🎮 SUKMA XXII Selangor 2026 – Esports Chess Medal Tally (4/4 Events)

Rank	State	🥇 Gold	🥈 Silver	🥉 Bronze	Total
1	Pulau Pinang	2	1	1	4
2	Perak	2	0	1	3
3	Selangor	0	2	2	4
4	Negeri Sembilan	0	1	0	1

⚔️ Event-by-Event Esports Podiums

1. E-Chess Blitz (Lelaki)

Medal	Participant	State
🥇 Gold	Nirish Kumar	Perak
🥈 Silver	Poh Yu Tian	Pulau Pinang
🥉 Bronze	Kavin Mohan	Selangor

2. E-Chess Rapid (Lelaki)

Medal	Participant	State
🥇 Gold	FM Nirish Kumar	Perak
🥈 Silver	FM Kavin Mohan	Selangor
🥉 Bronze	CM Lai Hong Jun	Pulau Pinang

3. E-Chess Blitz (Wanita)

Medal	Participant	State
🥇 Gold	Goh Cai Xuan	Pulau Pinang
🥈 Silver	Nor Ain Shahar	Selangor
🥉 Bronze	Mathivathane Surendran	Perak

4. E-Chess Rapid (Wanita)

Medal	Participant	State
🥇 Gold	Goh Cai Xuan	Pulau Pinang
🥈 Silver	Gan Jo Lyn	Negeri Sembilan
🥉 Bronze	Nor Ain Shahar	Selangor

Both players delivered standout individual gold-medal performances for their respective states at the SUKMA XXII Selangor 2026 chess event (Standard format, held at Dewan Seri Bernam, Sungai Besar), and their wins were among the most significant chess contributions of the Games.

WFM Ainul Mardhiah Mohd Afif (Johor)

Competing in the Women's Individual Standard event, Ainul Mardhiah topped a 40-player field, finishing on 6/7 points to take the gold medal for Johor. This continues a strong run of form for her — she's the reigning Malaysian Women's National Champion and currently tops the national Grand Prix leaderboard. Her SUKMA gold is also a personally meaningful story: she began playing chess during the pandemic as an outlet, is autistic, and has spoken publicly about how chess helped her build confidence and adapt to structured, competitive environments. She had previously won this same individual women's title at SUKMA 2024 while representing Johor, so this SUKMA 2026 gold extends that streak and cements her as one of the most consistent performers in Malaysian women's chess.

For Johor — a contingent chasing a top-3 finish (and the overall title it won in 2022) — her win was a guaranteed, high-value gold in an individual event, contributing directly to the state's medal tally and its RM10,000 individual-gold incentive.

IM Poh Yu Tian (Penang)

In the Men's Individual Standard event, 17-year-old IM Poh Yu Tian was dominant, going a perfect 7/7 to win gold outright, well clear of the field (rated 2473, the highest rating in the section by a wide margin). Local media described it as a "composed and commanding" performance that led Penang's chess charge at the Games.

His gold was one of two golds chess delivered for Penang at SUKMA 2026 — the other coming from the women's team event — as part of a four-medal chess haul (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) that exceeded the state contingent's expectations, according to Penang Chess Association president See Swee Sie.

Broader significance

• Both wins were individual golds, which typically carry outsized value in medal-tally and incentive terms compared to team events.
• Both athletes are established title-holders (WFM and IM respectively) representing the next generation of Malaysian chess talent, and both delivered under pressure in a flagship national multi-sport event.
• Their results anchored their states' overall chess campaigns — Ainul Mardhiah as the headline gold for Johor's women's program, and Poh Yu Tian as the standout performer spearheading Penang's stronger-than-expected chess showing.

