Super Heroes Cup 2026 – When good people make great things happen
After a four-year gap, the Super Heroes Cup is set to return on 14th and 15th March 2026. Hosted in the city of Pune, the tournament will bring together 16 of India’s strongest differently-abled chess players in an over-the-board event with a prize fund of Rs.5 lakh. What made the revival of this beautiful initiative possible were two remarkable gestures - one by Samay Raina and the other by Balraj Ghai. Read the article to know more.
The History
In 2021, we organized something very special - the Super Heroes Cup. It was an online tournament that brought together 16 of the strongest differently-abled (visually impaired, physically challenged and deaf & mute) chess players of India.
The tournament was quite a success with the last day seeing the presence of super GM P. Harikrishna commentating on the finals of Kishan Gangolli against Karthik Venkat Krishna. The tournament was won by Karthik. You can check out the livestreams of day 1, day 2 and day 3 here.
The tournament was a big success and we wanted to do it each year, but we were not able to organize it. But as they say, sometimes good ideas don't disappear, they just have to wait for the right time to resurface again.
Super Heroes Cup 2026
In 2025, something beautiful happened. When Samay Raina won Super PogChamps 2025 organized by chess.com, he received a prize of US $10,000 (Approximately Rs.9 lakh). What he did next was something that defines Samay very accurately - he instantly donated the entire amount to HelpChess Foundation. This is how Samay has always been to the chess world - he raised funds, helped people in need and always supported great initiatives.
That gesture did more than just add funds to a foundation. It ignited an idea. What if we revived the Super Heroes Cup? When we shared the idea with Samay, there was no hesitation. He instantly said yes. That is how Super Heroes Cup 2026 was born.
Bigger and Better
This time, we wanted to do something bigger. We wanted to increase the prize fund to Rs.5 lakh and the first prize to Rs.1 lakh. And we wanted to do this event not online, but over the board. In this way players could meet each other, we could meet players and if Samay's schedule permitted he could also interact with all of them.
But organizing an over-the-board event is not simple. Venue. Stay. Food. Logistics. Accessibility. Everything multiplies the cost. We had the intent. But we still did not have the full structure. That is when entered a man who fully lives up to his nickname. Balraj Ghai, known to many as "The Gentleman", reached out and said he would like to host the entire event at his newly launched Habitat Studio in Pune.
With Balraj's gesture the biggest logistcal hurdles disappeared - Playing hall, Accommodation, Food, Complete hospitality. The entire event became an absolute reality.
Details of the event
Name of the tournament: Super Heroes Cup 2026
Organized by: ChessBase India
Sponsored by: Samay Raina and Balraj Ghai
Dates: 14th and 15th of March 2026
Format: 16-player knockout event
Schedule :
Day 1 - 14th March - Round of 16 and Quarter Finals
Day 2 - 15th March - Semi-finals and Finals
Prize Structure:
Winner - ₹ 1,00,000/-
Runner Up - ₹ 75,000/-
Third Place - ₹ 50,000/-
Fourth Place - ₹ 40,000/-
Fifth - Eighth Spot - ₹ 25,000/- each
Ninth - Sixteenth Spot - ₹ 15000/- each
Time control:
15 minutes + 30 seconds increment (we have kept a sizeable amount of increment per move so that all specially abled players can make their moves on the board).
10 minutes with bidding for the Armageddon game with an increment of 10 seconds from move 40.
Selection of Players
While this remains an invitational event, we wanted to make the selection of the players in a structured manner, so that this becomes a yearly event - the super tournament for differently abled players. And so the criteria we have applied is - top 3 rated players + top female player + National Junior Champion - that makes it five players across three categories - visually impaired, physically challenged and deaf & mute - a total of 15 players and the final spot would be selected via an online qualifier so that all the players differently abled players could fight for that spot.
Confirmed players:
IM Shashikant Kutwal (2207) - Physically Challenged
Kishan Gangolli (2066) - visually impaired
Darpan Inani (1991) - visually impaired
Aryan Joshi (1986) - visually impaired
Venkata Krishna Karthik (1934) - physically challenged
Samarth Rao (1907) - physically challenged
Somender BL (1896) - visually impaired
Devendra Vaidya (1711) - deaf and Mute
Vivek Vatpade (1693) - deaf and Mute
Ved Neeraj Phaur (1656) - visually impaired
Megha Chakraborty (1636) - visually impaired
Sharon Rachel (1601) - physically challenged
Iniyan Gopinathan (1492) - physically challenged
Darshan Kshirsagar - deaf and mute
The 15th spot will be decided very soon and for the 16th spot we will be doing the online qualifers. A detailed article outlining the achievements of each player will be released soon.
A note of Gratitude
The Super Heroes Cup tells every differently-abled chess player in India that they are the real life Super Heroes. For four years, this event was paused because we did not have the means. Today, it is happening because two individuals decided to act. One donated his winnings without a second thought. Another opened his doors without asking for anything in return. Thank you Samay. Thank you Balraj.
