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Alisher Suleymenov wins Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin, Ethan Vaz second, Ameya Audi third

11/02/2026 -

Kazakh Grandmaster Alisher Suleymenov is the Champion of the Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament. Alisher drew against IM Ameya Audi in the final round in a hard-fought battle, sealing the tournament victory with 6/9 points. IM Ethan Vaz secured second place with 5.5/9 points and a better tiebreak score than IM Ameya Audi, who lost his game against Ethan in round 2 of the event. Ameya scored 5.5/9 points to secure third place, but he barely missed his GM norm by half a point as his last game against Alisher ended in a draw. The event was successfully organized at Chola Chess, Chennai, from 3rd to 11th February. Photos: Chola Chess/Himank Ghosh

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GM Swapnil Dhopade’s Chess Pathshala opens its offline academy in Nagpur

11/02/2026 -

India's 40th Grandmaster, Swapnil Dhopade, has been deeply involved in chess coaching for over six years. He founded Chess Pathshala as an online chess academy in 2019 and has worked with some of India’s finest talents. Among his students are World Junior Rapid Champion Raunak Sadhwani and two-time National Junior Girls Champion Shubhi Gupta. Swapnil has also worked with several International Masters and Grandmasters over the years. Now, Chess Pathshala is set to take its next step with the launch of an offline academy in Nagpur. In this interview, Swapnil speaks about his coaching journey and his vision behind offline training. Photo: Official website

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 8: Ameya Audi to face Alisher in the final round

11/02/2026 -

In the penultimate round of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament, Alisher Suleymenov won his game against Akshay Borgaonkar to gain the sole lead going into the last round. Ethan Vaz suffered a tough loss against Boyer Mahel in an important clash, as it's now not possible for Ethan to score the norm. Ameya Audi drew his game against Delgado Ramírez Neuris to remain in the battle for first place. In the final round, it's a clash between Ameya Audi and Alisher Suleymenov for the title and Ameya's GM norm. The final round starts on 11th February at 10:30 am IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Gukesh awarded with Titan of the Year 2026

10/02/2026 -

Titan, a leading watch manufacturing company of India, has its annual award, the Titan of the Year award, which it confers to someone special each year. For the year 2026, they decided to choose the youngest world champion in the history of chess, Gukesh Dommaraju. On 6th of February, the event was held in Mumbai and we bring you some moments from the event in this article.

Sakthi Group Tamil Nadu 41st–44th IM Norm Tournament: A Rich Harvest of IM Norms

10/02/2026 -

The Sakthi Group Tamil Nadu 41st to 44th IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament commenced the very same evening when the Sakthi Group 16th Chennai Grandmasters Open finished. Within a remarkable span of just one hour, four IM norm tournaments were flagged off at Hotel Royal Residency, Chennai, a first in the history of Indian chess, with four norm events being conducted simultaneously under one roof. With 19 foreign masters and 21 Indian norm aspirants in contention, the field was evenly divided into four groups of ten players each, competing in the 41st to 44th IM Norm Events. Photos: IA R. Srivatsan

How an 18-year-old went from 1900 to 2400 to become an International Master

10/02/2026 -

When Nikhil Dixit started his chess journey, he used to play in a lot of tournaments in Pune. He would often see many 2200–2300 rated players, who are now his friends. At that time, as a young kid, he used to feel that one day he had to reach 2200, and that felt like the best-case scenario for him. It was his biggest dream back in 2009 or 2010. He got his initial rating of 1787, and it quickly jumped to 1850. It was a good boost, but he didn't think he was that strong at the time. It took him a long time to cross the 2000 barrier, and in this article, he is going to discuss his journey from 1900 to 2400, hoping that some points can benefit other players. Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 7: Ethan Vaz and Ameya Audi in joint lead, going into the penultimate round

09/02/2026 -

Ethan Vaz and Ameya Audi scored important wins in round 7 of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament. Ethan Vaz won his game against the event leader Alisher Suleymenov with the white pieces, while Ameya Audi won his game against Girel Joseph to stay in the race for a GM norm. Ethan and Ameya are now on 4.5/7 points. In another decisive game, Harsh Suresh lost against Boyer Mahel. The last two games between Aronyak Ghosh and Mayank Chakraborty, Akshay Borgaonkar and Delgado Ramirez Neuris, ended in a draw. The 8th round starts on 10th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Anuj Shrivatri wins 2nd Rejoice Chanakya CTF Fide Rapid Rating 2026

09/02/2026 -

International Master Anuj Shrivatri from Madhya Pradesh won the 2nd Rejoice Chanakya CTF International Open Fide Rapid rating Chess Tournament 2026. Anuj scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 points to secure the title with a cash prize of ₹30,000 and a beautiful trophy. For second place, it was a tie between four players on 8/9 points, but Om Manish Kadam and Aansh Nandan Nerurkar secured second and third place, respectively, on better tie-break scores than the field. The event was organized at Rejoice International School on the 25th January, and the time control was 15 minutes + 3 seconds. Read the complete report with a quick interview with Anuj below. Photos: ChessBase India Marathi