 

1. SUKMA XXII Selangor 2026 - Cumulative State Medal Tally (12 Events)

Rank	State	🥇 Gold	🥈 Silver	🥉 Bronze	Total
1	Selangor	4	2	1	7
2	Pulau Pinang	3	3	5	11
3	Johor	3	0	0	3
4	Wilayah Persekutuan	2	4	3	9
5	Perak	0	1	1	2
6	Melaka	0	1	0	1
6	Negeri Sembilan	0	1	0	1
8	Kelantan	0	0	1	1
8	Pahang	0	0	1	1

2. Individual Medal Contributors

Rank	Athlete Name	State	🥇 Gold	🥈 Silver	🥉 Bronze	Total
1	WFM Mohd Afif Ainul Mardhiah	Johor	3	0	0	3
2	IM Poh Yu Tian	Pulau Pinang	2	0	1	3
3	FM Genkeswaran Genivan	Selangor	1	0	0	1
4	FM Siva Kumar Nirish Kumar	Perak	0	1	0	1
4	Fun Ven Vhue	Wilayah Persekutuan	0	1	0	1
4	Masli Muhd Nur Daie	Negeri Sembilan	0	1	0	1
4	Rosli Ain Insyirah	Pulau Pinang	0	1	0	1
4	Wong Rui Yang	Wilayah Persekutuan	0	1	0	1
4	Muzamil Mirza Irdina	Melaka	0	1	0	1
10	FM Genkeswaran Genivan	Selangor	0	0	1	1
10	WFM Chong Kai Ni Agnes	Pulau Pinang	0	0	1	1
10	Leong Ee Hern	Wilayah Persekutuan	0	0	1	1
10	Khairul Nizam Rabiatul Hasanah	Pahang	0	0	1	1
10	Nurul Akma Quzaina Khairolhisal	Pulau Pinang	0	0	1	1

3. Team Event Medal Winners & Rosters

Event Name	Medal	State	Team Players (Roster)
Catur Standard Berpasukan Lelaki	🥇 Gold	Selangor	Kavin Mohan, Mukhriez Shah, Shen Ree Herng, Uzair Shahar
	🥈 Silver	Pulau Pinang	Ng Shu Heng, Lim Wei Yang, Lim Feng Wei, Ian Yong Je Pin
	🥉 Bronze	Wilayah Persekutuan	Rittesh Muraley, Lee Yun Rui, Chow Yi Chen, A'qil A'lauddin Abd Aziz
Catur Standard Berpasukan Wanita	🥇 Gold	Pulau Pinang	Kuan Rhe Anne, Goh Xin Ying, Goh Cai Xuan, Nurul Akma Quzaina Khair
	🥈 Silver	Wilayah Persekutuan	Nur Uzma Bazilah Mohd Tarmizi, Lim Yijia Claire, Aqilah Husna Ainul Fikri, A'dira A'ddawiyah Abd Aziz
	🥉 Bronze	Kelantan	Nadia Fatini Saffiya, Sumaiyyah Hannan, Azzalea Engku, Aida Sofea
Catur Rapid Berpasukan Lelaki	🥇 Gold	Selangor	Kavin Mohan, Mukhriez Shah, Shen Ree Herng, Uzair Shahar
	🥈 Silver	Pulau Pinang	Ng Shu Heng, Loo Pin Xie, Lim Feng Wei, Lai Hong Jun
	🥉 Bronze	Wilayah Persekutuan	Rittesh Muraley, Lee Yun Rui, Chow Yi Chen, A'qil A'lauddin Abd Aziz
Catur Rapid Berpasukan Wanita	🥇 Gold	Wilayah Persekutuan	Nur Uzma Bazilah Mohd Tarmizi, Kaseh Irsya Dania, Aqilah Husna Ainul Fikri, A'dira A'ddawiyah Abd Aziz
	🥈 Silver	Selangor	Ava Arabella, Nur Ain Shahar, Puteri Delisya Zhansaya, Aliyah Diyanah Insyirah
	🥉 Bronze	Perak	Farihah Ibroh, Nawwarah Maarya, Aimy Sue Anne Tan
Catur Blitz Berpasukan Lelaki	🥇 Gold	Selangor	FM Kavin Mohan, CM Uzair Shahar, CM Mukhriez Shah, CM Shen Ree Herng
	🥈 Silver	Wilayah Persekutuan	CM Chow Yi Chen, Rittesh Muraley, AIM A'qil A'lauddin Abd Aziz, AIM Lee Yun Rui
	🥉 Bronze	Pulau Pinang	Lim Wei Yang, Loo Pin Xie, CM Lai Hong Jun, Ong El Win
Catur Blitz Berpasukan Wanita	🥇 Gold	Wilayah Persekutuan	Aqilah Husna Ainul Fikri, AFM A'dira A'ddawiyah Abd Aziz, Kaseh Irsya Dania, Nur Uzma Bazilah Mohd Tarmizi
	🥈 Silver	Selangor	AIM Aliah Diyanah Insyirah, AFM Ava Arabella, Nur Ain Shahar, Puteri Delisya Zhansaya
	🥉 Bronze	Pulau Pinang	Goh Cai Xuan, WFM Chong Kai Ni Agnes, ACM Ashwiniy Kumaran, Ain Insyirah Rosli

