CANDIDATES SALE IS LIVE

Use code: CANDIDATES to get 20% off on popular products

Shop now!

new books banner

Vidit Gujrathi versus the comedians!

15/04/2020 -

Stand up comedy has become very popular in India recently. There are many artists who have millions of followers as they have their audience in splits with their wittiness and comic timing. But in the lockdown, they do not have many shows to be done. So how do they spend their time? Well turns out that the comedians have taken up chess and developed quite an interesting format. Samay Raina runs a YouTube channel and invites some of his friends to be on his team as they consult on the moves and play against well-known chess personalities. On 14th of April it was India no.2 Vidit Gujrathi who took them on. Read on to find out what happened! 

NEW LAUNCH

CHESSBASE '26 + MEGA DATABASE '26

The industry standard new combo is here to help you uplift your Chess!

ChessBase '26 + MEGA DATABASE '26 Shop Now

Kidambi remembers Cuban genius Capablanca

14/04/2020 -

Every chess player has their own unique style of preparing, some like to study classics, some follow latest updates, while most of us these rely heavily on engine. However, there is one common thread between most of the top elite level players of the world - they have all studied the classics. You can pick any World Champion you want and chances are you won't go wrong. Kidambi decided to decode Capablanca's brilliance and showcased it with few structural and positional decisions at a critical juncture in middlegame as well as endgame. He posed an important question - if the best of the best learned and got inspired by the studying the classics, why can't we do the same? Photo: klimbim2014 wordpress

The best games of Garry Kasparov's chess career

13/04/2020 -

On 13th of April 2020 Garry Kasparov celebrated his 57th birthday. We found it to be an appropriate day to get you acquainted in a more intimate manner with one of the greatest champions that chess has ever seen. A chess player is known by the games he plays and hence in this article IM Sagar Shah along with the readers of ChessBase India dig into the games of Garry Kasparov. After looking at the 17 games that have been shared here, you are bound to become a bigger fan of the Beast from Baku. From his win against Elmar Magerramov in 1977 to Veselin Topalov in 1999, Kasparov's chess career is over two decades of pure chess excellence.

Review - Mind Master Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life

12/04/2020 -

Mind Master - Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life was one of the most awaited autobiographies both in chess and sports universe. Obviously it didn't disappoint anyone. In fact, it only went above and beyond the expectations of most of the people. The maestro did not hold back on sharing some of the most private, candid, personal moments of his life. This is one of those books which you do not want to finish early, you want to savour every essence of it and then reminisce the pleasant as well as some unpleasant memories to treasure all the highs and lows the seven-time World Champion Vishy Anand went through in his life. A spoiler-free review of the book. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Daniel King writes a book on India's first great chess player - Sultan Khan

12/04/2020 -

Who is the first great chess player that India has seen? Is it Vishy Anand? Well, he is definitely the greatest ever, but he wasn't the first one to cross swords against the best in the world. Was it the first IM of India Manuel Aaron, or the first official national champion of India R.B. Sapre. Turns out these players come much later in time. In 1905 was born a soft spoken, unassuming Sultan Khan in Punjab. 23 years later he became the national champion of India. He went on to win the British Championships three times and scored wins over great players like Capablanca, Tartakower, Flohr and many others. He is not just the first great chess player to come out of India, but entire Asia. GM Daniel King has written a 384 page book on this genius and in this article we ask Daniel about the book, his impressions of Sultan Khan and more.

Lucena in Lockdown #3: IM Raahil Mullick

11/04/2020 -

12-year-old IM Raahil Mullick has mostly been on a uniformly positive rating change, and keeps improving by every tournament that finishes. Now, as lockdown approached, you may have expected a break, but Raahil continues to strive every day, giving it his all and pushing through it all! A very serious dedication and determination to keep going and improve at the game has kept Raahil preoccupied over the last month. The routine he follows is fascinating, and in this edition of Lucena in Lockdown, we take a look at an ideal daily routine - for chess players! Also, stick around for some wise words by Rupali, Raahil's mother, on what a chess player needs a lot of these days.

Test your calculation with Nihal Sarin

11/04/2020 -

Some time ago Nihal Sarin had shared a very interesting position on his social media handles. He was playing a practice blitz game against an unknown opponent. This time it was not an online blitz, but an over the board encounter. After the game ended, he brought back the position to a critical moment and asked his opponent, did you see the complications after Qg6+? What do you think is happening? Nihal and his opponent analyzed the position for quite some time and were naturally enamoured with the variations. Was the move winning? Or was it losing? Or was it just a draw? Well, we will leave it up to you to work out the details.

