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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

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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

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 4: Mayank Chakraborty gets his first victory

07/02/2026 -

The fourth round of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 was played on 6th January in Chennai. In round four of the event, it was an all-Indian clash where all six International Masters from India played against each other, we saw three decisive results where Mayank Chakraborty scored his first win of the event against Ethan Vaz, Audi Ameya scored an important victory over Harsh Suresh, and in the last decisive game it was Aronyak Ghosh who won his game against Akshay Borgaonkar to secure his second win of the event. The other two games ended in a quick draw. The 5th round starts on 7th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Queen of Chess: A Documentary on Judit Polgar releases today on Netflix

06/02/2026 -

You all remember "The Queen's Gambit," the Netflix series telling the story of the (fictional) chess prodigy Beth Harmon. It quickly became the platform’s most-watched miniseries. Now Netflix is doing it again, but this time it's about the (real-life) strongest female chess player ever: Judit Polgar. She started as a child prodigy and went on to break records against the world’s top male players. Her fearless spirit made her a legend. Judit fought skepticism and sexism at every step of her journey. By taking on the greatest champions of her time, including Garry Kasparov, she earned her place among chess’s all-time greats. The documentary will be released on Netflix today. To get you in the mood, Frederic Friedel describes his encounters with Judit over the last forty years. Photo: Netflix

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 3: Ethan Vaz scores another win

05/02/2026 -

In the third round of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026, we saw two decisive results. In an Indian clash, Ethan Vaz played a brilliant game to win against Aronyak Ghosh with the white pieces. In another decisive game, Alisher Suleymenov won his second game of the event against French Grandmaster Girel Joseph. All other games ended in a peace where Harsh Suresh held a draw against Delgado Ramirez Neuris, Akshay Borgaonkar and Ameya Audi played a draw in 32 moves, and Boyer Mahel vs Mayank Chakraborty also ended in a draw. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Shreyas Ghadi wins 30th RCC Rapid Rating Cup 2026

05/02/2026 -

Shreyas Ghadi from Maharashtra wins the 30th RCC International Fide Rated Rapid Cup with 8/9 points and a half-point lead over the field. This is Shreyas's first rapid-rated tournament victory of the year. For second place, it was a tie among three players on 7.5/9 points, but Nirmal L of Tamil Nadu secured second place because of his better tiebreaks, while Dhanush Ram M of Karnataka secured third place. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹1,00,000. The top three prizes were ₹ 15,000, ₹ 10,000, and ₹ 7,000, along with a trophy each. The one-day nine-round Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Ballary Kalyana Mantapa, Ranebennur, Haveri District, Karnataka on 18th January 2026. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

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