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The story of how Laxman became the blitz king of Indian chess!

21/10/2017 -

R.R. Laxman was one of India's most prodigious talent. Born in 1983, he captured the imagination of chess fans by winning the under-12 nationals. In spite of being a brilliant student and scoring 1120/1200 in his board examinations, he decided to pursue chess as a career. But within a few years he began to regret his decision. His main problem was lack of self-confidence. Whenever he faced a strong and talented opponent, Laxman began to doubt his abilities. How did he battle this situation? How did Laxman overcome this weakness to become the 20th grandmaster of India. It's not without reason that the Chennai GM has earned the sobriquet of Blitz King! Read on to know why!

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The best way to learn the most dynamic opening in chess!

20/10/2017 -

The King's Indian Defence has been the favourite of many masters including legends like Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. If you would like to emulate one of the openings your idols used to love, this is your chance! In his comprehensive tutorial DVD on the KID, GM Victor Bologan, not only gives an in-depth analysis of the variations but also provides ten puzzles towards the end in order to assess how much the viewers have grasped. David Nastasio, the author of this review, feels he could play the opening like a master, now that he has learned from GM Bologan. He shares his experience below.

Asian Amateur 2017 awaits you in Chiang Mai, Thailand

20/10/2017 -

Chiang Mai is one of the most scenic destinations in Thailand. In fact many Indian couples after marriage visit Chiang Mai for their honeymoon! This time the Asian Amateur 2017 will be held there from the 23rd to 30th of November 2017. You are eligible to participate if your Elo is below 2100 and you have played at the National Amateur 2016. ChessBase India Power has an exclusive tie-up with the Asian Amateur 2017, which means your headache about entry fee, registration, accommodation and travel will be all handled by us! More details in the article. 

IIFL Wealth for Chess – A Defining Moment for India!

19/10/2017 -

Corporate sponsorship can boost any sport to the next level. The backing of a huge financial institution can create a sustainable structure for boosting chess in the nation. This is something that is happening in Mumbai with the India Infoline Wealth (IIFLW), who is supporting chess in a big way. The third edition of IIFLW will be held from 30th of December 2017 to 7th of January 2018 in Mumbai. While many grandmasters would play in the open tournament, the under-13 is surely their flagship event, and this year they have introduced regional qualifiers with the winners getting a chance to play a simul with Vishy Anand! Thumbnail Photo: Priyadarshan Banjan

GM Niaz Murshed to play in the November edition of First Friday

19/10/2017 -

After the success of the first edition of the First Friday tournaments that began in October 2017, the second edition is here, bigger and grander. It is the first time that a grandmaster would be participating. It is a closed IM norm Round Robin event that will be held from the 3rd to the 8th of November 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In October India's 11-year-old D. Gukesh made full use of this opportunity by scoring his first IM norm and gaining 40 Elo points. The First Friday tournaments are the brainchild of FM Peter Long of Malaysia and they begin on the first friday of every month.

Diwali greetings from the best in Indian chess!

19/10/2017 -

Diwali is a festival of light. It is a celebration of colour, brightness and victory of good over evil. This Diwali we asked some of the top players of India including Vishy Anand, Harikrishna, Adhiban, Sethuraman, coach R.B. Ramesh and others as to how the game of white and black added colour and brightness in their life! Their answers tell us how grateful they all are to the game of chess. Even after years of experience, playing innumerable games and fighting uncountable battles, the game still attracts them and makes them love their very existence!

Double Dhamaka on Diwali - Two Indians to play at Tata Steel 2018!

18/10/2017 -

World champion Magnus Carlsen and former world champions Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Hou Yifan will participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018. Both Carlsen and Anand have won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament five times. They will face grandmasters like Anish Giri, Wesley So (2017 winner), Fabiano Caruana, Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin and Hou Yifan in Wijk aan Zee in January. The 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place in Wijk aan Zee from 12 – 28 January 2018. It's after a long time that we will see two Indians in the Masters section - Vishy Anand and Adhiban Baskaran.

This Diwali, get you favourite ChessBase products! Upto 50% off!

