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With two back-to-back GM norms, Harshit Raja is racing towards the GM title

23/12/2019 -

Harshit Raja, the 18-year-old International Master from Pune, has been literally doing wonders over the last few weeks. He first scored his maiden GM norm at the Elllobregat Open by defeating strong players such as Karthikeyan Murali and Gukesh D, and then in his very next event at Sunway Sitges, achieved his second norm beating none other than the former World Junior Champion Parham Maghsoodloo. From 2447 and no GM norms, he has now climed up to 2482 with 2 GM norms. Harshit is now knocking on the doors of becoming India's next GM. ChessBase India spoke to him just after his performance at El Prat de Llobregat event and Harshit discussed his games in quite some detail.

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Bhopal International GM Open Round 2+3: Top ten seeds maintain lead

23/12/2019 -

Top ten seeds maintain their lead with a 100% score 3.0/3 after round 3 of central India's biggest chess tournament Bhopal International GM Open 2019. There were double rounds on day 2 of the event and several upsets took place. 13-year-old Prakhar Bajaj of Madhya Pradesh held experienced GM Manik Mikulas (2379) of Slovakia to a draw. Karnataka's Shriya R Revankar scored the biggest upset of round 2 by defeating IM Denis Eraschenkov of Russia. In round 3, Shivansh Tiwari of Madhya Pradesh defeated Maksad Sapaev of Uzbekistan and he is now among the leaders with a score of 3.0/3. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Vishy's December #13: My Great Predecessor

22/12/2019 -

Vishy Anand has been credited in a big way for the current chess boom that is taking place in the country. Anand's exploits over the chess board have inspired the entire nation. And it is one of the primary reasons why we see such a huge crop of talents developing in the country. While we have read this in several news reports in different periodicals and websites, it feels nice when we get to read about Anand's contribution to the world of chess by one of India's biggest talents. Aditya Mittal is just 13 years old and is already an International Master. In this #13 edition of Vishy's December, Aditya analyzes five of Anand's best games and also recounts his meet with the Indian legend seven years ago! Aditya was just six years old back then. 

Somendra and Megha win National School Championship for the Visually Challenged 2019

22/12/2019 -

Top seed Somendra B L of GSSSB, Delhi scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Indusind Bank National School Championship for the Visually Challenged 2019 in the Boys section. Megha Chakraborty of Calcutta Blind School, won all her games to win the girls section with a score of 9.0/9, finishing two full points ahead of the competition. Total 224 players including 150 boys and 74 girls participated from 12 states across the nation. The tournament was organized by All India Chess Federation For The Blind with the support and patronage of IndusInd Bank from 18th - 21st December 2019 at Alandi, Pune, Maharashtra. Photo: Charudatta Jadhav

He has crossed 2650 Elo, is India no.6, but is still looking for a job

22/12/2019 -

The fastest growing player in Indian chess is currently GM S.L. Narayanan. From reaching 2600 earlier this year, he has raced up to 2650 on the live rating list. With a string of powerful and consistent performances, he has now become India no.6 after Anand, Harikrishna, Vidit, Sasikiran and Adhiban. Recently, he won the strong Ellobregat Open 2019, which was his first victory on international soil. Before leaving for Sunway Sitges 2019, Narayanan was kind enough to spend some time for an interview with ChessBase India. In it we realized that even though the 21-year-old is doing so well in chess, has completed his graduation in English Literature, he is still struggling to find a job under sports quota. 

Top seeds score easy wins at Bhopal International GM Open 2019

22/12/2019 -

The biggest chess tournament of Central India, Bhopal International GM Open 2019 started yesterday. All seeded titled players scored an easy win in round 1. There will be two rounds on the second day and the games will get more interesting. Before the first round, the tournament had an inauguration ceremony on a custom made chess table. First lighting of the lamp and then an inaugural move was made to mark the ceremonial start of the tournament. Total 250 players from 15 countries including 10 GMs, 7 IMs, a WGM and a WIM are taking part in this eight-day 11 rounds Swiss league event. Photo: Niklesh Jain

This Christmas, become someone's secret Santa!

22/12/2019 -

The best way to light up the festive season is to get something for yourself that you love! The month of December is here, the festivities related to Christmas are in full swing. We at ChessBase India would like to treat you with some of our special products for the Christmas Sale this year on 22nd and 23rd of December. Buy anything from our shop, and you will get some special goodies delivered to your address! We also give you the option to become someone's secret Santa. If you would like to gift a product to someone, we have the option for you to do so! Make this Christmas delightful with lights, festivities, loved ones and of course Chess! 

