In the ninth and final round of the tournament on Sunday, Pranesh defeated Vadim Petrovskiy of Germany with white pieces. Pranesh has a rating of 2673 and is ranked 44th in the latest FIDE Rankings of August 2026.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pranesh, who hails from Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu, finished with seven points from nine rounds, sharing the top spot with three other players. He claimed the title on a better tiebreak with Or Bronstein of Israel, Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine, and India's Karthik Venkataraman, finishing second to fourth in that order. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Karthik Venkataraman could have won the title outright but was held to a draw in the final round by Volokitin as they both finished with seven points. Bronstein jumped into a share of the top spot by beating compatriot IM Benny Aizenberg in the ninth round.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian Embassy in Hungary hailed Pranesh for winning the title.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Meet the new Indian Chess Champion!! Pranesh M. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Huge Congratulations! to Indian Grandmaster Pranesh M on his brilliant victory at the prestigious Kanizsa Open 2026 in Nagykanizsa, Hungary!\" the Embassy wrote in a post on its official handle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u200b\"After a thrilling 9th round, Pranesh secured the top spot in one of Central Europe's most competitive open tournaments. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Huge Congratulations! to Indian Grandmaster Pranesh M on his brilliant victory at the prestigious Kanizsa Open 2026 in Nagykanizsa, Hungary!\" the Embassy wrote in a post on its official handle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Among other Indians in the Kanizsa Open 2026, Neelash Saha finished 10th with 6.5 points after finishing joint second among a big group of players. Nitish Belurkar (20th, 6 pts), Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy (21st, 6 pts) and Bhattacharyya Soham (23rd, 6 pts) were the other prominent Indian finishers in Group A, which had a field of 226 players.<\/p>\r\n\r\n