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Praggnanandhaa beats the highest rated player of his career - Veselin Topalov (2738)

26/01/2020 -

He was the strongest chess player on the planet at one point of time and in 2005 he showed his true power when he won the San Luis World Championship ahead of all the top players to become the FIDE World Champion. Veselin Topalov is now nowhere close to what he was as a player some years ago, but with a rating of 2738, he is still quite a potent as a competitor. Pragg faced him in the 6th round of the Gibraltar Masters 2020. Playing with the white pieces, the youngster gave his opponent absolutely no chances and won the game with some powerful moves. This is the highest rated player that Pragg has ever beaten in his classical chess career. We bring you the detailed analysis of the game with PGN, video analysis and Pragg's interview after the win. 

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How not following top level games can make you lose out on important points

26/01/2020 -

The life of a professional chess player is not easy. He has to be updated with all the latest wrinkles in opening theory. If he misses one of the important games that has happened in his line, then that same variation can be sprung upon him as a surprise. This is what happened with D. Gukesh, who played against Gawain Jones at the fifth round of the Gibraltar Masters 2020. The English GM played the Rossolimo against Gukesh following the line Carlsen had played against Dubov. Gukesh was unprepared and took a lot of time for his moves. Very soon he succumbed to a defeat. Praggnanandhaa played some fantastic chess to score his fourth consecutive win and move to 4.0/5. Check out both the games analyzed in great detail. 

Ju Wenjun retains her FIDE Women's World Championship

26/01/2020 -

Aleksandra Goryachkina was a massive threat to Ju Wenjun's World title reign, but if anyone had an advantage then that was Ju Wenjun. The reason is simple, she has done it all when she beat Tan Zhongyi in 2018 to become the champion in a similar 10-game FIDE Women's World Championship Match. However, Goryachkina tested Ju's limit by pushing her to the max and forcing a tie-break. Ju Wenjun is a former Women's World Rapid champion which means rapid is also her forte and having four rapid games as tie-breaks was just enough to beat Goryachkina 2.5-1.5 and continue her reign as Women's World Champion for at least another year. Photo: FIDE

Caruana conquers the Wimbledon of Chess

26/01/2020 -

Fabiano Caruana defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda and registered his third victory in a row to win the Tata Steel Masters with one round to spare. Magnus Carlsen could only draw Vladislav Artemiev despite gaining a copious initiative at one point of the game and thus Fabi pulled ahead of his nearest rival by a massive 1.5 points. "This is certainly one of the best tournaments I have ever played in terms of results", said the World no.2 after the game, he also concluded that there were some rocky moments as well where he did need a bit of luck to get through. In this article we we look into Fabiano's performance from rounds eleven and twelve of the event. 

Anand’s Rocky Road to World Title Triumph 2010

26/01/2020 -

Vishy Anand's will to fight back and be resourceful in even the most adverse of situations have enabled him to maintain his position at the top for so long. If there is any instance where his unparalleled suppleness was pushed to its very limits then it has to be his 2010 World Championship match against Veselin Topalov. The Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers had the good privilege to witness this legendary bout up-close. He was present in the venue in Sofia as a reporter for the Australian news site Crikey.com.au and wrote a piece on the night Vishy registered the decisive final round victory. We bring you this article with relevant pictures from the match and let you relive those rare moments of intense pressure and thrill.

Gibraltar R03: S.L.Narayanan and Adhiban Baskaran shine

24/01/2020 -

Five players led by Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov have so far been able to maintain a perfect score of 3.0/3 in the ongoing Gibraltar Masters 2020. There are six Indians namely Vaibhav Suri, Adhiban Baskaran, Karthikeyan Murali, S.L.Narayanan, Aryan Chopra, and Lalith Babu MR, following them closely just half a point behind on 2.5/3. Adhiban and Narayanan scored emphatic wins in the third round of the event to maintain their spots in the chasing lot consisting of more than thirty players. In this illustrated report we bring you photos, game analysis, and more. 

Praggnanandhaa's love for chess

24/01/2020 -

The biggest enemy of a passionate chess player is bad health. Once you succumb to an illness, you can no longer play chess at a good level. In fact many a times you even have to give up on tournaments. However, the young generation of Indian chess is somehow different. For them often chess takes precedence over health. Here's the story of R. Praggnanandhaa who did not let his health issues come in between his passion for chess. While everyone adviced him to take rest and skip the Gibraltar Chess event, he made the arduous journey to the Rock and started the event as the 31st seed. Things didn't begin well for the youngster as he lost his first round, but he has picked up pace and is now on 2.0/3. Read the inspiring tale of Pragg and his love for chess.

Alireza yet to scale the ultimate height

23/01/2020 -

Alireza Firouzja played some very enterprising chess against Fabiano Caruana in the tenth round of Tata Steel Masters. He sacrificed a piece in the opening for a few pawns and then steered the game into unusual complications. But did he actually succeed? Well Caruana, who is widely considered to be the best analyst of the game in the world and whose powers of calculation are by far second to none, gave the young Alireza a valuable lesson. The 16-year-old is enormously talented but when it comes to matching up with the absolute best in the world, he clearly needs to take his game a notch up. In this article we give you an in-depth analysis of how Caruana slowly but surely outplayed the Iranian lad.

