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Athens of the East Round 7: Sayantan and Abhijeet join the lead

16/08/2019 -

Five players lead with 6.0/7 points after seven rounds at the ongoing Athens of the East International Open 2019. Top seed Abhijeet Gupta outplayed compatriot Karthikeyan Pandiyan's King's Indian Defense to finally join the pack of leaders at the end of seventh round. Venkatesh M.R. couldn't keep his winning streak going as he suffered his first defeat of the event in the hands of third seeded Pavel Smirnov. On the other hand, West Bengal's Sayantan Das bounced back by beating IM Shyaamnikhil P in what was a display of scintillating aggressive play. With only three more rounds to go, the fight for the top place is slowly heating up. In this report we bring you photos, analyses, and more.

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Meet Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest IM norm maker in the world

15/08/2019 -

10-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra is a very special talent in the world of Chess today. Recently, he scored his first IM norm at the Chess Max Academy GM norm tournament becoming the youngest IM norm maker ever. Prior to this, the record was held by the Indian wunderkind Praggnanandhaa R. which Abhimanyu has bested by 43 days! A participant of the elite Young Stars camp conducted by Kasparov Chess Foundation, Abhimanyu has also held the record of being the highest rated under-9 player in the World and becoming the youngest National master in the history of US Chess at the age of nine. Today in this article we explore the talent of this rising Chess star and try to understand the factors that are in play shaping his genius.

Preparation made easy: the ChessBase 15 Playerbase

15/08/2019 -

The ChessBase 15 Playerbase is a very useful tool. It helps you to find information about other players: the openings he plays and how well he plays them or his rating development. Sometimes this information even comes with one or several photos of the player. And you can search online or offline. Design: ChessBase

Athens of the East Rounds 5-6: Perfect 6.0/6 score for Venkatesh!

15/08/2019 -

Grandmaster Venkatesh M.R. has so far won all his games to attain a perfect score of 6.0/6 after six rounds in the ongoing Athens of the East International Open 2019. His victories in rounds five and six, over International Masters Sayantan Das and Konguvel Ponnuswamy respectively, have put him a full point ahead of the entire field. A pack of seven players follow not very far behind on 5.0/6 which also include the top seed of the event Abhijeet Gupta and third seed Pavel Smirnov. The second seed Boris Savchenko, who was held to a draw with the black pieces by Gupta in the sixth round, has slipped to the tenth place with 4.5/6. The previous day of the event had double rounds and in this report we bring to you the glimpses of the most important moments.    

Subbaraman uncle as I knew him

14/08/2019 -

Back in the 90s Nisha Mohota and S. Vijayalakshmi were arch rivals trying to beat each other to win every national title. However the rivalry existed only over the board. Off the board they were good friends and one of the primary reasons was Vijayalakshmi's father who always used to motivate Nisha and her family. It's been 12 years since A.S. Subbaraman, Viji's father passed away, but his actions and words still live on. In this article Nisha Mohota speaks about Subbaraman uncle and how he was instrumental in giving India's first WGM Viji the confidence that she possesses today. Here's a memoir by Nisha on the eve of the 1st A.S. Subbaraman Memorial Blitz Rating event.

Athens of the East 2019 Round 4: West Bengal's Sayantan Das stuns second seed Boris Savchenko

14/08/2019 -

It was round four at the Athens of the East International Open 2019. IM Sayantan Das of West Bengal shocked the Russian Grandmaster and second seed of the event Boris Savchenko by checkmating him in a mere thirty-eight moves. It was a double-edged Sicilian game where the Indian player managed to heavily punish his opponent's slow and dubious plans. WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty also created a stir by beating the Tajikistani IM Muhammad Khusenkhojaev. Elsewhere, Rajesh V A V, Konguvel Ponnuswamy, and Raja Rithvik R. held their higher rated adversaries Pavel Smirnov, Adam Tukhaev, and Masoud Mosadeghpour respectively to draws. All in all, after four rounds, three players - Sayantan Das, Venkatesh M R, and Kiran Manisha Mohanty - lead the event with 4.0/4. In this report we bring you photos, games, and more.

Vladimir Kramnik to train six Indian youngsters in a 10-day camp

13/08/2019 -

A wonderful new development has taken place which will boost Indian chess beyond measure. Vladimir Kramnik, the 14th World Champion, has decided to train six talented Indian youngsters in a training camp that will be held in Chens-Sur-Leman, France from the 15th to the 24th of August 2019. The Kramnik - Microsense Chess India Program has been sponsored entirely by Microsense Private Limited. The six youngsters who would be attending the camp are Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Iniyan, Prithu Gupta, Raunak Sadhwani and Leon Mendonca. ChessBase India has played a pivotal role in bringing all of the elements of the camp together. IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal will be accompanying the youngsters for this camp. Check out the article for more details.

From a carpenter to India's first Olympiad medal winner - Remembering the legacy of Rafiq Khan (1946-2019)

13/08/2019 -

He was the son of a carpenter and had no formal education. He himself became a carpenter to ensure that his daily needs are satisfied. Something about the game of chess attracted him and began playing it actively. Thank God, that he chose chess, because this impoverished, illiterate carpenter from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, went on to become one of the finest chess players that India has ever seen. This is the story of Mohamed Rafiq Khan, former national champion of India and the first Olympiad chess medalist for our country. Rafiq Khan passed away at the age of 73 years on 19th of July 2019. With this article we would like to go back in the memory lane and explore the legacy left behind by this great personality. We not only bring you Rafiq Khan's life story and best game analysis but also messages and anecdotes from his friends, colleagues and contemporaries. A heartfelt eulogy. 

