Daakshin Arun: The young Chennai lad who became the National Under-13 Champion

12/01/2023 -

Daakshin Arun is a prominent young talent from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, who has performed amazingly in several big tournaments at the young age of 13. However, there was one title missing from his trophy cabinet so far - the National Championship. This time, he has got it - Daakshin won the MPL 35th National Under-13 Open Chess Championships 2022! He scored an unbeaten 10/11 to clinch the trophy. We reached out to Daakshin for a short interview after his victory. Read the article to know about his career, his favorite games from the event, future tournaments and much more! Thumbnail: Aditya Sur Roy 

Arhan Anand's golden run in the Rilton Cup 2023

12/01/2023 -

In the prestigious Rilton Cup 2023, a lot of Indian players took part, the top seed being GM Krishnan Sasikiran. There were many talented Indian players who performed very well, but the one player who stole the show was Arhan Chethan Anand. The 14-year-old youngster had a live rating of 2174 when the event started, and he gained a total of 111 points in a very strong field! In this article, we try to take you through Arhan's performance in the Rilton Cup 2023, with his thoughts on his performance and a deeply annotated version of his final round victory over Swedish FM Eric Thorn (2397). Thumbnail: Lars OA Hedlund.

Abhijith triumphs at 2nd ISC Below 1700 Rating Tournament 2022

12/01/2023 -

Sixth seeded Abhijith U scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win 2nd ISC Below 1700 Rating Chess Tournament 2022. He finished a half point ahead of the field. Bright Lee M Sunilkumar scored sole 8/9 to secure second place. He also remained undefeated. Five players scored 7.5/9 each. Out of them, Abdallah M Nisthar was placed third according to tie-breaks. Total prize fund of the tournament was ₹499999. The top three prizes were ₹51000, ₹40000 and ₹30000 along with a trophy each. A total of 145 prizes were up for grabs. The tournament was organized by International School of Chess Pvt. Ltd. Photo: ISC Pvt. Ltd.

Vitaly Sivuk wins 7th Johor Open 2022, Harikrishnan third

12/01/2023 -

Both GM Vitaly Sivuk and GM Novendra Priasmoro scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 each. The former, Sivuk won 7th Johor Open 2022 due to better tie-breaks, Novendra was adjudged second. IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra scored sole 6.5/9 to finish third. The top three prizes were RM 8000, 5000 and 3000 in the Open section. Harikrishnan received approx. ₹56103. A total of 78 players including 7 GMs, 9 IMs and 2 WIMs took part from 16 countries across the world. The six-day nine-round Swiss League Rating tournament was organized by Johor Chess Association from 26th to 31st December 2022 at Fairview International School, Johor Bahru in Malaysia. Photos: Johor Chess official site

Sidhant Rana - the 7-year-old-boy who works on chess 10 hours a day

11/01/2023 -

Sidhant Rana lives in Faridabad. He is just 7 years old but has been the Haryana state champion in under-8, under-10 and under-12 age categories. He is also the current national schools under-7 champion and has now won the gold medal at the Asian schools under-7 in classical and rapid section. He also won the silver in blitz. There is no doubt that this boy is going to make the country proud on numerous occasions in the years to come. What is even more impressive is that the boy loves chess and practices more than 10 hours each day! It's amazing how he does it. Check out this article to know more about this young talent.

Khumukcham Sanjoy Singh dominates 7th Kurukshetra Rating Open 2022

11/01/2023 -

Second seeded Khumukcham Sanjoy Singh scored an unbeaten 8.5/10 to win 7th Kurukshetra Rating Open 2022. Three players - Soram Rahul Singh, Bhogen R K Singh and the top seed Y Dhanabir Singh scored 8/10 each. They were placed second to fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. Sanjoy defeated Soram and drew with Bhogen. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹280000. The top three prizes were ₹35000, ₹25000 and ₹18000 along with a trophy each. This is Sanjoy's first-ever tournament triumph. He has played only seven rating tournaments in his career before this victory. He finished second at the last event he played in 2021 at Nagaon. Photo: IA Arun Singh

Apply for the 4th Pursue your chess scholarship of Rs.1,25,000

11/01/2023 -

The longest standing chess scholarship of the HelpChess Foundation - Pursue your chess is back. It's the 4th continuous year of this scholarship and each year the person behind it - Ashwin Subramanian, has increased its amount by Rs.25,000. The scholarship amount for this year has reached Rs.1,25,000 per year. The scholarship will start from the 1st of February 2023 and the last date to apply for it is 25th of January 2023. In this article you get to know about the first three scholarships, who won them, how has been their progress, how to apply for this years scholarship and you also get more information about Ashwin Subramanian, who has always been quietly working behind the scenes powering chess in India.

Novendra Priasmoro wins 14th Penang Heritage City Open 2022, Muthaiah third

11/01/2023 -

Both GM Novendra Priasmoro and GM Vitaly Sivuk scored 7.5/9 each. The Indonesian GM Novendra won 14th Penang Heritage City Open 2022 due to better tie-breaks, Sivuk had to settle for the second place. Four players scored sole 6.5/9 each. Out of them, IM FT Muthaiah Al was adjudged third. Novendra and Muthaiah are the only two to remain undefeated among top ten players. The top three prizes were RM 8000, 5000 and 3000 in the Open section. Muthaiah received approx. ₹56103. IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra and Hemanth Raam scored 6/9 each to secure seventh and ninth place respectively. Photos: Andrew Ooi or Muhd Arshad, unless stated otherwise

Playing the Olympiad in 36th week of pregnancy - Harika Dronavalli

10/01/2023 -

Harika Dronavalli is an absolute inspiration to women all across India and the world. She played a high pressure tournament like the Olympiad in her 9th month of pregnancy. She was 36 weeks pregnant. It's amazing how she managed to keep her cool, not lose a single of the 7 games she played and win a bronze medal for the country. How did she do it? In this detailed video she talks about the highs and lows, the detailed preparation needed, the family support, the support from the near ones as well as the trainers, team mates and federation. It was not at all an easy feat! There are women who are unable to sustain the mental and physical pain at this advanced level of pregnancy, and here was Harika, crushing it at the chess board! How did she do it? Read her story below. Thumbnail: Abhyudaya Ram.

