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Upcoming tournaments in February 2020

31/01/2020 -

Perhaps the month of February 2020 will be one of the most quiet months in terms of tournaments as March will have both Candidates and Women's Grand Prix. Cairns Cup will witness the clash of two World Champions - Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru along with eight other players in a 10-player Round Robin event. National Team Championship for both Open and Women will take place from 7th - 13th February. Prague Chess Festival is the first major tournament of this month which will feature both India no.2 and 3, Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala Harikrishna in action from 11th - 21st of the month. 34th Cannes Chess Festival will see Gukesh as the spearhead for the Indian contingent. Last year Abhijeet Gupta won the 33rd edition. The month will end with Aeroflot Open which is one of the strongest tournament of the year.

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Welcome to Planet Ivanchuk

31/01/2020 -

One of the most brilliant minds in the world of chess is Vassily Ivanchuk. Although he never became the world champion, and his current rating has slipped down to 2698, it is absolutely clear that when Chucky is at his best, even the World Champions shudder. At the Gibraltar Chess Festival the Ukrainian genius had a lacklustre event as he scored 6.0/10, losing 19 Elo points. However, he scored nice wins in the last two rounds. Just when he was getting into the groove the tournament came to an end. But it did not dampen Ivanchuk's spirits, as he entered the interview area with a cap on his head and a coffee in his hand. For the next 40 minutes, he explained some of the minute subtleties from his last round win against Ekaterina Atalik. One of the finest interviews by IM Tania Sachdev at the Gibraltar Masters 2020. Highly recommended!

Nubairshah wins Late R B Sapre Memorial Open Rapid Rating 2020

30/01/2020 -

Top seed of the tournament, 1st SAARC Champion IM Nubairshah Shaikh of Maharashtra scored 8.5/9, remained undefeated to win Late R B Sapre Memorial Open Rapid Rating 2020. FM Nikhil Dixit finished at sole 8.0/9 to claim the second position. Three players finished at 7.5/9, IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam of Tamil Nadu secured third position due to a better tie-break score. Total 227 players including 3 IMs and 2 FMs participated in this two-day tournament, organized by Chessmen Ratnagiri on 18th and 19th January 2020. Total cash prizes worth ₹131000 were distributed among prize winners. Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

Live Games from the Gibraltar Masters 2020

30/01/2020 -

32 Indians are participating at the Gibraltar Masters 2020. With 248 players from 55 countries and 85 grandmasters the Gibraltar Masters is one of the finest chess tournaments across the world. The rating average of the event is a massive 2369, seven grandmasters above 2700, the event is extremely strong. The top seed is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770) and the tournament also includes MVL (2770), Wang Hao, Veselin Topalov, David Navara and many other world class players. On this page you can find live games of the tournament, as well as live commentary by David Howell and Fiona Steil-Antoni. Games begin each day at 7.30 p.m. IST, with the last round starting at 3.30 p.m. IST. 

Gibraltar R09: A crushing 27-move game by Aryan Chopra

30/01/2020 -

The Gibraltar Masters goes into the final round today with five players leading the field with 7.0/9 points each and there are quite a few Indians who are still vying for a strong finish at the top. Aryan Chopra, Karthikeyan Murali, Adhiban Baskaran, and Praggnanandhaa R are just half a point behind the leaders with 6.5/9 each and have good chances to bag medals for the country. In this article we discuss Aryan Chopra's brilliant 27-move victory against Alexander Donchenko in detail and also bring you the highlights of other important moments from the last round.

Luis Ernesto dominates Prague Open 2020, Laxman finishes strong

30/01/2020 -

Top seed GM Luis Ernesto Quesada Perez scored an emphatic 8.5/9 and finished 1.5 points ahead of the field to win Prague Open 2020. He also won the Rapid event with a score of 6.0/7. Both IM Zhen Yu Cyrus Low and untitled Oled Budnikov scored 7.0/9 each and they shared the second position. Among the Indians, GM Laxman R R was the highest placed Indian as he scored 6.5/9 and finished at shared fourth position. In the Blitz event Laxman scored 8.5/11 to secure third position. Total 434 players participated from 36 countries across the world combining four different events in Prague Open 2020. Photo: Amruta Mokal

My experience of training for 54 hours with Kramnik and Gelfand

30/01/2020 -

After the success of the first Kramnik Microsense chess program in August 2019, a second camp was held. This time in Chennai, with more than twice the number of kids - 14 in all and two trainers - Kramnik and Gelfand. Each day would be filled with six hours of learning from the chess greats. In all the 13 students were in Chennai and got to spend 54 hours of training with Vladimir and Boris. There was one boy, who couldn't make it to Chennai because of an accident. He lay on his bed in Mumbai with a plaster on his leg. Health-wise, Aditya Mittal was not in the best possible shape for the camp. But because of his enthusiasm and willingness to learn, he absorbed everything like a sponge through remote live sessions. How was his experience and what did he learn? In this article Aditya shares it with our readers.

