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An overview of Indian performances at the World Rapid 2019

29/12/2019 -

The Indian contingent failed to win any medals in the open section of the World Rapid Championship but that said many of the performances did reflect the bright hopes that the country has in the game of chess. Even though the highest rated Indian Vidit Gujrathi failed to make an impression, many of the other players, including the three talented youngsters Gukesh D, Nihal Sarin, and Raunak Sadhwani, impressively pulled off 2600+ performances. And among the more experienced players Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Adhiban Baskaran too performed commendably well. In this article we bring you a brief overview.  

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The inspiring return of Koneru Humpy

29/12/2019 -

Koneru Humpy gifted the chess community of India a huge honour yesterday by becoming the Women World Rapid Champion. The 32-year-old played some phenomenal bit of chess to score 9.0/12 and was tied for the top place along with Lei Tingjie of China and Ekaterina Atalik of Turkey. However, based on the tiebreak Koneru and Lei advanced to a play-off for the first position. The Indian and Chinese both exchanged blows in what turned out to be quite a dramatic play-off but ultimately it was the ever hungry Humpy who came out on the top. We bring you a detailed, illustrated report along with a revealing interview of the champion.

Magnus Carlsen is the World Rapid Champion

29/12/2019 -

Magnus Carlsen is now not just the Classical World Champion, but also the Rapid World Champion! He played sublime chess, gaining 14 Elo points, reaching 2900 on the Elo scale to win the title one point ahead of his nearest rivals. Silver medal was won unexpectedly by Alireza Firouzja who scored 4.5/5 on the last day and Nakamura settled for the bronze. In this illustrated article we look into Magnus's most crucial wins from the second day of the event and also bring you photos along with the interview of the World Champion.

World Rapid 2019 Day two: Harika and Humpy in with chance for a medal

28/12/2019 -

After playing eight rounds in the women section of the ongoing World Rapid 2019 Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli have still kept the country's medal hopes alive. Both of them have scored 6.5/8 points each so far and are just half a point behind the leaders Irina Bulmaga, Tan Zhongyi, Lei Tingjie, and Mariya Muzychuk. In the open group Adhiban Baskaran has the highest score among the Indians; while players like Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani are stealing the show by holding their own against experienced higher-rated opposition. We bring you a quick express report.

Can Venkatesh win Bhopal GM Open 2019?

28/12/2019 -

Bhopal International GM Open 2019 has arrived at its final stage. Everybody is eager to know who will win the tournament. It is difficult to say who will win it, because after the conclusion of round 9, four players are in the lead with a score of 7.5/9 and they are - Nodirbek Yakubboev, Venkatesh M R, Nguyen Van Huy and Attila Czebe. A draw in each of the top two boards will open the tournament wide to the eight players who are just trailing behind the leaders by a half point at 7.0/9. Entire nation will have eyes on the final round to find out whether this time an Indian will win the trophy or not. If Venkatesh scores a victory over Yakubboev, then it is highly likely that he will become champion. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Ravi on the rise - Ravi Teja S on his performance at the Indian Championship 2019

28/12/2019 -

The National Senior Championship 2019 turned out to be a splendid event for Ravi Teja S. The 26-year-old employee of the Indian Railways went to play the tournament in Sikkim with his wife WFM Anusha NLV and came ahead of many strong Grandmasters of the country. He defeated players like Lalith Babu MR and Sandipan Chanda to clinch the third spot just behind Aravindh Chithambaram and Akash G. So how did Ravi do it? In a candid interview with ChessBase India, he speaks at length about his games, his mindset during the rounds, and much more.

Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram steal the show on day one of the World Rapid 2019

27/12/2019 -

The first day of the World Rapid Championships 2019 proved to be quite a successful one for Indian players. Nihal Sarin showed his class as he outwitted three strong grandmasters and with a performance rating of 2758, is gaining 56 Elo points. The only other Indian to have performed better than him on day one was Aravindh Chithambaram, the reigning national champion of India who managed to not only beat Boris Gelfand, but also Alonso Alvar, and Bartosz Socko. Aravindh has an Elo performance of 2800+! In the women's section, we have only two players taking part - Humpy and Harika, but both of them have played extremely well and are on 3.5/4, a half a point behind the leaders. We bring you an illustrated report from day one of the event taking place in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow!

Bhopal GM Open 2019 Round 8: Yakubboev maintains his sole lead

27/12/2019 -

Bhopal International GM Open 2019 has entered into its final stage. Top seed GM Nodirbek Yakubboev has taken sole lead with a score of 7.0/8, India's highest rated player in the event, GM Venkatesh M R is just behind the leader at 6.5/8 along with nine other players who are also at the same score. It is going to be a close contest since so many players are closing in on the leader. IM Nguyen Van Huy showed fantastic opening preparation and gave no chances to Yakubboev. All top four boards ended up in draws. Only Venkatesh scored a victory among the top five boards. Read round 8 report by Niklesh Jain from the venue. Photo: Niklesh Jain

The World Rapid and Blitz 2019 begins with a colourful opening ceremony at the Russian Chess Museum

26/12/2019 -

The King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2019 is here! It is one of the most exciting events of the year with the participation of almost all of the top players in the world including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen will be looking to win the title in both rapid and blitz and make it a triple crown for himself! The opening ceremony was held on the 25th of December at the Russian Chess Museum on the Gogolevsky Boulevard in Moscow. IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal were present at the venue and bring you some of the first-hand impressions from the place. We also have some very interesting interviews with Carlsen, Wang Hao, Sara Khadem, Anton Korobov and Peter Leko.