Athens Of The East 1st International Grandmaster Open Chess Tournament begins

13/08/2019 -

The Athens Of The East 1st International Grandmaster Open Chess Tournament 2019 has begun from the the 10th of August and will continue till 18th in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The tournament has three categories (A, B, and C) for players rated 1700 and above, below 1700, and below 1600 respectively. Four times Commonwealth Champion Abhijeet Gupta is the top seed of the category A event, followed by Boris Savchenko and Pavel Smirnov. Out of the total 180 participants in Category A, 35 are titled players which include 9 Grandmasters and 14 International Masters. This is a ten rounds swiss event following a time control of 90 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move one. In this pictorial report we bring you the glimpses of the first two days of action.

ChessBase 15: Online help and manuals

12/08/2019 -

ChessBase 15 is a powerful program with a lot of useful functions. The online support helps you to get the most out of ChessBase 15 and is easy to access. And if you really want to explore the depths of the program the ChessBase 15 online manual will help you. It is free and available in four languages! | Drawing: ChessBase

12-year-old Harshad's maiden International title at Barbera del Valles 'B'

12/08/2019 -

12-year-old Harshad S from Tamil Nadu tasted success on his maiden voyage on the international soil when he won Barebera del Valles 'B' by scoring an undefeated 8.0/9 and finishing a half point ahead of the runner-up Greeshma Anand Dhumal, also from India, who increased a massive 249 Elo rating points in the entire tournament. With a performance rating of 2169, Harshad managed to increase his Elo rating by 90 points. Harshad made a draw in round 2, after that he won four consecutive games to take a sole lead which he maintained till the final round. Photo: Sathiesh

The contribution of the Government towards Indian chess

12/08/2019 -

Sports like cricket, which is now well established, has no shortage of funds. Primarily because the corporates find it lucrative to invest in it. But for chess, which is a growing sport in India, the big corporate houses are still making up their mind whether it is a wise decision to invest in the sport or not. Well, we at ChessBase India and all the top authorities in the world including Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and others believe that India will dominate the chess world in the years to come. And this sentiment is echoed by the Government of India as well. So, while the corportates still make up their mind, the Government of India has increased its grant from 4 crore to 5.5 crore towards Indian chess and these funds are being utilized for the development of our youngsters and top players. At the recently concluded Abu Dhabi Masters, which was an exposure trip funded by the Government of India for 37 of our players - four were able to make their norms. In this article you get to know how Government of India and AICF are working in close sync to speed up the growth of Indian chess.

Attacking Monday Mornings with Sohan Phadke Part IV - Opening the secret door

11/08/2019 -

Opening up hidden files, ranks, and diagonals is utmost essential in any kind of attacking play. The legendary Grandmaster Nigel Short once famously said, "Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like Pawn structure. Forget it, Checkmate ends the game”. If you are one of those players who like to go directly for the kill, then this part of the Attacking Monday Mornings is just for you. In this lecture Fide Master Sohan Phadke presents a new attacking technique which he likes to call "Opening the secret door". It is all about how you can make inroads into the opponent's position by opening up lines that are not apparent in the beginning. There are five positions for you to solve, at the end of which there is the solution video where Sohan meticulously explains the concept and each of the positions in detail.

World Cup 2019 pairings revealed, Vishy Anand gives the event a miss

11/08/2019 -

The pairings for the World Cup 2019 have been revealed. The 128 player knock out event provides nearly a month of action packed chess which will result in two finalists reaching the Candidates tournament in 2020. Surprisingly Vishy Anand has refrained from taking part in the event. We ask Vishy about this decision. As for other ten Indians, three of them - Harikrishna, Vidit and Adhiban will be facing lower rated opponents in round one, while Ganguly, Sethuraman, S.L. Narayanan, Abhijeet Gupta, Karthikeyan Murali, Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram will all face opponents rated higher than them. Interesting pairings for Indians include Aravindh taking on English legend Michael Adams, Ganguly up against Russian upcoming talent Fedoseev and Nihal Sarin making his debut against Peruvian no.1 Cori Jorge. In this article we let you know about not just the first round pairings but also the future opponents of these ten Indians, if they progress to the second round and beyond. 

Abu Dhabi 2019 Final Round: Triumph of the Georgian genius

11/08/2019 -

The 26th Abu Dhabi Masters 2019 came to conclusion on the 10th of August. The Georgian Grandmaster Baadur Jobava dominated the field scoring an unbeaten 8.0/9 points with a phenomenal performance rating of 2908. Among Indians, the best finisher was Aryan Chopra who secured 11th place with a score of 6.0/9. Karthikeyan Murali, Deep Sengupta, Aravindh Chithambaram, and Vaibhav Suri also scored 6.0/9 and came within the top 20. Apart from this, seven players, namely FM Rathanvel V S, CM Raahil Mullick, WIM Nandhidhaa P V, CM Aronyak Ghosh, FM Nitish Belurkar, Senthil Maran K, and WIM Mahalakshmi M successfully made their norms from the event. In this final report we bring you the games and photos from the last round and also an overview of performances of all the Indian participants.

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