Immovable Arjun Erigaisi and Solid Nihal Sarin at the Sunway Sitges 2019

21/12/2019 -

Two Indian youngsters are performing admirably at the Sunway Sitges 2019. Both of them are on 6.0/8 and both of them are unbeaten. They are Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi. Also on 6.0/8 are S.L. Narayanan and Abhimanyu Puranik. Round 8 at the Sunway Sitges proved to be one where the youth outclassed the experience. Vassily Ivanchuk was beaten by 16-year-old American prodigy Awonder Liang, while Parham Maghsoodloo couldn't hold the 14-year-old Javokhir Sindarov. Anton Korobov continues to lead the event with 7.0/8, with five players half a point behind him on 6.5/8. A pictorial round 8 report from the Sunway Sitges 2019. 

IM Nubairshah Shaikh is the winner of 1st SAARC Chess Championship 2019

21/12/2019 -

International Master Nubairshah Shaikh became the champion of 1st SAARC Chess Tournament 2019 that was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from the 24th of November to the 4th of December 2019. He scored an impressive 7.5/9 and won the tournament by a margin of half a point. Nubair finished ahead of two strong GMs and returned home richer by US$ 3,500. Interestingly, the second place also went to an Indian. IM Prantik Roy scored 7.0/9 points and finished as the runner up of the event. In this pictorial report we bring you all the details and also a short interview with IM Nubair.   

Bhopal International GM Open 2019 preview

21/12/2019 -

Players from 15 countries including India have gathered in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal for Bhopal International GM Open 2019 which will start on 21st December 2019. Players kept arriving at Raja Bhoj International Airport throughout the day on 20th December and they were welcomed in a grand manner which overwhelmed players. Despite everything that's happening, things have been rather peaceful in Bhopal and Organizing Secretary IA Kapil Saxena himself has reassured all players.

Abhimanyu Puranik has a performance of 2746 after seven rounds at the Sunway Sitges 2019

20/12/2019 -

The Indian flag at the Sunway Sitges is currently being held by Abhimanyu Puranik, who beat the strong Iranian GM Amin Tabatabaei and moved to 6.0/7. The 2580 rated youngster from Pune played some powerpacked chess to launch an attack out of the blue and checkmate his opponent's king. Abhimanyu now has a rating performance of 2746 and is very close to breaking into the 2600 zone. The top board clash between Ivanchuk and Korobov ended in a draw. Korobov is still the sole leader with 6.5/7. Behind him are Durarbayli from Azerbaijan and Puranik from India. Round seven report from Sunway Sitges with some amazing photos by Lennart Ootes!

Fat Fritz analysis: A matter of technique

20/12/2019 -

Although it is not hard to pick out moves that Fat Fritz finds more easily than Stockfish, or vice versa, sometimes a move stands out that just begs to be shared. This happened to Fat Fritz creator, Albert Silver, while he was casually following the Sinquefield Cup 2019 won by Ding Liren. The author carefully indicates the moments where Fat Fritz was superior to Stockfish, when the latter struggled to find the accurate continuation in mere seconds. Fat Fritz shows its strength in finding beautiful moves too, not necessarily to the absolute end of each variation. Enjoy this example of positional judgement and technique. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Vishy's December #12 - My Uncle, A World Chess Champion!

19/12/2019 -

In the Vishy's December series of articles celebrating his 50th birthday, we have articles from his friends, competitors, peers and rivals. Today we bring you stories from someone who is extremely close to Anand. Meet Siddharth Viswanathan, Anand's nephew. With nothing held back, Siddharth discusses some of the most intimate moments of Anand's life, which would only be known to a family member.  This December, ChessBase India is celebrating the month as Vishy's December in honour of the Indian chess legend Vishy Anand turning 50 years old. If you have a story, experience or an anecdote related to Anand which you would like to share with the chess world, you can send it to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com. 

Aravindh Chithambaram wins the National Senior Championship second time in a row

19/12/2019 -

The National Senior Championship 2019 came to a successful completion today here in Majitar, Sikkim. Aravindh Chithambaram defended his title and won the event for the second time in a row with an impressive score of 9.5/11. Akash G and Ravi Teja S both finished a full point behind Aravindh with 8.5/11 each but on the basis of tie-breaks were declared second and third respectively. Attractive cash prizes and trophies were disbursed in a colourful closing ceremony which was graced by the presence of the renowned former Indian footballer and star Baichung Bhutia. We bring you an illustrated final report.

When Ivanchuk roars!

19/12/2019 -

If there was someone in the world of chess that the great Garry Kasparov feared, it was Vassily Ivanchuk. The Ukrainian genius never feared Kasparov and was so talented that he could play at an extremely high level on any given day. Recently Ivanchuk's motivation to play strong chess has dipped a bit and you can see its effect on his rating. He is now down to 2690. But as they say form is temporary, class is permanent. Ivanchuk is showing some of his old magic at the Sunway Sitges Chess Festival 2019 as he beat two of India's biggest talents Raunak Sadhwani and R. Praggnanandhaa in back to back rounds and is now on 5.0/6. How did Ivanchuk manage to do it? In this article we bring you both the games along with video analysis by GM Daniel King.

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