{"id":40723,"date":"2025-11-17T10:59:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T10:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=40723"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:40:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:40:54","slug":"commonwealth-championship-2025-daniel-howard-fernandez-lifts-crown-india-shines-across-categories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/commonwealth-championship-2025-daniel-howard-fernandez-lifts-crown-india-shines-across-categories\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonwealth Championship 2025: Daniel Howard Fernandez lifts crown; India shines across categories"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"40723\" class=\"elementor elementor-40723\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dd796c9 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"dd796c9\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dedeed5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"dedeed5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"595\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Champion.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-40724\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Champion.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Champion-300x179.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Champion-768x457.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7befbb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d7befbb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>English Grandmaster <strong>Daniel Howard Fernandez<\/strong> was crowned Commonwealth Champion as the 2025 Commonwealth Chess Championship concluded on Sunday. Organized by the Malaysian Chess Federation under the auspices of the Commonwealth Chess Association and FIDE, the event brought together 373 players from 17 nations, making it one of the most vibrant editions in recent years. Howard&#8217;s steady and confident performance earned him the title with an impressive 7.5\/9 points, after he drew his final-round game against India\u2019s FM Adireddy Arjun.<\/p><p>The race for second place was fiercely contested, with four Indian players finishing on 7 points. Tiebreaks awarded FM <strong>Adireddy Arjun <\/strong>(pictured below)\u00a0the silver medal and GM <strong>Lalit Babu M R<\/strong> the bronze, followed by IM <strong>Neelash Saha<\/strong> and GM <strong>Deepan Chakkravarthy<\/strong> in fourth and fifth place, respectively.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f84931e elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f84931e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"625\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Runner-up.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-40728\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Runner-up.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Runner-up-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Runner-up-768x480.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e044499 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e044499\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In the Women\u2019s category, which was integrated with the Open event, India demonstrated overwhelming dominance by sweeping the podium. <strong>Srija Seshadri<\/strong> captured the gold medal with an impressive performance, while <strong>Mary Ann Gomes<\/strong> secured silver and <strong>Nisha Mohota<\/strong> claimed bronze.<\/p><p><strong>Category h<\/strong><strong>ighlights<\/strong><\/p><p>The tournament featured a wide range of categories, each showcasing spirited battles and outstanding performances from emerging talents across the Commonwealth.<\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><strong>Junior categories:<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-20 (Junior):<\/strong>\u00a0Singapore\u2019s Goh Zi Han (Gold), Bangladesh\u2019s Tashriq Saihan Shan (Silver), Malaysia\u2019s A\u2019qil A\u2019lauddin Bin Abd Aziz (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Junior Girls:<\/strong>\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s Sandula K M Dahamdi (Gold), India\u2019s Mrittika Mallick (Silver), Singapore\u2019s Liew Tze Chi (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Senior:<\/strong>\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s Ismail Ahmad (Gold), Kenya\u2019s John Mukabi (Silver), India\u2019s IM Sekhar Chandra Sahu (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Open youth categories:<\/strong><\/span><\/p><ul><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-08:<\/strong>\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s Muhammad Aariz Daniel Bin Mohd Shah (Gold), India\u2019s Prayank Gaonkar (Silver), Sri Lanka\u2019s Basnayake Kevon Dulkith (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-10:<\/strong>\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s CM Karunasena A P Chenitha Sihas Dinsara (Gold), India\u2019s Parv H Hakani (Silver), India\u2019s Nidhish Shyamal (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-12:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s CM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma dominated with a perfect 9\/9 points (Gold), Singapore\u2019s AFM Aaradhya Suyog Bagul (Silver), Sri Lanka\u2019s CM Wijerathna Vinuka Dihain (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-14:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s AIM Adhiraj Mitra (Gold), Sri Lanka\u2019s Wickramasinghe V W A Vinuda Vidmal (Silver), India\u2019s FM Reyan Md. (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-16:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s IM Borgaonkar Akshay (Gold), Sri Lanka\u2019s Induwara T H D Thisarindu (Silver), India\u2019s CM Velavaa Ragavesh (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-18:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s IM Sriram Adarsh Uppala delivered a dominant performance with 9 points (Gold), India\u2019s Borkhetariya Devarsh M (Silver), Singapore\u2019s Lee Tsuen Jin Aiesec (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d43b8a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1d43b8a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-India.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-40727\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-India.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-India-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-India-768x503.