♟️ Pulau Pinang Reigns Supreme at SUKMA 2026 Chess!

Maybe people are talking about this event are in Europe but not here in Malaysia, it's the first I've heard about this event. Call me "Katak bawah tempurung" but I don't even know of any chess event that comes close to this in terms of titled chess players except for the Olympiad. The only reason this has come to my attention is that our very own IM Poh Yu Tian took part in it but failed narrowly to obtain the coveted first GM norm.

Of course this event is not new. Every July, the Provençal city of Aix-en-Provence trades its usual rhythm of café terraces and lavender fields for something a little more calculated: nine days of classical chess at the Pasino Grand casino, where Grandmasters, IMs, and title-hunting juniors converge for the Trophée Dole. What started as a regional open has, in just a few editions, quietly become one of the strongest amateur-accessible tournaments in Europe — and this year's Masters section is proof of how fast that reputation has spread.

A Prize Pool That's Attractive

The numbers alone explain a lot of the draw. Organizer L'Echiquier du Roy René put together a prize fund north of €30,000 (RM 141,000++) for the 2026 edition, with €8,000 (RM 38,000) going to first place alone. That's a serious purse for an open tournament, and it's split across 15 general-rank prizes plus dedicated awards for the top women players in the field — a generous payday indeed.

Part of the FIDE Circuit 

What really elevates the Dole Trophy above a typical summer open is its official place on the FIDE Circuit. For elite Grandmasters chasing qualification points toward the Candidates cycle, that status turns a regional French tournament into a legitimate strategic stop. This year's field bore that out: Ian Nepomniachtchi and Parham Maghsoodloo both entered, alongside Amin Tabatabaei — giving the event an unofficial "Super Open" character, with three players rated over 2700 and roughly a hundred more above 2400. That's not a lineup you'd expect to see outside a national or continental championship.

The Amazing Stats

The Masters section (open to players rated 2100+) drew 297 entrants, and the title density is striking:

• 247 of 297 players hold a FIDE title — meaning fewer than one in five entrants was untitled
• 46 Grandmasters (GMI) and 68 International Masters (MI) combine for 114 players, over 38% of the entire field
• 74 FIDE Masters (MF) and 23 Candidate Masters (CM) round out the open categories
• On the women's side: 9 WGMs, 13 WIMs, 12 WFMs, and 2 WCMs

Built for Title Hunters

The organizers haven't left this to chance. Official regulations from the Fédération Française des Échecs confirm that GMs and IMs can request special conditions — waived entry fees and lodging packages — on top of the standard prize structure. Combine that with a strict 2100 Elo floor for entry and a relaxed one-round-per-day classical schedule (no grueling double-round days), and you get an environment purpose-built for players trying to convert good form into a title.

The Setting Doesn't Hurt Either

picture courtesy from : ChessBase India

None of this would matter as much if the tournament were held in a conference room. Instead, players spend their rest hours in Aix-en-Provence in the height of summer — fountains, markets, and Cézanne's old haunts a short walk from the board — while the games themselves unfold inside the Pasino Grand, a genuine casino resort rather than a school gymnasium. It's a combination that's rare in open chess: serious sporting stakes wrapped in a genuinely appealing week away.

The Takeaway

The Trophée Dole's rise isn't a fluke of one good year — it's the compounding effect of money, FIDE Circuit incentives, title-friendly logistics, and a location players actually want to visit. For a tournament that's still young in chess-calendar terms, it's already doing what only a handful of opens in the world manage: pulling elite Grandmasters and ambitious norm-hunters into the same nine rounds.