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Talk of the Universe: Ganguly in conversation with Harikrishna

15/07/2020 -

Surya Sekhar Ganguly's youtube channel is on a roll. After having Anand and Aronian, the next guest was his childhood friend Pentala Harikrishna. Days before Harikrishna started for Biel Masters, he appeared on his friend's channel, taking a trip down memory lane and also discussing some of his brilliant games as well as his endgame prowess. We all know the super strong Harikrishna who has an endurance for the endgame. How did it develop? How did his journey begin? All those questions and many more are answered in this two-part episode where Hari's better half Nadezda Stojanovic joins Harikrishna in the second part. This two-part interview of two of the strongest Indian chess player who are friends for over two decades is definitely a must-see. Photo: Surya's youtube channel.

ChessBase 18 and Mega 2025 are here

ChessBase 18 is an all-new program that helps you manage all your databases as an ambitious player. Mega Database 2025 has 11 million games with over 113,000 games annotated by masters. The cost of ChessBase 18 is Rs.4499/- and the cost of Mega Database 2025 is Rs.6499/- However, if you go for the combo the total amount comes to Rs.8999 (instead of 10,998/-) helping you save Rs. 1999/-.

ChessBase 18 + Mega 2025 Combo

Hou Yifan becomes the youngest full professor of Shenzhen University

14/07/2020 -

It is well-known that chess players are generally good in studies. It is extremely difficult to become a strong chess player if you don't like to study, be it books or digital materials. Of course there are exceptions too. The youngest Women's World Champion ever and also the youngest female chess player in history to become a grandmaster made another record. On 10th July, Hou Yifan was inducted as a full professor in the Shenzhen University. She will be the professor of the School of Physical Education at the university. She hopes to promote the combination of sports and education, explore chess in education and the hidden value of it. Photo: mp.weixin.qq.com

Aravindh wins Letsup MCA GP Blitz 5

13/07/2020 -

Reigning National Triple Crown champion GM Aravindh Chithambaram scored 8.5/10 to win Letsup MCA GP Blitz 5. This is his first ever championship held by ChessBase India on Playchess. IM Terry Renato of Peru finished second with 8.0/10, followed by World no.1 in Under-16 GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan finishing third with 7.5/10. GM Vaibhav Suri won the entire GP with a score of 31/40. He was consistent throughout the GP. Abdusattorov secured second position with 28/40, followed by GM Vugar Rasulov of Azerbaijan at third position with 26/40. Photo: This concludes Letsup MCA Grand Prix. Amruta Mokal

Think and decide

12/07/2020 -

India's 31st GM Shyamsundar M launched his website on 30th May 2020. The site is rich of various content, one of the main features of the site is 'blog' where Shyamsundar himself explains various chess themes with illustrative games and diagrams. Shyamsundar is an accomplished player and a successful trainer. He has been a second to the Indian Men's team in Batumi Olympiad 2018 and also one of the seconds for Women's World Championship 2018 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In his first blog post, Shyamsundar talks about Sticking to our playing style in the critical moments of the game by showing an example of Kasparov's game with fantastic explanation along with an example from his own game too. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Late M D Bhagwat Memorial Chess960 Online Blitz Open with ₹50000 prize fund

11/07/2020 -

Buddhibal Kreeda Trust (BKT) under the mentorship of Prakash Kunte (father of GM Abhijit Kunte and WIM Mrunalini Kunte) has organized over 150 tournaments. After having two successful online events since April, they are be back and this time with a bigger prize fund of ₹50000. The tournament is organized in memory of Late IA Moreshwar Bhagwat. This will be their second consecutive Fischer Random (Chess960) tournament having the first prize of ₹12000. With rating category prizes and prizes for women, it's a tournament you cannot afford to miss. It will take place on Saturday 18th of July at 8 p.m. IST in Chess960 Tournaments under Thematic Chess room on Playchess. Entry is FREE for GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. For everyone else Entry fee is ₹350. 50% of the entry fee will go to PM Cares fund. Registration is on. Photo: Maharashtra Chess League

Oh wait...This Toolbox is from London!

11/07/2020 -

Learning a new opening is an art that requires a lot of effort. First of all, you must like the opening! Second, you should have the time and patience to methodically update your files and remember the analysis. Most importantly, you must be able to understand the typical patterns that can occur in specific lines, and what tactical shots you can use in positions. For the London System, Simon Williams has taken up the mantle to provide an aggressive but sound repertoire for White. Here's a review of the Tactics Toolbox on the London System. Tanmay Srinath tries to find out what the Tactic Toolbox consists of.

Raunak Sadhwani beats Fabiano Caruana

10/07/2020 -

Due to Covid-19 pandemic all over-the-board tournaments have either been cancelled or postponed. However Chess is such a sport that can still be played online without huge modifications, in fact slim to none would be the right thing to say. Thanks to various online platforms, players from all over the world can now play against the stronger opponents from the comfort of their home. Since most of the top players are not taking part in any over-the-board tournaments, they are often seen in various Titled Tournament events. Raunak made the most of the opportunity and beat the former World Championship Challenger Fabiano Caruana. That's not all, he had a winning position against Anish Giri.

