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Vishnu Prasanna becomes the best Indian performer in Riga chess gala!

20/08/2019 -

The ninth edition of Riga Technical University International Chess Festival was held from 3rd to 11th of August in Riga, Latvia. The Grandmaster Open of the event saw a total of 275 players participating from about 40 different countries. India was the second most represented country in the tournament (second only to Latvia!) with as many as 31 players competing. Among them Gopal G.N. was the highest rated followed by an array of several other strong Grandmasters including Lalith Babu M R, Abhimanyu Puranik, Deepan Chakkravarthy, and Gukesh D. After nine rounds Latvia's number one Igor Kovalenko and Šarūnas Šulskis of Lithuania were tied with 7.5/9 points but based on a better tie-break score the former was declared as the champion. Among Indians, the best performer was Vishnu Prasanna V. who finished fifth just half a point behind the leaders scoring 7.0/9

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Aakash and Vidula win 33rd National under-9 open and girls 2019

20/08/2019 -

Aakash G and Vidula Anbuselvan of Tamil Nadu scored 9.5/11 and 9.0/11 to win 33rd National under-9 open and girls respectively. While Aakash remained unbeaten, performed at 1701 and increased his Elo rating by 71 points, Vidula was unrated and she lost her final round, although it did not matter because she had a full point lead heading into the final round. Adireddy Arjun and Suhaas A of Telangana scored 9.0/11 each, they were placed 2nd and 3rd according to their tie-break score. Among the girls, Devaki Nandana of Andhra Pradesh and Shreya G Hipparagi of Maharashtra scored 9.0/11 each and they secured 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Photo: Gujarat State Chess Association.

Kramnik Microsense India Chess Day 5: Working on your weaknesses

20/08/2019 -

Day five was all about Rook endgames. It's amazing how much a motivated trainer, hungry students and well chosen material can achieve in a day. It started with theoretical endgames and the discussions then moved to Kramnik's brilliant rook endgames. In this article we give you a tough rook endgame to solve. Kramnik was a big sport as he spoke about two of the biggest misses of his chess career - the 4th game of his 2000 match against Kasparov and his game against Deep Fritz in 2006. The youngsters also showed their games to Kramnik and the 14th World Champion tried to work on their weaknesses and made some valuable suggestions. An intense and power-packed day.

Anand still in the lead at Sinquefield Cup 2019

20/08/2019 -

For the second day in succession, it was six draws at the Sinquefield Cup 2019 being held at Saint Louis Chess Club, enabling Vishy Anand to continue to lead being the scorer of the only victory from the first round. But the narrative of the third round was the players with white pieces getting good advantages but frittering them away in different ways rather than careful play. IM Venkatachalam Saravanan reports about all action from the venue. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour 

NEW: Christian Bauer: The nasty Nimzowitsch Defence

20/08/2019 -

The Nimzowitsch Defence, 1.e4 Nc6, is a lesser-known and by far less popular branch of opening theory from the great strategist Aron Nimzowitsch. Unlike the Nimzo-Indian Defence, which has acquired a reputation as one of the soundest replies to 1.d4, 1...Nc6 as an answer to 1.e4 is generally thought to be one of the least sound replies. The main reason for that lies probably in the fact that Black wilfully blocks his c-pawn as soon as move 1, which more dogmatic players will regard as highly suspicious. There are, however, many other factors besides the mobility of the respective c-pawns, and this video series will explore rather rare, yet fully playable lines for Black.

Madurai tournament comes to conclusion with four players on top

19/08/2019 -

The Athens of the East 1st International Grandmaster Open tournament came to conclusion on the 18th of August. After ten rounds the event saw four players - Boris Savchenko, Sayantan Das, Venkatesh MR, and Adam Tukhaev - share the lead with 8.0/10 points. However, based on tie-break scores Boris Savchenko was declared as the champion. The top-seed and four times Commonwealth Champion Abhijeet Gupta had a forgettable event as he went down against the Ukrainian Grandmaster Adam Tukhaev in the final round to slip to the eighth place on rank-list. IM Shyaamnikhil P was placed sixth and India's Blitz King Laxman Rajaram, who actually started the event from second round, recovered well and finished seventh. We bring you a detailed report on the last two rounds of the tournament.

Anand maintains lead at Sinquefield Cup 2019

19/08/2019 -

Whenever we see the pairing of Anand-Carlsen, it is expected to be nothing short of spectacle. It did not disappoint this time either. Carlsen kept things interesting in both game and his choice words at the confession booth. Anand kept trying to push for an advantage but the World Champion did not budge. Neither side made any mistake and the game reached to an equal knight endgame where draw was the only natural result of the game. Shakh and Nakamura had a sharp game which fizzled out to a draw. Caruana missed a good opportunity against Nepo. All games in round 2 ended up in a draw. IM V Saravanan reports from the venue. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Kramnik Microsense India Chess Program Day 4: Learning the art of being

19/08/2019 -

Day four of the Kramnik Microsense India Chess had three elements. Kramnik explained some of his endgame gems, but this time it was right from the start of the game to give the youngsters a feel of how he builds things up. He then shared two of his biggest blunders of his chess career, something that we have asked you in the "question for the day". And lastly he took the last one hour of the class in fresh open air, outside the villa, where he answered some of the questions from the games of the youngsters, addressing specific weaknesses in their play. We talk to you about the art of being in this article and also give you the solution of the mate in six puzzle with gxf8=N which was posed yesterday!