16-year-old Pranesh M becomes India's 79th Grandmaster

10/01/2023 -

IM Pranesh M became India's 79th Grandmaster on 5th January 2023. He defeated GM Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (NOR) in the final round to cross 2500 in the live ratings. The win also earned him the first place at Rilton Cup 2022-23. The teenager scored his first GM-norm at 18th Delhi GM Open 2020. Then Covid-19 pandemic delayed his chances to score the next two norms. He scored his second GM-norm at 8th Sunway Sitges Open 2021 and the final norm was earned at Asian Continental 2022. He scored all his norms in strong Open events and delivered stellar performances. The teenager became the first GM from Karaikudi and 28th from his state Tamil Nadu. He has won a huge amount of accolades throughout his nascent career, including a Gold and Bronze at the last Commonwealth Chess Championships 2022. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Chesspa's journey to Indore!

10/01/2023 -

Those of you who follow ChessBase India regularly, have definitely heard of "Chesspa in Chess Adventure Park." This is a passion project of Amruta Mokal, the COO of ChessBase India. She teamed up with Ketaki Kulkarni and Sagar Shah and together they created a book that is a very unique offering for young kids to learn the game of chess in a fun and interactive way. I took a few copies of the book while travelling to Indore for covering the MPL 35th National Under-9 Championships, intending to promote the book and spread awareness about this project! I'll try to write about my experience with the book itself below, and what people had to say. Photo: Himank Ghosh

Aman Balana wins Winter Cup Below 1600 Rating Lakecity Tournament 2022

10/01/2023 -

16-year-old Aman Balana and 13-year-old Lakshmi Charan Naidu G scored an unbeaten 8/9 each. Rajasthan's very own Aman won Winter Cup Below 1600 Rating Lakecity Tournament 2022 due to better tie-breaks. Lakshmi (AP) was second overall. However, he won the first prize in Rating category 1200-1399. Their penultimate round encounter against each other ended in a draw. Five players scored 7.5/9 each. Out of them, Raj Prakhar (HAR) secured the third place overall. Raj and Manan Goyal (HAR) were awarded second and third prize in the Open category. Total prize fund of the tournament was ₹1500000. The top three prizes were ₹111000, ₹71000 and ₹41000 along with a trophy each. A total of 173 prizes and three prizes above ₹100000 were up for grabs. The tournament was organized in memory of Advocate Late Prem Chand Mogra. Photo: IA Vikas Sahu/Chess in Lakecity

Madhavendra and Pratitee become the National Under-9 Champions 2022

09/01/2023 -

An exciting final round of the MPL 35th National Under-9 Championships 2022 decided the winners. The U-9 National Champions of 2022 are Pratitee Bordoloi and Madhavendra Pratap Sharma! While this was Pratitee's first big success, Madhavendra actually continued his golden run - first winning 3 Gold medals in the Asian Youth Chess Championships 2022, and now becoming the National Under-9 Champion. A grandiose Prize Distribution ceremony took place to conclude the event and hand the participants their prizes. The total prize fund of the tournament was Rs. 5,00,000! Both the champions received Rs. 50,000 each, along with a huge trophy, medal and certificates. All of the participants received participation certificates and medals! Thumbnail: Himank Ghosh

Mayank Chakraborty wins 20th North East India Chess Championship 2022

09/01/2023 -

Both CM Mayank Chakraborty and Rahul Gurung scored an unbeaten 8/9 each. However, Mayank won 20th North East India Chess Championship 2022 due to better tie-breaks, Rohit was adjudged second. Tamang Thendup scored sole 7.5/9 to finish third. He also remained undefeated. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹300000. The top three prizes were ₹50000, ₹30000 and ₹20000 along with a trophy each. Mayank finished the year with a dozen tournament triumphs in his bag, five of them were rated events, including 32nd National Under-17 Open. He is currently the Assam triple crown champion (Classical, Rapid and Blitz). Photo: FA Ravi Kant Tiwari

New: ChessBase Magazine #211

09/01/2023 -

Bundesliga season 22/23: Stars up close - Eljanov, Van Wely, McShane, Jones, Kasimdzhanov, Cheparinov, Meier and many others comment on games from the first rounds - "Special" on Mikhail Tal: exclusive collection of 21 commented games + contributions on strategy and endgame - "The Scotch Gambit": Daniel King presents another gambit idea: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5. 0-0 (video) - "How to deal with opening surprises": Jan Markos continues his training series for tournament players (video + collection of exercises) - "Jumping across the centre line":over 50 tactics exercises + three selected combinations in video format with Oliver Reeh - Endgame good, all good: Karsten Mueller's new video series "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" (Part 1: Rook vs. Pawn) – King’s Gambit: Take it easy! Sergey Grigoriants promotes 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Ne7!? - Gambit time in the French Advance Variation: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.0-0!? and much more.