Bhopal GM Open 2019: Yakubboev beats Bogdanovich in just 18 moves

26/12/2019 -

Top seed of the tournament GM Nodirbek Yakubboev defeated overnight sole leader GM Stanislav Bogdanovich in just 18 moves to take sole lead at the conclusion of round 7 in Central India's biggest tournament Bhopal GM Open 2019. It will be interesting to see if Yakubboev will be able to maintain his lead in the last three rounds of the tournament. Among other matches, Colombia's Cristhian Rios saved his game from a difficult situation against Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev and managed to salvage a draw. Indian GM Venkatesh M R was held to a draw by Slovakian GM Manik Mikulas. Only three rounds left in the tournament and everyday one round will be played. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Young siblings organize DCA-Samvedna Open

26/12/2019 -

In chess young kids are breaking various records every now and then over-the-board. However, two siblings from Delhi, Bhavik and Bhushita Ahuja who are twelve and fifteen-years-old respectively formed Samvedna which has organized a Rapid, Blitz, Bughouse, Academy quiz and Tactis fight on 14th and 15th December at Banyan Tree School in Delhi. Over 130 players participated in all the events from various schools across NCR. Santu Mondal and Saksham Rautela won the Rapid and Blitz event, Saksham and Bhushita won the Bughouse, Champions Chess Academy won the Academy quiz and Sandeep Chitkara won the Tactics fight. The young siblings formed Samvedna to spread chess across various basti (locality) all over Delhi. Photo: Team Samvedna 

Vishy's December #14: From Soup of the Day to Mango Lassi

25/12/2019 -

Vishy Anand was asked by Tania Sachdev at the Tata Steel Chess India 2019 - if you are stranded on an island and you have to choose one of the participants of the Grand Chess Tour to spend your time with, who would it be? Vishy smiled and in a flash said, "Anish Giri!" Vishy and Giri share a special bond with each other. While Anand was the World Champion, Anish was one of the rising talents in the world of chess. Giri used to admire Anand and learnt from his games. Over the years, this admiration hasn't diminished. In fact a new dimension of friendship has been added to their relationship. This #14 edition of Vishy's December is Anish Giri's dedication to one of the greatest champions that the game of chess has ever seen.

My first chess book - GM K. Priyadharshan

25/12/2019 -

When you see an article entitled, my first chess book, you almost always assume, it is the first chess book that the author has read. However, in this case, we have a person who is talking about not the first book he has read, but the first one he has written! GM K. Priyadharshan is India's 44th GM and recently he wrote his first chess book. It is for the Thinkers Publishing. The book will be available soon in the ChessBase India shop. However, we wanted to know more about what the book contains. After all not many Indian players have gone on to write books for well known publishers. In this article, the author K. Priyadharshan speaks about his motivation of writing the book, what it contains and what a buyer can expect from it. 

Bhopal GM Open 2019: Bogdanovich takes sole lead, Shivansh impresses

25/12/2019 -

GM Stanislav Bogdanovich of Ukraine took a sole lead with six consecutive wins after round 6 of Bhopal International GM Open 2019, the biggest international tournament of Central India and now he will face Uzbekistan's top seed Nodirbek Yakubboev in round 7. This match can prove to be extremely decisive. The defeat of Venkatesh M R in the sixth round was a setback for India. 17-year-old Shivansh Tiwari emerged as the new sensation of Madhya Pradesh. In the last three rounds he scored some upset victories and is currently at 5.0/6 points. Currently he has topped the state's players. Bhopal International GM Open will have a Blitz tournament today. Report of rounds 4, 5 and 6. Photo: Niklesh Jain

632 players participate in Lakecity Winter Below 1600

24/12/2019 -

Satyam Prakash of Delhi scored 7.5/9, remained unbeaten to win Lakecity Winter Below 1600. He got richer by ₹111000. Sanjib Mali of West Bengal drew with the eventual champion in the final round and finished with the same score 7.5/9. However due to a lower tie-break score, he had to settle for the runner-up place. He won ₹71000. 14-year-old Sailesh R of Tamil Nadu scored 7.0/9 and he was placed third. He took home ₹40000. The three-day eight round Swiss league event witnessed a mammoth participation of 632 players from all over the country along with a player from USA. A pictorial report of the tournament. Photo: IA Swapnil Bansod

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