Karnataka Chess Academy ( Karnataka School of Chess ) was co- founded by International Master Shivananda Beleyur in year 2011 to promote chess at the grass roots level in Karnataka .

Grand Master Norm holder, IM Shivananda Beleyur

  1. Highest FIDE rating of 2467 points, highest live rating of 2486 points.
  2. Winner of 12 National Open tournaments and runner-up in another 10.
  3. Gold Medalist (Overall Best player) at National Team championship 2017.
  4. Former captain of the Karnataka State Team.
  5. Seven times Karnataka State Champion.
  6. Several times participant of Commonwealth and Asian Championships.

A brief biography

Coming from a hill-station like remote village of Western Ghats near Sagar town, 400 Kms away from Bangalore, BS Shivananda (born as Ashvin Kumar ) was striving to achieve something in the field of sports from childhood.

A shy-natured son of Agriculturist/Educationist parents , he was initially a state level high–jumper who turned to Chess at late teens. Putting up a systematic practice routine coupled with a strong personality, he won several big tournaments back to back and became one of the best players of Karnataka quite quickly.Year 2002 on wards, he won many national open tournaments and became one of the top-players of India.  He became an International Master little late in January 2011 since the progress was stalled by several chess-engine cheaters.  He has participated in more than  40 International tournaments including Asian and Common-Wealth Championships and had many a good performances.  He has a Grand Master Norm from 2009.

For last few years, he has taken a temporary break from tournament chess .  His last tournament was National Team Championship in February 2017 at Bhopal.  Captaining the Karnataka State team in that event, he won the Individual Gold Medal on the top board (best player of the tournament) ahead of several Grand Masters.

As a player, Shivananda is known for highly creative attacking chess.  Always looking to tread an original path, he has been successful with several off-beat openings especially wing’s gambit.

Having lost his father in teenage, initially it was a journey of trials and errors for him. With the help of mother Bhagirathi and sister Veena, He practiced on his own, never went to a coach and on principle has not taken government or private sponsorship.  To be on his own, he refused Compassionate-Quota government job after his gazetted-officer-grade father died and also Sports-Quota government job after becoming an International Master.

A socially liberal man of integrity and generosity, he is a person of several dimensions.He runs a software firm (www.shivasdigitalmedia.com) among a few other things. A vegetarian, he is also into amateur bodybuilding and is a neutral – philosophical observer and blogger on things surrounding our lives.

Some of his interviews are given below…

Here are two sample videos of him from Youtube…

His views on the current status of Chess…







Coaches of KCA




Shivananda B S

  • International Master (Player)
  • Grand Master Norm Holder
  • Several times participant of Commonwealth and Asian Championships.
  • Winner of Twelve National Opens
  • Runner-up in Ten National Opens
  • National Team championship – Individual Gold Medalist (2017)
  • Former Captain, Karnataka State Team
  • Many times Karnataka State champion
  • Highest FIDE rating – 2467 points
  • Director, Karnataka Chess Academy (Karnataka School of Chess)
  • Mentor of many well known players.
  • Coach of IM Raghunandan KS, FM Gahan MG, FM Yashas Devappa, GM Stany, WIM Ivana Furtado, Under 8 world champion Charvi Anilkumar , Aditi Prabhugaonkar and many others .
  • Three world championship medals as the main coach of Raghunandan(Under-12 years silver), Ivana (U-10 Silver) and Charvi (U-8 Gold).
  • Well-rounded person. Original and straightforward.

Varun Kamath

  • Former Captain, Mangalore University Team
  • Highest FIDE rating Points – 1938 and currently rated 1914
  • Corporate trainer and has won corporate chess events.
  • Fluent teacher

Oorvi Umesh

  • Former Captain, Bangalore University women’s team
  • Very good communicator .
  • Well liked by students,professional to the core.

Mrinal Jois

  • Bangalore University inter-collegiate winner
  • Seven years of coaching experience
  • Authentic command over the game
  • Good presentation skills,dedicated person

Chandana Kalahamsa

  • Mangalore University Top board prize winner
  • Five years of chess coaching experience
  • Known anchor and event host
  • Former programming head- Muktha TV Channel

Sushmitha Shinde

  • FIDE (World Chess Association) certified Coach -Developmental Instructor
  • Senior National Arbiter
  • Very likable teacher for beginner level children
  • Good Communication skills
  • Eight years of coaching experience
  • State level player
  • Film And TV Actress, Lead female role in Kannada Movie Geetha Bangle Store (2015) and a few others

