Pranav Venkatesh Wins FIDE World Junior Chess Championship 2025
Why in the news
Pranav Venkatesh clinched the 2025 FIDE World Junior Chess Championship in Montenegro on the night of 7 March 2025, ending a long wait for India in the open junior title.
Key facts
- The World Junior Championship 2025 was played in Petrovac, Montenegro, from 26 February to 7 March.
- Pranav Venkatesh, an 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster, was seeded second and finished with 9/11 without losing a game.
- He became the fourth Indian to win the title after Viswanathan Anand, Pentala Harikrishna and Abhijeet Gupta.
- A draw with Matic Lavrencic in the last round secured the title; Lavrencic took silver on 8.5 points.
- Anna Shukhman won the girls’ section with 9/11.
| Indian World Junior champions |
|---|
| Viswanathan Anand |
| Pentala Harikrishna |
| Abhijeet Gupta |
| Pranav Venkatesh (2025) |
About the event
The World Junior Championship is organised by FIDE, the International Chess Federation,. Separately, Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram won the nine-round Prague Masters in the Czech Republic without losing, finishing ahead of R Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri and Wei Yi.
Exam angle
- Remember Pranav Venkatesh as the 2025 World Junior champion and the fourth Indian winner.
- Venue: Petrovac, Montenegro; organiser: FIDE.
- Also note Aravindh Chithambaram’s Prague Masters win.