Wisdom School wins the FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship (Asian Continental Stage), Velammal finishes third
Wisdom School of Uzbekistan scored a perfect 16/16 points to win the FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship 2026 (Asian Continental Stage). No team came close to beating the Wisdom School. Kurchatov School of Russia scored 14/16 points to secure 2nd place in the event. Velammal MHS School scored 12/16 points to secure 3rd position. The tournament was organised at the Kazakhstan Hotel, Almaty, from 7th to 10th April, with the time control of 45 minutes with 10 seconds increment from move 1. Photos: International School Chess Federation
Velammal MHS School wins a bronze medal
Velammal MHS School made a strong comeback in the final rounds of the FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship 2026 (Asian Continental Stage). The team won both of their last two matches with a 3–1 scoreline to secure the bronze medal.


Second Runner Up: Velammal MHS SchoolWe spoke with Velavan Subbiah, the team’s captain, and asked him what his team’s biggest strength was.
The biggest strength of this team is that they believe in their abilities and know how to play the game with the right spirit. They had gone through a tight-packed training schedule and were all set for this tournament. Irrespective of the results here, I am sure this team has a long way to go."
- Velavan Subbiah, captain of Velammal team.
Round 7
Round 7 was a crucial point for Velammal MHS School. They delivered a dominant 3–1 victory over Seed Uniker School to stay in the title race. Pooja Shree R, who had scored a hat-trick of wins for the team, lost to Ramazan Tulegen on the top board. But the remaining three players, Pavithra R V, Aarav A, and Athvik M, won their respective games to seal the victory.


Replay the games
Round 7 also featured an all-Indian clash, where Duolingo Dreamers were paired against Kalinga Institute of Social Science. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. For the Duolingo Dreamers, Sunaina Sharma and Vanshika Maurya scored the wins while Monalisa Bhoi and Shreeya Nayak secured victories for Kalinga Institute of Social Science.
Round 8
In the final round, Velammal took on ACG Sunderland (New Zealand) and delivered a solid 3–1 victory. On the top board, Pooja held Richard Jingjie Liu to a draw, while Aarav also shared the point with Xiahan Lu. The decisive blows came from the remaining boards, where Pavithra R V defeated Junqing Jerome Tao, and Athvik M scored a win against Yuehan Xia. With this result, Velammal secured both the match and the bronze medal.

In the final round, Duolingo Dreamers played against St. Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese Primary School (Hong Kong) and lost 0–4. In another match, Kalinga Institute of Social Science faced SJK(C) Pin Hwa 1 (Malaysia) and also went down 0–4.
Individual Prizes
Board 1

1 | IM | Shogdzhiev, Roman | 2399 | FID | RUS-KURCHATOV SCHOOL | 93,8 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
2 | Kaliakhmet, Elsultan | 1954 | KAZ | KAZ-SCHOOL LYCEUM 173 | 87,5 | 8 | 7 | 10 | |
3 | Hamrakulyyev, Osman | 1562 | TKM | TKM-TKM-RUS PUSHKIN SCHOOL | 87,5 | 8 | 6 | 19 |
Board 2

1 | FM | Yurasov, Matfey | 2308 | FID | RUS-KURCHATOV SCHOOL | 87,5 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
2 | ACM | Batyrbekov, Kaisar | 1667 | AUS | AUS-CARLTON GARDENS PM | 87,5 | 8 | 7 | 22 |
3 | CM | Obidjonov, Oriyat | 2022 | UZB | UZB-WISDOM SCHOOL | 85,7 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
Board 3

1 | Obidov, Biloliddin | 2015 | UZB | UZB-WISDOM SCHOOL | 93,8 | 8 | 7 | 1 | |
2 | Naimov, David | 1613 | TJK | TJK-SECONDARY SCHOOL №6 | 87,5 | 8 | 7 | 18 | |
3 | CM | Kleschevnikov, Arseny | 2222 | FID | RUS-KURCHATOV SCHOOL | 87,5 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Board 4

1 | Weerathunga, Kavinu Sathnura | 1725 | SRI | SRI-RAHULA COLLEGE | 81,3 | 8 | 5 | 11 | |
2 | Shrestha, Nihana | 1475 | NEP | NEP-MARVELLOUS E.B.S. | 78,6 | 7 | 5 | 20 | |
3 | CM | Aarav, A | 1984 | IND | IND-VELAMMAL MHS SCHOOL | 68,8 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
Reserved players

Rk. | Name | Rtg | FED | Team | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Abdukayumov, Alisher | 1944 | UZB | UZB-WISDOM SCHOOL | 75 | 6 | 4 | 1 | |
2 | Athvik, M | 1909 | IND | IND-VELAMMAL MHS SCHOOL | 71,4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
3 | Baibek, Ernur | 1583 | KAZ | KAZ-RPMS ALMATY | 50 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
Final ranking after 8 rounds
Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 228 | 25,5 | |
2 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 233 | 27,5 | |
3 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 167 | 21,5 | |
4 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 141 | 18 | |
5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 132 | 18 | |
6 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 116 | 18 | |
7 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 95 | 15 | |
8 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 101 | 16,5 | |
9 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 157 | 18 | |
10 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 143 | 20 |
Photos from the closing ceremony: Here

