The CBSE South Zone-I Girls Chess Championship 2026 got under way at Visakha Valley School in Visakhapatnam on Friday, bringing together 74 teams and 298 players from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The championship is being conducted in the under-11, under-14, under-17 and under-19 categories in accordance with FIDE and CBSE guidelines. According to principal Eshwari Prabhakar, around 80% of the participants are being accommodated on the school campus.

Inaugurating the championship, M.D. Ramesh Kumar, Director of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, said, “Grassroots competitions are the foundation for identifying and nurturing sporting talent. Visakhapatnam has an excellent sporting environment and has the potential to host more national-level events.”

O. Naresh Kumar, CEO of Symbiosis, said, “Chess fosters lateral thinking, emotional stability and sportsmanship among students.” Stressing the importance of holistic development, he urged parents and schools to pay greater attention to the health of girl students by periodically monitoring parameters such as haemoglobin, vitamin B12 and vitamin D levels.

D.S. Varma, head of AM/NS India Vizag and a governing body member of Visakha Valley School, said, “Our desire is to make this a green campus. We also want to use the available open space to create better sports facilities.”

The championship will conclude on July 26 after six rounds of competition.