Gibraltar 2018: Four Indians with a chance of a GM norm

30/01/2018 -

Seven rounds have been completed at the Gibraltar Masters 2018. Although no Indian is in the top ten rankings right now, this tournament is interesting from the point of view that many of the youngsters have a chance to achieve their GM norms. The ones who have the best chance are (numbers in the bracket are their rating performance) Prithu Gupta (2639), Hemant Sharma (2581), Praggnanandhaa (2570) and Raunak Sadhwani (2532). It is interesting to note that two out of the above four names (Raunak and Pragg) have yet to hit their teens! Detailed report from one of the strongest open tournaments in the world.

Chess couple embark on a nomadic journey for 365 days to promote chess

18/12/2017 -

'The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.' - Rob Siltanen. Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal, co-founders of ChessBase India, have a vision. The vision is to make chess one of the most popular sports in the country. In order to fulfill this dream, the duo have given up their rented place in Mumbai, and they have embarked on a one year journey promoting chess in the country. It's a homeless and nomadic journey from one place to another and you can invite Sagar and Amruta to your city. Here's how the crazy idea came into existence.

Rithvik Raja joint winner at First Friday November

12/11/2017 -

The second edition of the First Friday closed Round Robin IM norm event was completed successfully. While in the first one D. Gukesh was able to make his IM norm, in November no one could score 7.0/9. In fact the winner was able to garner only six points out of the nine rounds. Reigning Indian under-17 champion Rithvik Raja had a chance to make the IM norm if he won the last round, but was unable to do so. In the end there were four players tied at the top with 6.0/9: Azarya Jodi, Niaz Murshed, Lye Lik Zang and Rithvik Raja. Illustrated report with some interesting games.

Harsha Bharathakoti: A star on the rise

06/11/2017 -

At the Isle of Man Open last month, the Indian contingent gave spectators every reason to believe that India is the next big thing in chess. While Vishy finished joint second and Vidit Gujrathi drew the world champion, another young Indian boy, Harsha Bharathakoti made his presence felt in Douglas by scoring back to back upsets. Rated merely 2394, Harsha scored wins against much higher rated GMs like Varuzhan Akobian and Bhaskaran Adhiban and earned his maiden GM norm with a round to spare. Below is the brief of the young man's spectacular show along with annotated games by Harsha himself!

From Pratipadu to Belgrade: The journey of Harikrishna Pentala

30/10/2017 -

On 16th of March, 2016 Harikrishna Pentala reached a live rating of 2763.3 and with it he overtook Vishy Anand on the live Elo rating scale. This was the first time in Indian chess that someone had moved ahead of Anand in the last three decades. Harikrishna is a genius, no doubt about that. By winning the world under-10 title, almost all the age category nationals, and world junior title, he had made it clear that he has the talent to be the best in the world. Yet, the journey to the top for Hari was not at all easy. He stagnated, he plateaued, but he never gave up. It's a story of grit and dedication of how a boy who learnt chess in a village of Andhra Pradesh went on to reach the top ten players in the world of chess! | Thumbnail image: Alina l'Ami

Rithvik Raja and Arpita Mukherjee lead after Round 7 in National Under-17

29/10/2017 -

Reigning National under 13 Champion Raja Rithvik R of Telangana and current Commonwealth under 20 girls champion Arpita Mukherjee of West Bengal are leading in Dr. N. Mahalingam 28th National under 17 chess championship 2017 in open and girls category respectively held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Here is a report consisting of blow by blow update from rounds 5 to 7. While Rithvik has two players behind him with a half point deficit, Arpita has five. Photos by Sathish Kumar K.

Who is Magnus Carlsen's inspiration at the Isle of Man?

02/10/2017 -

Off late Magnus Carlsen has had a string of bad performances. His rating came down to a low of 2822 and he was knocked out of the World Cup by Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi in just the third round. When things are not working your way, you need to change the way they are done. And Magnus did exactly that. Instead of travelling with his usual team of father, second and Manager, he decided to go to Isle of Man with someone special. And after seven rounds, he is in the sole lead with 6.0/7. Who is Magnus Carlsen's inspiration? Read the article to find out!

