Another gold for India in chess: Chennai’s Velammal wins 2025 World Schools Team Championship
Some of India's top chess players have studied at Velammal educational institutions. This includes current world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and top players like Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Leon Luke Mendonca.
Indian players representing Velammal MHS School pose at the Closing Ceremony of the 2025 World Schools Team Championship. (PHOTO: FIDE via Michal Walusza) Chennai’s Velammal MHS School claimed the gold medal at the 2025 World Schools Team Championship in Alexandria, Virginia after winning all eight of their matches. Some of India’s top chess players have studied at the Velammal educational institutions. This includes current world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and top players like Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Leon Luke Mendonca among many others.
So dominant was India’s Velammal at the event, that it entered the final round of the eight-round tournament already assured the top spot and the title.
For the Chennai-based team, WFM Keerti Shree Reddy (rating of 1910) was India’s board 1 player followed by IM Aswath S (2369), FM Daakshin Arun (2021), IM Ilamparthi A (2358) and FM Pranav KP (2090). While Keerti just played three games in the first three rounds as board 1 for Velammal, international master Ilamparthi was the star for the Indian team, playing in all eight rounds, winning seven and drawing one. from the fourth round onwards, he played as board 1 for India. The other IM in the team, Aswath, had three draws and a defeat after playing in all eight rounds.
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