FIDE WSCC GP3: Humpy and Harika eliminated

10/07/2020 -

Humpy and Harika's fantastic start in the third leg of FIDE chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship was halted by former Women's World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan respectively. Humpy lost to Kosteniuk by 9-2, scoring only one victory and two losses, although Humpy had quite a few chances, she just needed to convert them. Harika lost to Hou Yifan by 7-3, registering two victories and two losses. Transitioning from over-the-board to online chess can prove to be challenging, moreover when all games are Speed Chess - Blitz and Bullet only. They will be back in action in the fourth and final leg of the event which starts on 15th July. Photo: FIDE

Amphan Cyclone Fundraiser Blitz, Simul and Live Stream raises ₹58193

09/07/2020 -

On 20th and 21st June 2020 few senior titled players of West Bengal played Blitz and Simultaneous Exhibition matches, exactly a month after Amphan Cyclone devastated majority of West Bengal to raise funds for the noble cause. Players from Indian, Chile, Germany and USA took part in the event and few other players from various countries across the world contributed to the relief fund through CRY - Child Rights and You. ChessBase India always try to bring the entire chess community together and make sure that our valuable time, effort and money is contributed to those who are in need the most. We thank all the players and donors who contributed and made this event a big success.

FIDE WSCC: Humpy and Harika rush towards Quarter-Finals

09/07/2020 -

Both Humpy and Harika made a fantastic start at the third leg of FIDE chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship. While reigning Women's World Rapid champion Humpy defeated WGM Vaishali 7-3, Harika outplayed her opponent WGM Tatev Abrahamyan by 11.5-2.5. They both will have strong opponents in the Quarter-Finals in the form of former Women's World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan respectively. Quarter-Final games will start today from 6 p.m. IST. What do you think the result will be today? This was the last event in the GP for Vaishali as each player gets to play three out of four legs. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Checkmate - A Fictional Thriller by Nihshanka Debroy

08/07/2020 -

Chess is the only sport in the history of mankind which has hundreds of thousands books written on it. While most of them are based on theory, psychological and practical aspect of the game, it is safe to say that the amount of fiction written about the game is comparatively less. Meet Nihshanka Debroy, an Indian born author currently residing near Atlanta, Georgia launched a fictional take on the origin of the game with two parallel storylines. Sounds interesting right? Well the book is out now on Amazon India in Paperback, Audio book and Kindle format. Curious to know about the author? Well we have asked a few questions to the author to find out more about him. Photo: Amazon India and Nihshanka

Chess Enlightenment with Surya Shekhar Ganguly

08/07/2020 -

The advent of COVid has pushed us into the comfort of our homes. While other sports struggle to stay relevant, chess has become more popular than ever! The top players in the world have also reinvented themselves, turning to writing books and streaming. Recently, a great champion has been giving back to the game that he loves most dearly. He is the Bengal Tiger Surya Shekhar Ganguly, 6 time National Champion and Anand's second. Surya's YouTube Channel, Surya Chess Talk, started around 2 weeks ago, has grown from strength to strength, with content as diverse as In Conversation with, where he speaks with the absolute chess elite like Anand and Aronian on various topics, and Fun Learning and Unlearning, where Surya speaks in depth about some of the finer aspects of how one thinks during a chess game. Tanmay Srinath takes you through his mesmerizing learning experience with one of India's greatest champions! 

Talk of the Universe: Ganguly in conversation with Aronian

07/07/2020 -

After completing a four-part series with Vishy Anand, Arjuna Awardee and six-time consecutive National Champion GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly continued his series 'In Conversation with' none other than the two-time World Cup winner and Armenia no.1 Levon Aronian. In the episode Surya jokes about refusing a draw offer in the final round of World Rapid 2019 and regretting about it. But that was not the first time they were across a chess board, so where did they first meet each other? How versatile Aronian is, not only on the chess board but also outside of it, find out never-before-seen or heard stories of 'The Armenian Lion' when he showed up in a two-part miniseries on Surya's youtube channel.

₹30000 Online Blitz Open with no entry fee by Y V K Chakravarthy in collaboration with KCA

07/07/2020 -

Y V K Chakravarthy in collaboration with Kings' Chess Academy - Hyderabad presents 1st Leelavathi Memorial Online Blitz Open on 11th July at 8 p.m. IST. The Total Prize fund is ₹30000 including the first prize of ₹10000. The best thing about this tournament is entry is FREE. That's right, irrespective of your title, rating or location, you don't have to pay anything to take part in this tournament. So what's the catch? The catch is simple all interested players must register by filling up the form. That's it. Entry will not be accepted by any other means. When is the last date? Anytime which means as soon as we reach 500 registrations, entry will close. So hurry up, register first and think later. Photo: Kings' Chess Academy

Rest in Peace Ennio Morricone 1928-2020

06/07/2020 -

Every once in a while, we find a composer whose work transcends time. Ennio Morricone comes at the top of the list among the modern day music composers. On 6th July 2020, legendary Italian music composer, Ennio Morricone passed away. He was very fond of chess and played a couple of games with the strongest female chess player of all time Judit Polgar in 2004. In 2006 Turin Olympiad, he composed the theme of the Olympiad. At the same year he won an honorary Oscar Award. Ten years later in 2016, he won his first Oscar Award for The Hateful Eight in Best Original Score category. Let's take a look at life and work of Ennio Morricone in our heartfelt eulogy. Photo: Ian Rogers

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