No Arjuna award for Indian chess players

31/08/2017 -

Indian chess is booming and we have some amazing achievements by our top players over the years. The Arjuna award is given to sports players for their outstanding achievement in national sports. Anand, Harikrishna, Ganguly, Sasikiran and many other top players have received the Arjuna Award in the past. However, three of our brightest talents - Vidit Gujrathi, B. Adhiban and S.P. Sethuraman have had some phenomenal achievements to their credit in the past year and they surely deserved the award. No Arjuna for chess players - that's pretty disheartening.

Mitrabha Guha wins Badal Bhattacharjee Memorial

25/08/2017 -

West Bengal chess has a new star and he's 16-year-old Mitrabha Guha. He is the reigning national sub junior champion and now adds another feather to his cap. The 2nd Badal Bhattacharjee Memorial chess tournament was held from 6th to the 10th of August 2017 in Siliguri. Mitrabha was the top seed and stayed true to his billing and won the tournament. Another youngster, Aronyak Ghosh, about whom we recently reported on our newspage, finished second. Santu Mondal and Tamal Chakrabarti finished third and fourth respectively. We have pictures from the event.

Peter Heine Nielsen on why you must learn Shogi!

28/07/2017 -

Peter Heine Nielsen calls Shogi an unfound gem and chess' hidden cousin. "The game is so dynamic that every battle is like a Sicilian!", says Peter. The Japanese form of chess has not received the same amount of international recognition as our game, but is surely no less interesting. A two-hour training session is going to be held at the Hayakawa Japanse school in Chennai on 29th of July. For all the Chennaiites, the article has all the information you need, and for the others Peter recommends the best free Youtube series to learn Shogi.

Five tips by Tania Sachdev to become better at chess!

21/07/2017 -

Tania Sachdev is one of the top female players in India for many years now. She is not only an International Master but also has two GM norms to her credit. On the International Chess Day on 20th of July 2017, she gives us five tips which has helped her become a strong chess player. Following them will ensure good results for you as well. Also we have a special offer on two of Tania's ChessBase DVDs. Eight hours of high class chess education.

Commonwealth Chess Round 6: Vaibhav Suri is the sole leader

08/07/2017 -

20-year-old Vaibhav Suri beat Aravindh Chithambaram to clinch the sole lead at the Commonwealth Championships 2017 going on in Delhi. Vaibhav began the game with peaceful intention with the exchange French, but Aravindh was in an ambitious mood and played really well to get a winning position. He blundered and let the win slip. Vaibhav is followed by a pack of four players on 5.0/6. With last three rounds to go, this is going to be an exciting finish. Report from Leela Ambience in Delhi.

Chess for Youth: Diptayan triumphs yet again!

17/05/2017 -

Nearly 852 players flocked into the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Kolkata to play in the 12th edition of Chess for Youth 2017 which was held from 6th to 10th May. Defending Champion GM Diptayan Ghosh won the tournament again, without breaking a sweat. Shahid Ahmed S.K sends us a pictorial report.

Meet Erode's 1st IM: 14-year-old P. Iniyan

05/05/2017 -

When you look at the game played by 8-year-old Iniyan at the World Youth Championships in 2010, you will realize that the talent was unquestionable. However, when you go through this article, you will also understand that talent on its own cannot get you the success. There are a lot of factors that went in to create Erode's first International Master at the age of 14 years. We bring you the entire story and tell you why P. Iniyan is a boy to watch out for in the days to come.

Mitrabha Guha and Harshita Guddanti are National Sub-Junior 2016 champions!

21/03/2017 -

The 2016 National under-15 took place four months ago in Delhi. Mitrabha Guha and Harshita Guddanti emerged as the champions in the open and girls section respectively. "Somehow under the workload of different articles and projects I wasn't able to complete this report," says IM Sagar Shah. "But the quality of the content was so high that I wanted to publish it in spite of the delay." So here you have it - the under-15 National report rich with annotated games, pictures and anecdotes. Hope you enjoy it!

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