Aravindh, Narayanan and Gukesh are the top seeds in 4th Saturday Online Blitz Open 2020

10/04/2020 -

The 4th edition of Saturday Online Blitz Tournament Open will take place this Saturday 11th April 2020. So far we have 12 GMs, 22 IMs, 3 WGMs and 5 WIMs confirming their participation among 242 registered players from India, Bangladesh, Colombia, England, France, Romania, Singapore, USA and Uzbekistan. Currently GM Diptayan Ghosh leads the Circuit standings with 28 points after a hat-trick of second place finish, he finally won the 3rd Saturday Online Blitz Open. Praggnanandhaa is trailing behind by 12 points at second place with 16 points followed by IM Aronyak Ghosh at 15 points. Photo: Various sources

New: Opening Encyclopaedia 2020

10/04/2020 -

The new Opening Encyclopaedia 2020 is ideal for your opening training. Whether you want to build a solid opening repertoire or whether you are looking for new ideas for your repertoire: A huge pool of opening ideas and high-quality analyses is waiting for you. The Opening Encyclopadia 2020 includes all (!) opening overviews of the ChessBase Magazines from previous years, as well as more than 6,800 opening surveys with more than 38,000 illustrative games. Plus 40 videos with a total runtime of 14 hours. So what are you waiting for? It's time to increase your opening knowledge. Photo: ChessBase

Rs. 2,43,243 raised at the "Let's fight Corona Together" online blitz

10/04/2020 -

A total of 17 GMs and over 180 players took part in the "Let's fight Corona together" Fundraiser online blitz organized by ChessBase India on 9th of April 2020. India no.2 Vidit Gujrathi was the top seed. GM Nihal Sarin, GM Aravindh Chithambaram and GM Vidit Gujrathi ended at the top with 8.0/9, with the speed king Nihal taking the top spot on tiebreaks. The main aim of the event was to raise money for the PM CARES fund and we were successful in collecting Rs.2,43,243. GM Vidit Gujrathi not only played but also did live streaming of his games and his efforts resulted in a collection of Rs.37,028 in under two hours. ChessBase India thanks each of the contributors and participants for making it such a grand event.

Lucena in Lockdown #2: IM Leon Mendonca

09/04/2020 -

We return with another edition of Lucena in Lockdown, the series where we look at the lives of the juniors under lockdown! Today, we will be looking at the daily life of Leon Mendonca. For those of you who aren't aware, Leon and his father are currently in Budapest and were unable to leave in time for India before the lockdown was announced! It can be very sad to be so far and away from family in this time, but read on to see how Leon spends his time, preparing chess, studying, and listening to his favourite music! Also read on for some wonderful words of wisdom from Lyndon Mendonca, on how perspectives matter a lot in the way we look at the world.

Announcing the Buddhibal Kreeda Trust online blitz on 14th of April 2020

08/04/2020 -

It's a trust that has worked selflessly to promote chess in Maharashtra and India since the last 22 years. Buddhibal Kreeda Trust (BKT) under the mentorship of Prakash Kunte (father of GM Abhijit Kunte and WIM Mrunalini Kunte) has organized over 150 tournaments. So when the chess world is hit by the Corona virus and all tournaments are cancelled, what does BKT do? Of course, it does what is the best for the players and organizes an online event! With a prize fund of Rs.30,000, first prize of Rs.10,000 and special rating category prizes as well as veteran prizes, it's a tournament you cannot afford to miss. It will be held on 14th of April at 8 p.m. IST.

Indian chess community comes together to fight the Corona virus, raises Rs.1,68,000 in 72 hours

08/04/2020 -

We still have close to 24 hours to go for the "Let's Fight Corona Together" online blitz. Three days after the tournament was announced we have managed to raise over Rs.1,25,000 thanks to the benevolence of several Indian grandmasters, International Masters and strong players. All the amount will be donated to the PM CARES fund to fight this disaster. The online blitz tournament will be held on 9th of April 2020 and you too can be a part of the same. This endeavour shows how powerful the chess community is when it comes together. Gens Una Sumus - we are one family!

Listen to the 64 squares

07/04/2020 -

A chess player's prime struggle during a game lies in the constant bid to grasp at and manipulate the two fundamental elements governing geometry and dynamics on the chessboard, namely space and time. Yet these two ideas are not typical just to chess: reality itself that we perceive all around us with our five senses is intimately woven into the fabric of space-time. In this eloquently written article, the author Srikanth Govindaseshan, makes some unlikely connections and delves into the mystical and scientific conceptions of space-time closely in relation to the game of chess. Here, dear readers, is a real opportunity to broaden the horizons of your mind.

New: Kasimdzhanov: The Benoni is back in Business

07/04/2020 -

The Benoni Defense leads to asymmetrical, double-edged positions that give Black good chances to play for a win. On his new DVD, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, coach and second of Fabiano Caruana, shows why the Benoni is much better than it's theoretical reputation and that it is an entirely solid line which offers Black a lot of dynamic possibilities. It is good time to increase one more weapon in the arsenal by learning the Benoni Opening from the former Asian and World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. It goes without saying that his knowledge is impeccable and knowing Benoni can help you to strengthen your preparation from the black's side. Photo: ChessBase

Contact Us