Attacking Monday Mornings with Sohan Phadke Part V - X-Ray Laser Beam

19/08/2019 -

We have reached the final edition of the Attacking Monday Mornings series with FM Sohan Phadke. In the past few weeks Sohan has expounded on several of his self-improvised attacking ideas and principles, to top it all off we have an exciting new theme for this final part which is known as the X-ray Laser Beam! An X-ray is understood to be a beam that is able to pass through many different obstacles unhindered. This is sort of used as an analogy for a chess attacking theme where a linear piece is able to transfer its influence to a particular target passing through many different pieces standing in between. Below there are four positions for you to solve based on this idea and at the end of it there is the solution video where Sohan explains the nuances of the concept in details.  

Diptayan wins All Bengal Open Rapid at Aaykar Bhawan Kolkata

18/08/2019 -

GM Diptayan Ghosh wins All Bengal Open Rapid which started on his birthday at Aaykar Bhawan, organized by Income Tax Sports and Recreation Club to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the club. Starting out as the top seed, Diptayan scored 8.0/9 along with Subhayan Kundu, who also finished at the same points. However, due to a better tie-break score, Diptayn clinched the championship and Subhayan was declared as the runner-up. Eight players tied at the third spot with 7.5/9, but Arpan Das secured the second runner-up position according to the tie-break score. The tournament witnessed a total of 348 players across the state which is the highest for a two-day rapid tournament in the state. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Kramnik Microsense India Chess Program Day 3: Mastering the Grind

18/08/2019 -

What are the ingredients to create a good endgame player? Witnessing three days of heavy endgame lectures of nearly six hours has convinced us that becoming a great endgame player like Kramnik requires many qualities to come together. What are those qualities? IM Sagar Shah explains in this article. We also bring you some of the most interesting pictures from day three of the Kramnik Microsense India Chess Program to give you a feel of what is happening in the Champions house in Chens Sur Leman, France. Lastly we have a puzzle for you to solve. Very interesting and perhaps slightly difficult! It took one participant around 30 minutes to solve, while one of the youngsters has been thinking about it for nearly 3 months, without success! 

Anand starts with a win at Sinquefield Cup 2019

18/08/2019 -

Vishy Anand got lucky against Ian Nepomniachtchi when the latter made a one-move blunder and lost his rook which resulted in his immediate resignation. Anand's win was the only win in round 1 of Sinquefield Cup. All other games ended up in a draw. Carlsen would like to improve on his forgettable Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. Nakamura, Giri and So who are fresh for this event will definitely look forward to make an impact. Sinquefield Cup 2019 is arguably the strongest close tournament of the year so far as top 9 players of the world are taking part in this event. IM V Saravanan reports from the venue. Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

Kramnik Microsense Chess India Program Day 2: Can you solve the mate in two?

17/08/2019 -

On the second day of the Kramnik Microsense Chess India Program, the endgame grind continued. Kramnik showed ten of his endgames where he had beaten some of the best players in the world from slightly better endgame positions. His trick is always to keep improving his pieces and at the right moment strike with accurate calculations. While this is easy to speak about, it is extremely difficult to execute it on the chess board. That's what makes Kramnik one of the greatest endgame players alive on the planet as of today! In the camp he is training the kids on how they can imbibe some of his endgame skills. Before day two began Vlad posed the class with a mate in two position. We ask you to solve it as well, and narrate to you a very interesting story related to it.

Athens of the East Round 8: Abhijeet Gupta goes down against Pavel Smirnov

17/08/2019 -

The Athens of the East International Open 2019 had five players tied for the lead with 6.0/7 points at the end of the seventh round. However, in round eight one of them, the Russian Grandmaster Pavel Smirnov, dashed ahead of the others to emerge as the sole leader. Pavel defeated Abhijeet Gupta in the eighth round to take a half point lead over the entire field with 7.0/8 points. He is closely followed by a pack of six players on 6.5/8 led by West Bengal's Sayantan Das who maintained his solid form to hold GM Adam Tukhaev to a draw in the latest round. Elsewhere, Venkatesh M.R. drew the Chilean GM Rodrigo Vásquez Schroder, while India's Blitz King Rajaram Laxman suffered defeat in the hands of second seed Boris Savchenko. In this report we bring you photos, games, analyses, and more.

Kramnik Microsense India Chess Program Day 1: Meeting Vladimir Kramnik!

16/08/2019 -

The Kramnik Microsense India Chess Program kicked off on the 15th of August 2019 as Vladimir Kramnik came to the champions house in Chens Sur Leman, France. The six youngsters introduced themselves and Kramnik got to know them better in the first couple of hours. After trying some Indian food, an intense endgame session began where Vladimir showed seven of his practical endgames. It was a class where the youngsters learnt a lot and Kramnik's preparation was matched by the boys giving it their 100%. Get to know more about day one of this amazing chess camp, and also the journey of all the youngsters on how they travelled and made it to Chens Sur Leman! 

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