Can Indians make a strong finish in the last two rounds of the Gibraltar Masters 2020

29/01/2020 -

Praggnanandhaa has the best chances of making a top finish at the Gibraltar Masters as he is on 6.0/8 after his opponent Mamedyarov didn't turn up for the 8th round. Behind Pragg, are five Indians who are on 5.5/8 - they are Adhiban, S.L. Narayanan, Karthikeyan Murali, D. Gukesh and Aryan Chopra. The game between Gukesh and Adhiban in round 8 ended in a draw and now the second youngest GM ever has a stiff challenge in the form of S.L. Narayanan in round 9. Leon Mendonca, the 13-year-old youngster from Goa has shown amazing stability at the event and now needs a win against Kotronias in the ninth round to make his maiden GM norm. An illustrated round 8 report from the Gibraltar Masters 2020.

CRG Krishna wins Delhi Open ChessBase India Blitz 2020

29/01/2020 -

The third edition of ChessBase India Blitz open took place on 14th January 2020 during 18th Delhi Open 2020. IM C R G Krishna scored an unbeaten 8.0/9, finished a half point ahead of the competition to win Delhi Open ChessBase India Blitz tournament. Three players finished at 7.5/9. IM Neelash Saha and FM Aaryan Varshney were placed second and third according to their tie-break score. Total 163 players from five countries across the world participated, making it the biggest ChessBase India blitz event. ChessBase 15 was given as the first prize, Fritz 17 as second and Komodo 13 as the third prize. ChessBase Premium account and various books were also given as prizes. Photo: Angela FJ

Ilmars Starostits dominates 15th International Open GEMA63

28/01/2020 -

GM Ilmars Starostits scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 to win International Open GEMA63. IM Diego Espineira Gonzalez secured second position with a score of 7.0/9. GM Arian Gonzalez Perez scored 6.5/9 to be placed third. Starostits also scored an unbeaten 9.5/11 to win 3rd International Open Blitz GEMA63. Both IM Jose Luis Gonzalez Trigal and FM Luis Marcos Medarde Santiago finished with 9.0/11 each and they were placed second and third respectively. Total 33 players participated in the open event from four federations including Spain comprising of two GMs, three IMs and a FM. The tournament was held from 2nd to 7th January 2020 at Mondariz Balneario, Spain. Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Raghubar and Kanchan win Old Monk's Pune District Veterans Open and Women's Rapid

28/01/2020 -

Raghubar Dayal Tyagi scored 6.5/7, remained undefeated, finished a full point ahead of the competition to win Old Monk's Pune District Veterans Open Rapid. Both Chandrakant Dongre and Uday Sahasrabudhe finished at 5.5/7. They were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-breaks. Among the women, four players finished at 4.0/5. Kanchan Lunaway clinched the championship due to her better tie-break score. Jyotsna Hapse and Lalita Newaskar were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-break score. Total 58 players, 46 in open section of above 60 years and 12 in women's of above 50 years participated in this one-day rapid event held at Joseph D'souza Chess Academy on 7th January 2020. Photo: PDCA chess

The Badshah turns 30!

28/01/2020 -

The CEO of ChessBase India IM Sagar Shah turns 30 today! Well, what's the fuss about that? Avathanshu Bhat pens down what makes Sagar special for him and the entire chess community. The man who had a dream, and set out to make that dream a reality. There were decisions that were taken, milestones that were overcome and old plans that were improvised. It was never easy, and he could never have done it without the backing from those lovely people. Don't forget to read the wishes of all his close friends and family! Yes, this is quite a long article, but we feel that it definitely couldn't have been any shorter without losing the personal touch of so many different people. Enjoy!

Savitha Shri's journey from 1968 to 2261 in two months

27/01/2020 -

Savitha Shri B is just 13 years old but already has a rating of 2261. She gained about 300 Elo points in the past two months itself just by playing several strong independent tournaments in Spain. Her father Baskar, who used to be an electrician in Singapore, left his job to accompany his daughter in different events and ensured that she evolves into a world-class chess player. Savitha's quest for excellence has been and still is a path ridden with hurdles but the girl from Tamil Nadu is as resolute as ever. In this article we explore some of her recent successes and tell you how in two months she gained 300 Elo points to move from 1968 on the Elo scale to 2261.

Pavel Ponkratov wins 12th Chennai GM Open 2020

27/01/2020 -

Top seed of the tournament Pavel Ponkratov scored an unbeaten 8.0/10 to clinch the championship. He won the Dr. N Mahalingam Trophy and ₹300000 cash prize for his efforts. Seven other players also finished at the same score. They were placed according to their tie-break score. Jose Eduardo Martinez and Sergei Yudin secured the first and second runner-up positions respectively. Among the Vishnu Prasanna was the only player to finish shared first, eighth according to tie-breaks. Total 284 players participated from 21 countries including 29 GMs, 23 IMs and 3 WGMs. The tournament was organized by Tamil Nadu Chess Association at Novotel and IBIS Omar at Chennai from 18th to 25th January 2020. Photo: IA R Anantharam

Fabiano's fabulous finale

27/01/2020 -

"I am sure I will have to play a tough game tomorrow but there won't be any pressure in terms of tournament results", predicted the World no.2 Fabiano Caruana just after winning his twelfth round and becoming the champion of Tata Steel Masters with one round to spare. And he indeed gave it his all in the last round to register his fourth consecutive victory in the tournament by defeating Vladislav Artemiev. Fabi wasn't well physically during the last few rounds of the event but he showed tremendous fighting spirit and let nothing lessen the quality of his games. In this illustrated article we give you the step by step breakdown of his final encounter. Photo: Alina l'Ami

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