18/10/2017 -

Diwali, one of the biggest festivals of India, is here. ChessBase India comes up with massive discounts for all its buyers. From 10% going all the way up to 50% off. And the good news is that you can now make use of these discounts to buy the latest released ChessBase products. Few of the very important ones include Houdini 6 - the best chess engine out there, Correspondence Database 2018, Fritztrainer DVDs with repertoire against White's 1.e4 and 1.d4 and much more. You not only get a discount for your current purchase but also a coupon for the next one. Here are all the details.

Nagpur chess to the fore at National Sub Juniors 2017!

17/10/2017 -

National Sub Junior 2017 was dominated by Nagpur kids: Sankalp Gupta and Divya Deshmukh won it in the Open and Girls category respectively. Commonwealth Silver medalist Sankalp and Gold medalist in World under 12 girls Divya, both of them continued to show their terrific form as they overcame all odds in their quest for National title and a spot at the World Youth Olympiad. We will take a detailed look in the following report, full of pictures and annotated games by the champions and video interviews.

Bologan on the Pirc - A review

16/10/2017 -

Davide Nastasio, a club player from the US, used to believe that the Modern Pirc was not an opening which could be played by black for a win. But when he came across GM Bologan's DVD on the Modern Pirc, he was able to see the opening in a new light. He realised that if he clubbed the Pirc and the King's Indian, he could build for himself a sharp tactical repertoire with the black pieces. Below is his account of his experience with the DVD.

How a 2700+ player analyzes elite games

16/10/2017 -

Many people have the question: How does a 2700+ player work on chess? How does he practice? From our experience of interviewing top players we have realized that the main food for thought for these super GMs is analyzing the recent/ live games of their fellow elite grandmasters. But now we go a step further. We show you the way in which India number three Vidit Gujrathi analyzes these games. He sent us some very interesting analysis which we present before you and Vidit also has a rook endgame test for you to solve. High quality chess content. 

Chess Player's Mating Guide Vol 1: Learn some lethal smacks

15/10/2017 -

Pieces are tossed in like fuel to burning fire, a king’s pawn shelter ripped apart. One player sees bone-chilling nightmares; his opponent couldn’t hold his thumping heart. More pieces come marauding in, hacking off every defender. The king begins running for his life; in the end, it’s caught en prise. An aesthetic murder is engineered. It’s checkmate! For those romantics who crave for such excitement in their chess games, Robert Ris has selected examples from his professional coaching practice with the aim of helping them understand the method behind what seems madness. A review.

Why is Gukesh so special?

15/10/2017 -

When 11-year-old Gukesh made his maiden IM norm we received a mail from one of his past opponents - Aditya Samant from Pune. Aditya, who is as old (young!) as Gukesh, shared with us a game from 2015 where Gukesh had launched a powerful attack against his king which ended in a mate. He also added, "There are not too many games that you are happy after losing, but this was an exception." This just shows what great chess culture is developing in Indian chess. Sharing a loss with the world takes a lot of courage and we congratulate Aditya for showing great sportsman spirit and giving us further insights into the mind of one of India's best upcoming talents - D. Gukesh.

"My chances of winning another world title greater than zero"

14/10/2017 -

"I think my probability of winning another world title is greater than zero. There are an incredible number of strong players and to qualify for the Candidates, then there's Carlsen and I'm not getting any younger. So clearly my chances are going down, but I'll still try." This admission by Vishy Anand clearly shows that he is not ultra optimistic about his chances for another shot at the world title. However, with the Madras Tiger, you never really know. If there is anyone in the present day chess world who can win the world title at the age of 50 and beyond, it is only Vishy Anand. Interview by Susan Ninan for ESPN.

Beat the open King's Pawn Opening with Bc5!

13/10/2017 -

With king pawn openings like the Spanish and the Italian coming back in vogue at all levels, it is essential for players to have something in store against the open king-pawn. And what could be a better than opting for something that offers similar structures in various lines? When Davide Nastasio stumbled  upon GM Sam Collins' "Open Games with ...Bc5", he was frightened by the sheer size of the offered repertoire. But as he began digging into it, he realised that with the right "homework", he will have a formidable weapon against 1. e4 in his arsenal. Here are his impressions.

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