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Asian 2019 Round 3-4: Praggnanandhaa pulls off a shocking upset against Vidit, Bhakti is now an IM

10/06/2019 -

Praggnanandhaa R. pulls off a shocking upset by defeating the top-seed and compatriot Vidit Gujrathi. Nihal Sarin cruises through with the King's Indian while Abhijeet Gupta falters against Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja. Murali Karthikeyan foils Vishnu Prasanna's ambitious exchange sacrifice and holds Sethuraman to a steady draw. Elsewhere in the Women's section Bhakti Kulkarni draws against higher rated IM Dinara Saduakassova and emerges as the latest International Master of the country. Four rounds have ended in the Asian continental open and women's championships 2019, in this report we bring you the glimpses of the most important moments of rounds 3 and 4. 

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Sasikiran's immortal at Poikovsky to beat Artemiev

10/06/2019 -

Krishnan Sasikiran was up against the Russian star Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev in the third round of the ongoing Karpov Poikovsky tournament. Widely hailed to be the successor of the recently retired legend Vladimir Kramnik, the 21 years old Artemiev is undoubtedly the next big thing in chess from Russia. A grandmaster only from 2014, he is already close to being in the top ten of the FIDE rating list. His recent victories include winning the Gibraltar masters in January this year, taking a clear first place and the European Individual Championship title in March. But when your opponent is Krishnan Sasikiran - one of India's finest and most experienced grandmasters - no matter who you are, you better be well prepared. In the present article we look into the brilliant game that Sasikiran played on Saturday to beat Artemiev and try to understand what took the 2761 rated chess prodigy out of his depth.

Women's Candidates: Goryachkina scores her fifth win of the tournament

10/06/2019 -

Tournament leader Aleksandra Goryachkina continued her winning streak when she defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk after the latter blundered a piece in an already difficult situation. Nana Dzagnidze self-destructed when she gave away her Queen for Rook and Bishop against Tan Zhongyi. After which it became almost impossible for her to make a comeback in the game. Anna Muzychuk and Mariya Muzychuk made a quick draw. Valentina Gunina and Kateryna Lagno also ended in an uneventful draw. Round 8 was the second match with the same opponents as round 1 with a reversed color. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Norway 2019 Round 5: Aronian's trickery and Vishy's consecutive Armageddon wins!

10/06/2019 -

The symphony with mathematics continued, as all 5 classical games were drawn in Round 5! Levon Aronian had the best chance to win against Ding Liren, but the Armenian genius couldn't properly assess the winning continuation. The Armageddons though were something else. Ding Liren was completely lost, somehow managed to find himself a queen up, yet could only find perpetual check. Carlsen was suffering against MVL before escaping with a repetition. Yu Yangyi turned the tables on a hapless Caruana after finding his king under a monsterous kingside attack. Grischuk won on time against Mamedyarov, who had White! Anand was the only one who drew his game as black comfortably without much action. An exhaustive report from Norway Chess by Tanmay Srinath.

The Fun of Chess Tactics

09/06/2019 -

Why is it so much fun to solve tactical puzzles? The first reason has nothing to do with chess: Solving an interesting problem brings a sense of achievement. This releases a quantity of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a complex neurotransmitter and constitutes part of the brain’s neurochemical motivation and reward mechanism, often cited in pop culture as the “hormone of happiness”. It is the same substance your head gets overdosed with when you fall in love.

Women's Candidates: Gunina beats Zhongyi, Goryachkina extends her lead

09/06/2019 -

Anna Muzychuk got a winning chance against Alexandra Kosteniuk after the latter's exchange sacrifice was dealt properly, but due to time pressure Anna missed it and the game ended up in a draw. Mariya declined a threefold repetition against Goryachkina in the endgame and it ended up in a draw eventually. Kateryna-Nana's game was a marathon game of 80 moves before a draw was agreed in a rook ending, although Nana had a decent advantage in early endgame. Gunina defeated former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi in Petroff's Defence after the former used her double bishops so well that Zhongyi had to give up the exchange. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Norway 2019 Round 4: The Tiger Roars, while the Mozart of Chess eases through!

09/06/2019 -

Vishy Anand gave the Indian contingent much to cheer for, with a wonderful attacking display against Ding Liren in the Armageddon after a topsy turvy first game. Magnus Carlsen won in another Grunfeld game as White in the tiebreakers after Shak equalised easily in their classical encounter. Caruana played superbly, but missed a chance to make possibly the 'Move of the Year'(!!) against So. Aronian played like Bent Larsen, but couldn't win like the great Dane against MVL. Yu Yangyi regained ground with a thumping win as Black against the tired Grischuk in their classical game. An in-depth report from Norway Chess by Tanmay Srinath

Asian 2019 Round 2: Karthikeyan does a Kramnik

09/06/2019 -

In what was every bit classy chess, Murali Karthikeyan won his second game in a row when he defeated Xu Zhihang of China. India's triple crown champion Aravindh Chithambaram was also in his element when he grabbed the chance to create a demolishing passer against Zhao Yuanhe. Sethuraman S.P. beat Raunak Sadhwani in a Najdorf when the latter made a careless move. In the women's section, Bhakti Kulkarni continued her conquest by beating Hoang Thi Bao Tram. It was round 2 at the Asian continental championships 2019 and in this report we bring you the most important moments of the day's excitement.

