Rajasthan has a new champion. FM Arun Kataria, a Kingdom of Chess player, won the inaugural 1st LNJ Bhilwara International FIDE Rapid Rating Chess Tournament 2026, held on April 19, 2026, at Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Hurda, Bhilwara. Competing in a field of over 200 players across 9 rounds, Arun finished with 8.5 points, a full half-point clear of the second-place finisher. He was seeded second. The player seeded above him, rated 100 points higher, finished sixth. This is not how upsets are supposed to work. But Arun made it look routine.
About the 1st LNJ Bhilwara International FIDE Rapid Rating Chess Tournament 2026
The 1st LNJ Bhilwara International FIDE Rapid Rating Chess Tournament was held under the aegis of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), the Rajasthan Chess Association, and the Bhilwara District Chess Association. Organized by Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya in Hurda, the event carried a total prize fund of Rs. 2,00,000, distributed across 68 cash prizes, with over 100 trophies on offer.
The time control was 10 minutes with a 5-second increment from move 1, making it a one-day rapid event with 9 rounds of Swiss-system pairings. Players from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat competed, with the average starting FIDE rating across the field sitting at 1479.
It was the first edition of this tournament, making Arun the inaugural champion and the first name in its records. For a full list of FIDE-rated events happening across India in 2026, see our chess tournaments in India 2026.
Arun Kataria: Rajasthan’s Rising FM
Arun Kataria was born on October 9, 2006, in Rajasthan, India. He is 19 years old. He holds the FIDE Master title, carries a classical FIDE rating of 2384, and has been one of the most decorated young chess players to emerge from Rajasthan in recent years.
His first major result on the national stage came in 2022 at the MPL 51st National Junior Open (Under-19) Championships, where he scored 8.5 points from 11 rounds to finish third and win the Bronze medal. That performance, at just 15 years old, placed him among the top junior players in the country and earned him direct qualification for the World Junior Chess Championships 2023 in Mexico City.
Arun has been trained at Kingdom of Chess, the Udaipur-based online chess academy founded by Arena Grandmaster Chandrajeet Rajawat. He participated in the academy’s residential GM Training Camp alongside other top Rajasthan talents, training under GM Debashis Das. Kingdom of Chess lists Arun as one of its produced titled players, a recognition of the role the academy’s structured coaching played in his development. In the 2024 inaugural Kingdom of Chess FIDE Rating Tournament, Arun competed as one of the featured top seeds, representing both his own progress and the academy’s competitive ecosystem.
His 2025 and 2026 form has been exceptional. He won the 1st Katni Rapid Rating Open 2025 with an unbeaten 8.5 from 9, then won the 2nd Jaipur Rating Open 2025 with 8 from 9. ChessBase India described the Jaipur win as his third tournament triumph of that competitive month alone. The Bhilwara title in April 2026 continues that run. In a 2022 interview with ChessBase India after his National Junior bronze, Arun stated plainly: “I want to become a GM in the next 3-4 years.” He is on track
FM Arun Kataria: 8.5 from 9, One Draw Against the Top Seed
Arun Kataria entered the tournament as the second seed, with a FIDE rapid rating of 2109. The player above him on the starting list was Anustoop Biswas from West Bengal, rated 2209, a full 100 points ahead. By the end of Round 9, Arun had 8.5 points and a performance rating of 2171. Biswas had 7 points. Arun won the tournament outright.
His only concession across the entire event was a draw against Biswas in Round 7, the one moment where the top seed pushed back. Arun converted every other game into a full point, including wins over Ambarish Sharma (rated 1928) and Manav Kumar (rated 1780), two of the stronger players in the field.