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 6: GM Alisher Suleymenov takes full point lead

09/02/2026 -

Kazakh Grandmaster Alisher Suleymenov now has a full point lead over the field; he is on 4.5/6 points. In the 6th round, he defeated French GM Mahel Boyer in a marathon game that lasted for 168 moves. In another decisive game, IM Akshay Borgaonkar lost against French Grandmaster Girel Joseph. The other three games ended in a draw. For the second place, it's a fight among Ethan Vaz, Ameya Audi, Aronyak Ghosh, and GM Delgado Ramirez Neuris from Paraguay, as all of them are on 3.5/6 points. The 7th round starts on 9th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh and Aditya Roy Sur

The touch to move controversy between Judit Polgar and Garry Kasparov

09/02/2026 -

Netflix launched a new documentary on the life of Judit Polgar - "The Queen of Chess". The documentary is extremely well made and is definitely worth a watch if you are a chess lover. It brought back to life an incident that had happened 32 years ago in 1994, when an 18-year-old Judit took on the world no.1 Garry Kasparov for the first time. It involved a famous touch to move incident. We tell you what exactly had happened back then.

Jval Saurin Patel dominates at 1st JYOTI CNC Rajkot Rapid Rating 2026

08/02/2026 -

FM Jval Saurin Patel wins 1st JYOTI CNC Rajkot All India Open Fide Rapid Rating Chess Tournament 2026. Jval scored 8.5/9 points, remaining unbeaten in the event, and secured clear first position with a half-point lead over the field. Kartavya Anadkat, Srijit Paul, and Kiyan Kevalkumar Patel scored 8/9 points and secured 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place, respectively. The event was successfully held on 11th January 2026 at Sardar Nagar Society Community Hall, Rajkot, and the tournament featured cash prizes worth ₹2,00,000, along with 75 trophies and 55 medals. The time control was 10 minutes + 5 seconds. Photos: Rakesh Bhatti

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 5: Alisher Suleymenov maintains his lead

07/02/2026 -

The Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 crossed the halfway mark after completion of five rounds. GM Alisher Suleymenov is maintaining his lead with 3.5/5 points. For second place, it's a four-way tie between Ethan Vaz, Aronyak Ghosh, Audi Ameya, and Delgado Ramirez Neuris with 3/5 points. In the 5th round of the tournament, there was only one decisive game in which Delgado Ramirez Neuris won against Boyer Mahel and reached 3/5 points, the other 4 games ended in a draw. The 6th round starts on 8th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam clear first at 4th Zion-Alwin Fide Rated Open 2026

07/02/2026 -

International Master Ramnathan Balasubramaniam clinched the title of the 4th International Fide Rated Chess Tournament organised by Zion-Alwin Group of Institutions with 7.5/8 points and a clear half-point lead over the field. Four players scored 7/8 points, but better tiebreaks helped Jayanth Venkatesh to secure second place, while Dharsh M secured third place. The event was held at  Zion International Public School, Mappedu, Chennai, from 10th to 13th January with a total prize pool of ₹4,00,000, including the top three prizes of ₹40,000, ₹30,000, and ₹25,000, respectively. Photos: FT & IA Ravichandran Venkataraman/Founder Mount Chess Academy

The talented 11-year-old Safin Safarullakhan becomes FIDE Master

07/02/2026 -

Safin Safarullakhan earned the FIDE Master title after his performance at the IM-3 RR 102 Putnik Tournament. He scored 5/9 points and finished fourth in the standings. He entered the event with a rating of 2107, performed at a rating of 2319 and gained 98 Elo points. During the tournament, he defeated two grandmasters, Evgeniy Podolchenko and Handszar Odeev. Safin is training under GM Viorel Iordachescu and GM Stany. IM Jubin Jimmy worked as a mentor for the 11-year-old talent. Read the full article for more details on his performance. Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

Karuppasamy C wins Star Chess Foundation 3rd Below 1700 Classical

07/02/2026 -

Karuppasamy C of Tamil Nadu won the 3rd International Open Fide Rated Below-1700 chess tournament organised by Star Chess Foundation. Karuppasamy C scored 8/9 points, remaining unbeaten in the event with two draws. For second place, it was a four-way tie on 7.5/9 points, but Baland Prajith S T secured second place on a better tie-break score, and Raman R secured third place. The top three prizes were ₹50,000, ₹35,000, and ₹25,000, respectively. The event took place at Indra Ganeshan Group of Institutions, Trichy, Tamil Nadu from 10th to 12th January with a time control of 45 minutes + 30-second increment from move 1. Photos: Mr. P. Ismail

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