Tanmay Srinath

  • Fide rating 1656 points (March 2024)
  • chessbase.com , chessbaseindia and firstpost.com journalist
  • Opening analyst – Chess Base Magazine(CBM)
  • Team Member of BMS College of Engineering -Overall Champions @ Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) championship -2019
  • Captain of VTU Team @South zone Inter-university championship-2022
  • Software engineer @Walmart
  • Good Communicator

Likhitha R

  • Bangalore district level player
  • Simple and strong
  • Child-friendly teacher

Shashank Ramesh

  • Fide rating 1762 points (March 2024)
  • Captain of MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology chess team- runner ups@Vishveshvariah Technological University championship 2019
  • Studious teacher

Goutham S

  • Corporate coach
  • Dignified personality

Suman S

  • Team member, Bangalore Central university chess team-2019
  • Also, a yoga teacher

Gagan B R

  • Bangalore University no.2 player-2019
  • Fide rating 1717 (March 2024)

Harshavardhana

  • Member, Bangalore Central University chess team-2018
  • Simple and genuine

Tina Suresh Popli

  • Former KV Nationals player
  • Former Champion,KV schools Karnataka-Goa Region
  • Gracious

Abhiman Rao

  • Amature player & Artist
  • WebMaster & Office Coordinator
  • Workaholic

Dhruva Hegde Chipli

  • Twice captain of Mysore University Chess Team ,2018-19 and 2019-20
  • Lichess rating (online) 2265
  • Fide rating 1697 (March 2024)
  • Six-footer fitness freak & Convincing teacher


Arun Das

  • FIDE (World Chess Association) certified Coach -National Instructor
  • Senior National Arbiter (Umpire)
  • Twice Captain of Mysore university team (2016-17,2017-2018)
  • Member of Mysore university chess team (2015-16)
  • Fide rating 1669 points (March 2024)
  • Seven years of coaching experience
  • Thematic teacher and likable personality

Aadi Beleyur

  • State level player
  • Sincere teacher

Chandana H

  • Capable Player
  • Superb Communicator

Aashish Avinash

  • Fide 1606 points (March 2024)
  • Lichess 2000+ player
  • Highly dedicated teacher
  • Cheerful personality


Kiran R Khande

  • Bangalore University player (Year 2017-18)
  • Fide 1519 points (March 2024)
  • Dedicated coach ,structured teaching.

Divya U

  • Former Captain, Bangalore university women’s team 2019-20
  • Member of Bangalore university chess team 2017-18 and 2018-19
  • Fide Rating 1574 points (March 2024)
  • Bangalore University Second Rank Holder in MSC -Computer Science -Year 2020-22 Batch
  • Enthusiastic about Data Structure and Algorithm (DSA) related things
  • Good Communicator



Shridhar Tumari

  • Good Beginners Coach
  • Law Graduate

Guest Coaches




Shruthi Krishnan

  • Arguably all time best women chess player of Karnataka
  • Five times Karnataka state women champion (Seniors)
  • National Gold medalist (Juniors)
  • Highest FIDE rating points – 1998
  • Fide Instructor

Thej Kumar M S

  • Famous Grand Master from Karnataka
  • Highest Fide Rating points 2500
  • Winner of Five International opens
  • Winner of Many National Opens
  • Former National Champion- Under 25 years Category
  • Many times Karnataka State Champion
  • Focussed and Disciplined

Himanshu Sharma

  • Only Grand Master of Haryana,very popular.
  • Highest Fide rating points 2525
  • Winner of numerous all india open tournaments
  • Master of positional chess and known endgame specialist
  • Dedicated and honest to the core



Gahan M G

  • FIDE master.
  • Highest rating 2311 points.
  • Represented India in World juniors (under 19 years) and finished@28th place in year 2014.
  • Part of the Vishweshwaraiah Technological University (VTU) team which won team silver in World Universities Championship in 2014.
  • Captained VTU team which won over-all First place in South-India Inter-university chess championship in 2015.
  • Former winner-Karnataka state rapid championship(2016 and 2019)
  • Former winner-Karnataka state under-25 years championship (2018-19)
  • Former winner-Karnataka state blitz championship (2017)
  • Former student@Karnataka School of Chess.


Sriram Sarja

  • National level player, Highest Fide rating 2294 points.
  • Team member and board medal winner for India ‘C’ team in world youth Olympiad(under 16 years) in year 2004.
  • Captain,Vishweshwaraiah Technological University team which won third place in All-India inter-University Championship(2008-09).
  • Runner up- National under-25 years championship(2011)
  • Karnataka state classical championship -second place(once).
  • Karnataka state rapid championship-second place(once).
  • Karnataka state blitz champion(2020),Good communicator.