Bristy Mukherjee wins Tata Steel Chess Festival Women Rapid for the third time
WFM Bristy Mukherjee won Tata Steel Chess Festival Women Rapid for the third time. She is the first player to achieve this unique feat of winning any Tata Steel Chess India Festival event for three times. Previously she won it in 2022 and 2024. She along with four more players - IM Nisha Mohota, Debapriya Manna, WIM Chandreyee Hajra and Anushka Gupta scored 6.5/7 each. Bristy won the tournament on tie-breaks. The remaining four secured second to fifth place respectively. The one-day seven-round Rapid Women tournament was organized by Dhanuka Dhunseri Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, West Bengal on 9th January 2026. The total prize fund was ₹100000. Top three prizes were ₹20000 + trophy, ₹15000 and ₹10000 each respectively. This was Bristy's first tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Bristy's first triumph of the year
The top seed of the event was IM Nisha Mohota, the only female of West Bengal to have the IM title. She was making her Tata Steel Chess Festival debut. The stalwart wanted to practice to strengthen herself for her upcoming even stronger events. The venue and playing field certainly impressed her. The players got a wonderful opportunity to play against the Commonwealth Women 2025 Silver medalist. It goes without saying that her participation elevated the event as it was the first time in the Women Rapid event of a Tata Steel Festival, an IM was participating. WFM Saparya Ghosh was the sole leader 5.5/6, heading into the final round. Nine players including the top seed were trailing by a half point at 5/6 each. That certainly shows how strong the field was. A draw would have sufficed Saparya to become the champion. Unfortunately for her, she lost to Anushka Gupta. It opened the path for WFM Bristy Mukherjee to become the champion as she defeated Dishita Dey. Nisha won against Diya Chowdhury to finish second. WFM Yashjyoti Bir lost to Debapriya Manna who claimed third place. Despite not playing tournaments regularly, focusing on her academics and her twelfth standard examinations being less than a month away, Debapriya played excellent chess to finish third.
Since 2022, one of the perks of winning the tournament is, receiving the prize on the final day of the main event - Tata Steel Chess India 2026 Rapid and Blitz. Getting the prize in front of star-studded world-class players is an added bonus apart from the usual cash and trophy prize. No wonder, every year, the festival events reach its capacity in no time once it is announced.
For more photos, click here.
A total of 106 players including an IM and a WIM took part from various parts of the country. The one-day seven round Rapid Women tournament was organized by Dhanuka Dhunseri Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, West Bengal on 9th January 2026. The time control of the event was 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | WFM | Bristy Mukherjee | IND | 1930 | West Bengal | 6 | 31 | 34,5 | 29 |
| 2 | 1 | IM | Nisha Mohota | IND | 2185 | Pspb | 6 | 29,5 | 33,5 | 28,25 |
| 3 | 12 | Debapriya Manna | IND | 1687 | West Bengal | 6 | 29,5 | 31,5 | 25,5 | |
| 4 | 9 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | IND | 1813 | West Bengal | 6 | 28 | 31 | 25,5 |
| 5 | 11 | Anushka Gupta | IND | 1734 | West Bengal | 6 | 27 | 30 | 25 | |
| 6 | 4 | WFM | Saparya Ghosh | IND | 1881 | West Bengal | 5,5 | 33,5 | 37,5 | 28,5 |
| 7 | 40 | Kathakali Dey | IND | 1481 | West Bengal | 5,5 | 29,5 | 33,5 | 25,75 | |
| 8 | 10 | AIM | Arhashirsha Biswas | IND | 1737 | West Bengal | 5,5 | 27,5 | 29,5 | 22,25 |
| 9 | 2 | WFM | Yashjyoti Bir | IND | 1962 | West Bengal | 5 | 31 | 35 | 24 |
| 10 | 8 | Diya Chowdhury | IND | 1817 | West Bengal | 5 | 30 | 34 | 22,5 | |
| 11 | 6 | WCM | Maitreyi Mondal | IND | 1840 | West Bengal | 5 | 29,5 | 33 | 21,5 |
| 12 | 52 | Dishita Dey | IND | 1445 | Jharkhand | 5 | 28,5 | 32 | 20 | |
| 13 | 32 | ACM | Srinika Ghosh | IND | 1496 | West Bengal | 5 | 27,5 | 30,5 | 21,25 |
| 14 | 14 | Sudipa Haldar | IND | 1681 | West Bengal | 5 | 27,5 | 30,5 | 19,5 | |
| 15 | 7 | Alka Das | IND | 1822 | 5 | 26,5 | 29,5 | 19 | ||
| 16 | 61 | Anukrita Chatterjee | IND | 1415 | West Bengal | 5 | 26 | 28,5 | 18,5 | |
| 17 | 17 | Megha Mondal | IND | 1570 | West Bengal | 5 | 24 | 25,5 | 16 | |
| 18 | 24 | Sunetra Dey | IND | 1534 | West Bengal | 4,5 | 29,5 | 31,5 | 17,75 | |
| 19 | 53 | Raima Bhattacharjee | IND | 1435 | West Bengal | 4,5 | 27 | 30 | 17,25 | |
| 20 | 16 | Megha Chakraborty | IND | 1596 | West Bengal | 4,5 | 27 | 29 | 15,5 |
Related News
Anustoop Biswas wins Tata Steel Chess Festival 2026 Blitz Open
Soham Bhattacharyya wins Tata Steel Chess Festival 2026 Rapid Rating Open
Diptayan Ghosh dominates Tata Steel Chess Festival 2024 Blitz Open
Deep Sengupta wins Tata Steel Chess Festival 2024 Rapid Rating Open
Bristy Mukherjee perfect at Tata Steel Chess Festival 2024 Women Rapid
Agnivo Chakraborty dominates Tata Steel Chess Festival 2024 Under-19 Rapid