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-93b521c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"93b521c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Girls&#8217; youth categories:<\/strong><\/span><\/p><ul><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-08:<\/strong>\u00a0An Indian sweep with Anaya Sharma (Gold), Anvi Deepak Hinge (Silver), and Teesha Byadwal (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-10:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s Vanshika Rawat (Gold, 8\/9 points), Malaysia\u2019s Maha A\/P Nathan (Silver), India\u2019s Kiyanna Parihaar (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-12:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s WCM Divi Bijesh (Gold), Singapore\u2019s Liew Tze Yu (Silver), Australia\u2019s Daniel Suria (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-14:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s Aditri Shome (Gold, 8.5\/9 points), Sri Lanka\u2019s De Silva B P Chanthuli Thanishka (Silver), India\u2019s WFM Saranya Devi Narahari (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-16:<\/strong>\u00a0Another Indian sweep with FM Prishita Gupta (Gold), Ananya Raman (Silver), and Aswinika Mani R (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><li><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Under-18:<\/strong>\u00a0India\u2019s Sagar Siya (Gold), India\u2019s WCM Anupam M Sreekumar (Silver), Bangladesh\u2019s WCM Omnia Binta Yusuf Lubaba (Bronze).<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-116eda1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"116eda1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Closing.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-40726\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Closing.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Closing-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commonwealth-Closing-768x553.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-65ee4d2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"65ee4d2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">The championship concluded with a vibrant closing ceremony, where Bharat Singh Chauhan, President of the Commonwealth Chess Association, and Akhramsyah Muammar, President of the Malaysian Chess Federation, presented the awards.<\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">The 2025 edition not only celebrated exceptional individual talent but also highlighted the growing depth and competitive spirit across Commonwealth nations, reaffirming the event\u2019s status as a landmark festival of chess.<\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Complete results are available on\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/s1.chess-results.com\/tnr1283239.aspx?lan=1&amp;art=1&amp;rd=9&amp;turdet=YES&amp;flag=30&amp;SNode=S0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">chess-results.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>English Grandmaster Daniel Howard Fernandez was crowned Commonwealth Champion as the 2025 Commonwealth Chess Championship concluded on Sunday. Organized by the Malaysian Chess Federation under the auspices of the Commonwealth Chess Association and FIDE, the event brought together 373 players from 17 nations, making it one of the most vibrant editions in recent years. Howard&#8217;s steady and confident performance earned him the title with an impressive 7.5\/9 points, after he drew his final-round game against India\u2019s FM Adireddy Arjun. The race for second place was fiercely contested, with four Indian players finishing on 7 points. Tiebreaks awarded FM Adireddy Arjun (pictured below)\u00a0the silver medal and GM Lalit Babu M R the bronze, followed by IM Neelash Saha and GM Deepan Chakkravarthy in fourth and fifth place, respectively. In the Women\u2019s category, which was integrated with the Open event, India demonstrated overwhelming dominance by sweeping the podium. Srija Seshadri captured the gold medal with an impressive performance, while Mary Ann Gomes secured silver and Nisha Mohota claimed bronze. Category highlights The tournament featured a wide range of categories, each showcasing spirited battles and outstanding performances from emerging talents across the Commonwealth. Junior categories: Under-20 (Junior):\u00a0Singapore\u2019s Goh Zi Han (Gold), Bangladesh\u2019s Tashriq Saihan Shan (Silver), Malaysia\u2019s A\u2019qil A\u2019lauddin Bin Abd Aziz (Bronze). Junior Girls:\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s Sandula K M Dahamdi (Gold), India\u2019s Mrittika Mallick (Silver), Singapore\u2019s Liew Tze Chi (Bronze). Senior:\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s Ismail Ahmad (Gold), Kenya\u2019s John Mukabi (Silver), India\u2019s IM Sekhar Chandra Sahu (Bronze). Open youth categories: Under-08:\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s Muhammad Aariz Daniel Bin Mohd Shah (Gold), India\u2019s Prayank Gaonkar (Silver), Sri Lanka\u2019s Basnayake Kevon Dulkith (Bronze). Under-10:\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s CM Karunasena A P Chenitha Sihas Dinsara (Gold), India\u2019s Parv H Hakani (Silver), India\u2019s Nidhish Shyamal (Bronze). Under-12:\u00a0India\u2019s CM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma dominated with a perfect 9\/9 points (Gold), Singapore\u2019s AFM Aaradhya Suyog Bagul (Silver), Sri Lanka\u2019s CM Wijerathna Vinuka Dihain (Bronze). Under-14:\u00a0India\u2019s AIM Adhiraj Mitra (Gold), Sri Lanka\u2019s Wickramasinghe V W A Vinuda Vidmal (Silver), India\u2019s FM Reyan Md. (Bronze). Under-16:\u00a0India\u2019s IM Borgaonkar Akshay (Gold), Sri Lanka\u2019s Induwara T H D Thisarindu (Silver), India\u2019s CM Velavaa Ragavesh (Bronze). Under-18:\u00a0India\u2019s IM Sriram Adarsh Uppala delivered a dominant performance with 9 points (Gold), India\u2019s Borkhetariya Devarsh M (Silver), Singapore\u2019s Lee Tsuen Jin Aiesec (Bronze). Girls&#8217; youth categories: Under-08:\u00a0An Indian sweep with Anaya Sharma (Gold), Anvi Deepak Hinge (Silver), and Teesha Byadwal (Bronze). Under-10:\u00a0India\u2019s Vanshika Rawat (Gold, 8\/9 points), Malaysia\u2019s Maha A\/P Nathan (Silver), India\u2019s Kiyanna Parihaar (Bronze). Under-12:\u00a0India\u2019s WCM Divi Bijesh (Gold), Singapore\u2019s Liew Tze Yu (Silver), Australia\u2019s Daniel Suria (Bronze). Under-14:\u00a0India\u2019s Aditri Shome (Gold, 8.5\/9 points), Sri Lanka\u2019s De Silva B P Chanthuli Thanishka (Silver), India\u2019s WFM Saranya Devi Narahari (Bronze). Under-16:\u00a0Another Indian sweep with FM Prishita Gupta (Gold), Ananya Raman (Silver), and Aswinika Mani R (Bronze). Under-18:\u00a0India\u2019s Sagar Siya (Gold), India\u2019s WCM Anupam M Sreekumar (Silver), Bangladesh\u2019s WCM Omnia Binta Yusuf Lubaba (Bronze). The championship concluded with a vibrant closing ceremony, where Bharat Singh Chauhan, President of the Commonwealth Chess Association, and Akhramsyah Muammar, President of the Malaysian Chess Federation, presented the awards. The 2025 edition not only celebrated exceptional individual talent but also highlighted the growing depth and competitive spirit across Commonwealth nations, reaffirming the event\u2019s status as a landmark festival of chess. Complete results are available on\u00a0chess-results.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[419],"regular":[361],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-40723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-commonwealth-championship","regular-regular"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40723"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40735,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40723\/revisions\/40735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40723"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=40723"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=40723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}