,00,000, while Ravi Teja received ₹50,000.

Check out Shete's performance!

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	10	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		IND	2252	Mh	8	53	56,5	49,25
2	2	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	U16	IND	2483	Kl	7,5	54,5	58,5	47,75
3	16	IM	Ravi, Teja S.		IND	2170	Ap	7,5	54	58,5	47,25
4	5	IM	Ayush, Sharma		IND	2314	Pspb	7,5	53,5	58	46,75
5	4	IM	Kushagra, Mohan		IND	2342	Tg	7,5	53,5	57,5	46,75
6	8	IM	Aradhya, Garg		IND	2258	Dl	7,5	52,5	57,5	46,25
7	15	IM	Lad, Mandar Pradip		IND	2200	Ga	7,5	51	56	44,75
8	18	ACM	Iyer, Arvind		IND	2145	Mh	7,5	48,5	53,5	43,5
9	3	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri		IND	2345	Mp	7	55	59,5	44,25
10	9	IM	Nitish Belurkar,		IND	2258	Ga	7	54,5	58,5	44

Details.

IM Goutham Krishna finished with 9/9 points to win the title!

Goutham Krishna scores a perfect 9/9 in blitz

IM Goutham Krishna won all nine games to take the blitz title with a perfect 9/9. FM Niranjan Navalgund and IM Kashish Manoj Jain scored 8/9 to finish second and third. The top three received ₹21,000, ₹15,000 and ₹10,000, respectively, along with trophies.

Check out that perfect finish!

FM Niranjan Navalgun scored 8/9 to finish second.

IM Kashish Manoj Jain scored 8/9 to finish third.

The top three winners of the blitz tournament.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	U16	IND	2533	Kl	9	54	56,5	56,5
2	12	FM	Navalgund, Niranjan		IND	2238	Ka-Blg	8	53,5	57,5	50
3	16	IM	Jain, Kashish Manoj		IND	2191	Mh	8	51,5	56,5	49,5
4	24	FM	Ramakrishna, J.		IND	1947	Tg	8	49,5	53,5	46,5
5	13	IM	Wagh, Suyog		IND	2236	Mh	7,5	56	60,5	48
6	14	IM	Ayush, Sharma		IND	2224	Pspb	7,5	51,5	54,5	42
7	8	IM	Kushagra, Mohan		IND	2335	Tg	7,5	50	54	43,25
8	11	GM	Laxman, R.R.		IND	2294	I C F	7,5	48	51	41,25
9	6	IM	Lad, Mandar Pradip		IND	2346	Ga	7	56	60	43,75
10	3	IM	Nitish Belurkar,		IND	2372	Ga	7	55	58	42

Details.

Wagh leads the puzzle competition

IM Suyogh Wagh topped the puzzle competition, ahead of IM Sammedh Shete and IM Nitesh Belurkar. The puzzle competition was scheduled for 30 minutes.

About the tournament

The events took place at KPTCL Hall in Shivabasava Nagar, Belagavi. The Lions Club of Belgaum and Leo Club of Belgaum presented the festival in association with the Belgaum District Chess Association, under the aegis of the All India Chess Federation and Karnataka State Chess Association.