Venezuela no.1 Eduardo Iturrizaga wins 12th KIIT International 2019

08/06/2019 -

Top seed of the tournament, Venezuela no.1 GM Eduardo Iturrizaga scored an unbeaten 8.0/10 to win 12th KIIT International 2019. Ukrainian GM Valeriy Neverov and Armenian GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan also finished at 8.0/10, however due to a lower tie-break score, they had to settle for runner-up and second runner-up places. Among the Indians, IM P Shyamnikhil finished the highest by scoring 7.5/9 and secured 6th position. Experienced IM P Konguvel played fantastic after a long time. He scored 7.5/9 and secured 7th position. Undefeated Koustav Chatterjee was the third highest finisher among Indians and he completed his IM title requirements by scoring his final norm. Photo: R Anantharam/KIIT International

From Hollandaise sauce to Salmon, Vishy Anand is unbeatable as a chef!

08/06/2019 -

Rest days in super tournaments have become more and more interesting as sponsors try and make the best use of the time of the world class grandmasters present at their event. Very often we see the GMs giving simultaneous exhibitions or lectures which motivate the youngsters of the place in which the tournament is being held. But the organizers at Norway Chess always have thought outside the box. This was the second year when they made the grandmasters don the cooking hat, and indulge in a cooking contest! Ten players were divided into five teams along with an expert chef to help them. It turned out that Vishy Anand who had won the title in 2018, defended it successfully, this year teamed up with MVL! We bring you some amazing pictures, Vishy's tweet after winning, and Aruna's comments on her husband's cooking abilities.

A Valentine's Day GM chess challenge from Lienz Open 2019 Part 2

08/06/2019 -

IM Nisha Mohota is one of the strongest female chess players of India. Even after three decades of actively playing chess, her love for the game is very much intact. She has won multiple accolades in her career both in the country and internationally. She takes the time to write down her experiences both on and off the board for all chess readers as well as non-chess players too. She wrote one a few days on her experience in playing at Lienz, Austria, how she fell in love with the beautiful city and more. In Part II of her article, she answers the question asked at the end of part I and explains variations in detail, engines' role and how a GM friend of her reacted when the position was given to him and more. Photo: Nisha's blog

Asian 2019 Round 1: Vidit sizzles, Bhakti's grit and Nihal's sapient show

08/06/2019 -

The Asian continental open and women's championship 2019 has begun in Xingtai, China. In round 1 top seed Vidit Gujrathi punished his opponent Dai Changren for his dubious play. The youngest 2600 player in the world, Nihal Sarin, displayed superior positional understanding by subjecting his Filipino adversary to a slow grind. Elsewhere, Vaibhav Suri suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of a much lower rated Zou Chen. In the Women's section the encounter between Bhakti Kulkarni and Swati Ghate lasted for a staggering 80 moves and saw fortune change hands multiple times. The Asian Championships is a key event in the calendar, because top five in open and the winner in women's section qualify for the World Cup 2019. In this report we bring you the highlights of the first day's action.

Norway 2019 Round 3: Carlsen's Alpha Zero Strategy amidst an uncompromising day!

07/06/2019 -

4 decisive games in classical chess meant that any debate about lack of fighting spirit was put off for now. Magnus Carlsen's mastery of Alpha Zero's innovative kingside attacks in the Grunfeld meant he only needed 34 moves to force Grischuk's resignation. Wesley So swindled Yu Yangyi using triangulation, Aronian busted Mamedyarov's English with fine counterattacking play, and Ding Liren's imaginative endgame play was too much for Caruana's fortress to bear. Anand drew both the classical and the armageddon games as Black against MVL, scoring his first win of the tournament. A mammoth report from Norway Chess by Tanmay Srinath

Women's Candidates: Muzychuk sisters score their first win of the tournament, Goryachkina extends her lead

07/06/2019 -

Anna Muzychuk scored her first victory of the tournament when she exploited her opponent Valentina Gunina's mistakes and slow plans. Mariya Muzychuk sacrificed an exchange in the endgame and created passed pawns which helped her to score a win. Despite dominating for the major part of the game and getting an almost winning position, Nana sacrificed a piece for which she did not get enough and eventually she lost. Tan started out well and got a good position, however she made a tactical error which cost her a couple of pawns and an exchange. Lagno did not give any chances and scored a full point. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

How 2106 rated chess player cracked GATE examinations and scored All India Rank 9

07/06/2019 -

Chandrashis Mazumdar from West Bengal is rated 2106 and is the former commonwealth under-12 bronze medalist. He was an extremely ambitious chess player, but at some point academics took the front seat and he became an Engineer. His real challenge came when he had to appear for the GATE examination. GATE is a national level post graduation examination conducted by the IITs and IISc Bangalore to select their candidates. Naturally, it is quite tough to crack it. But, Chandrashis, not only passed with flying colours but aced the examination with an All India Rank 9. How did he do it and how did chess help this youngster to hold his own in such a tough competitive exam? In this article Chandrashis reveals his secret.

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