Round-by-Round Results
| Round | Opponent | Rating | State | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calista Totamalla Melina | Unrated | RJ | Win |
| 2 | Jigyasa Vaishnav | 1510 | RJ | Win |
| 3 | Yasha Kalwani (AFM) | 1600 | RJ | Win |
| 4 | Saxena Arpit (AFM) | 1701 | RJ | Win |
| 5 | Manav Kumar | 1780 | RJ | Win |
| 6 | Kavyansh Jain | 1710 | RJ | Win |
| 7 | Anustoop Biswas | 2209 | WB | Draw |
| 8 | Ambarish Sharma | 1928 | WB | Win |
| 9 | Prakhar Singh Gosain (AFM) | 1707 | DL | Win |
The Only Half Point: Round 7 Against the Top Seed
Anustoop Biswas (2209) was the highest-rated player in the tournament and the clear favourite entering Round 7. At that point, both players were among the leaders. The draw was hard-earned. Biswas, despite losing the point to Arun in the final standings, could not be broken in direct play.
What the draw did not do was slow Arun down. He returned in Round 8 against Ambarish Sharma (1928) and converted to a win. In the final round, he beat Prakhar Singh Gosain (1707) to seal the title with 8.5 points and no further ground given.
Top 5 Final Rankings – LNJ Bhilwara Chess Tournament 2026
| Rank | Player | Title | State | Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arun Kataria | FM | RJ | 2109 | 8.5 |
| 2 | Mohd. Amin Khan | - | RJ | 1672 | 8.0 |
| 3 | Alokik Maheshwari | - | RJ | 1645 | 7.5 |
| 4 | Rishen Jilowa | - | RJ | 1797 | 7.5 |
| 5 | Ambarish Sharma | - | WB | 1928 | 7.0 |
The top seed Biswas finished sixth with 7 points. He scored the same as four other players, all placed below Arun on tiebreak. Arun’s Buchholz score of 51.5 confirmed that he had faced consistently strong opposition throughout the event. The 8.5 was not built on soft wins.
A FIDE Master Who Plays Above His Rating
Arun Kataria holds the FIDE Master title and was born in 2006, making him 19 years old at the time of this victory. He competes with a FIDE rapid rating of 2109 and a classical rating closer to 2384, which reflects the full depth of his chess understanding. Winning a 200-player FIDE-rated international rapid event at 19 is not a routine result. Rapid chess rewards sharp calculation and quick decision-making under time pressure, qualities that separate titled players from the field in one-day events.
Winning a 9-round FIDE-rated rapid tournament against a 200-player field, finishing ahead of a 2209-rated opponent, reflects real competitive strength. For players looking to understand how FIDE ratings work and what these numbers mean, our guide on the chess Elo rating system explains the mechanics in detail.
Arun’s win at Bhilwara continues a pattern of strong performances by Kingdom of Chess students in Rajasthan state-level competitive chess. This result joins a growing list of tournament victories by KOC-trained players across age groups and formats. For more on what that track record looks like, see our coverage of how
What Builds a Tournament Champion
FM Arun Kataria has been associated with Kingdom of Chess, an online chess academy founded in Udaipur, Rajasthan, by Arena Grandmaster Chandrajeet Rajawat. The academy trains students across 30 countries, with GM Diptayan Ghosh (ELO 2577) and IM Kushager Krishnater (ELO 2392) among its faculty.
Arun’s performance at Bhilwara demonstrates what the academy’s advanced curriculum is built for: competitive readiness at the highest levels of rated play. Winning a FIDE-rated international rapid tournament as the second seed, in a field drawn from multiple states, is not the result of casual preparation.
- Tactical depth: Eight wins and one hard-fought draw in a nine-round rapid format requires both calculation speed and positional understanding.
- Endgame precision: Converting winning positions consistently against lower-rated opponents is a trained skill, not a given.
- Mental composure: Returning from the Round 7 draw against Biswas and winning the next two rounds shows competitive stability under pressure.
For players aiming to compete at this level, explore our chess classes for elite players to understand the training pathway that produces results at FIDE-rated events.
Frequently Asked Questions
Arun Kataria: The First Name in LNJ Bhilwara History
Every tournament has a first champion. Arun Kataria is the first winner of the LNJ Bhilwara International FIDE Rapid Rating Chess Tournament, and he earned it the right way: 8 wins, 1 draw, and a points tally that left the entire field behind.
For Kingdom of Chess, this result is one more confirmation that the academy’s training produces players who compete and win at FIDE-rated international events. For Arun, it is a result that will sit permanently in the records of a brand-new tournament. Congratulations, FM Arun Kataria.