Goryachkina strikes back and forces tie-break in FIDE Women's World Championship match 2020

23/01/2020 -

Goryachkina was going into the final game in classical time control with a must-win situation. Perhaps her short draw in Game 11 was all part of strategy to save energy and fire all cylinders in Game 12. Apparently that worked. The Challenger employed a sideline 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 to surprise the defending champion. Although black managed to equalize easily out of the opening, but she made an error in critical decision of saving one of her pawns, instead she gave up both and landing in inferior position. The score is now 6-6. The tie-break matches will be played tomorrow 24th January to determine the winner. Since both of them skipped World Rapid and Blitz 2019, it will be interesting to see who comes out at the top in the faster format. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

Gibraltar R02: Adhiban turns his beast mode on

23/01/2020 -

Vaibhav Suri and Karthikeyan Murali are the two Indians who have scored a perfect 2.0/2 after two rounds of Gibraltar Masters but if there's anyone whose performance absolutely stood out in the second round of the event, it has to be that of Adhiban Baskaran. Adhiban drew his first round game somewhat uneventfully, in round two however he was truly able to channel his inner beast out. Raunak Sadhwani, Gukesh D, Raahil Mullick, Praggnanandhaa R, and other Indian youngsters all came back strongly in the second round after either losing or being held to draws in the first. We bring you a detailed and illustrated report.

K. Priyanka becomes the latest WIM of India and dedicates the title to her mother

23/01/2020 -

She lost her father when she was only 10. Her mother's health was always on the edge. The monthly income of the family was just Rs.8,000. No matter how hard the circumstances were K. Priyanka never gave up on her chess dream. The dream to become a world class chess player. She fought against all the odds and on 7th of January 2020 she became a WIM. It was befitting that she received her final WIM norm at the hands of none other than the legendary Vishy Anand. After the event ChessBase India got in touch with Priyanka and did an interview with her. In it she talks about her journey and also shares two of the most beautiful games of her chess career. The 1st WIM from Coimbatore signs off by saying, "No matter what life throws to you, keep chasing your dreams. Just Don’t Give Up! One day your life will become the most colourful one!" 

Seven-way lead after round 7 of 12th Chennai GM Open 2020

23/01/2020 -

Seven players are in the lead with 6.0/7 at the conclusion of round 7 of 12th Chennai GM Open 2020. Top seed Pavel Ponkratov, second seed Jose Eduardo Martinez, Visakh N R, Sergei Yudin, Aleksey Goganov, Stanislav Bogdanovich and Vishnu Prasanna are in a seven-way lead. Only three rounds left and with seven players in the lead, there is no clear favorite to win the tournament, it is still open for anyone to win. PDS Girinath used element of surprise to beat Karthik Venkataraman, Jubin Jimmy kept his norm hopes alive by beating Sayantan Das. Round 7 report with games, photos and analysis. Photo: R Anantharam  

Tata Steel R10: A pretty easy day for Magnus

22/01/2020 -

Magnus Carlsen started off the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee with seven draws in a row. But now the World Champion has magically entered plus three and is breathing down the leader's neck just half a point behind. First he beat Nikita Vitiugov in round eight, then he crushed Alireza Firouzja yesterday in his hallmark Boa constrictor style, and today he stunned once again by simply outplaying Vladislav Kovalev in a Queen's Gambit Declined. Magnus falters now and then which only shows he is a human. But everytime he falls, he always seems to return twice as stronger. He does this better than anyone else in the world and perhaps that is why he is the Numero uno!

Ju Wenjun - A draw away from retaining her World Championship

22/01/2020 -

Game 11 of FIDE Women's World Championship Match 2020 witnessed the quickest game of the event. The game lasted less than two hours. Perhaps it was Goryachkina's strategy? To draw with black pieces, save energy for the final game with White? Well we will only know for sure after the conclusion of Game 12. Berlin Defence of Ruy Lopez was witnessed for the third time in this event after Game 2 and 6, the result was not different either. While Ju Wenjun needs just a draw in the final game, Goryachkina is in a must-win situation to force tie-breaks. It will be interesting to see what the Challenger brings to the table in the final game. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

The Gibraltar gala is on

22/01/2020 -

The Gibraltar Chess Masters opened with a cracker of a first round. A lot of Indians found themselves paired against world-class opposition and among them quite a few came out with flying colours. Praggnanandhaa R was shocked by Nandhidhaa PV in a tactically sharp game, while the Turkish Grandmaster Can Emre lost his encounter against Pranav Anand from what seemed like a completely winning position. Youngsters like Raahil Mullick and Sankalp Gupta too amassed wealth of experience playing against the titans Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Veselin Topalov respectively, while the veterans Adhiban Baskaran and Krishnan Sasikiran found modest starts. 

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