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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.

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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.

Women's Candidates round 5: Goryachkina is back in the lead and still undefeated

06/06/2019 -

Aleksandra Goryachkina outplayed former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi in a Double Rook endgame with unbelievable precision to get back into the lead. The youngest in the fray is not only the sole leader, but also the only undefeated player in the tournament so far. Valentina Gunina missed an easy win in time pressure against Mariya Muzychuk. Alexandra Kosteniuk got lucky as overnight leader Nana Dzagnidze blundered in time pressure in a normal position, according to her. Kateryna Lagno had better for most of the game but Anna Muzychuk managed to trick her opponent and save half-a-point. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Norway Chess 2019 Round 2: Caruana's Norwegian Immortal and Mamedyarov's Tai-Chi Reversal!

06/06/2019 -

'Fab' Caruana displayed fabulous chess to dismantle Maxime Vachier Lagrave's Najdorf with an energetic bishop sacrifice. Viswanathan Anand seemed to lose his concentration for two moves, which was enough for Shakriyar Mamedyarov to complete a memorable reversal after suffering in passivity. Levon Aronian's heartbreak against Magnus Carlsen graduated to another level after the former missed the chance of the round. Carlsen then managed to beat Aronian in the armageddon. Yu Yangyi continues his charmed life in top level chess by beating Ding Liren in the tiebreaker, while Grischuk's hasty draw offer in the classical game came back to bite him against So. A detailed round two report from Norway Chess 2019 by Tanmay Srinath.

"I wanted to enjoy every moment of pressure and learn from it" - Aravindh Chithambaram

06/06/2019 -

On 18th December 2018, Aravindh Chithambaram won his maiden National Open Senior title, after getting close to it multiple times and missing it. The next National title he won was National Teams on 11th February 2019 along with his PSPB Teammates. He became first National Triple Crown Champion of India when he won National Rapid and Blitz title on 27th and 28th May 2019 respectively. Thus winning all four National titles in three different formats of the game in just 163 days. In this article we interview Aravindh and he shares three of his best games from the recently concluded National Rapid and Blitz. We also take you back in 2013-14 when Aravindh was a rising star in Indian chess and how he has progressed logically through these last five years.

Women's Candidates: Nana takes sole lead after round 4

05/06/2019 -

Georgia no.1 Nana Dzagnidze is on a roll, she defeated Valentina Gunina, despite the Russian attempting to surprise Nana with French Defence. Nana understood her opponent's psychology and played to her strength to score a win with ease. Kosteniuk felt that she rushed launching an attack which resulted in quick liquidation to the endgame and equalization, diminishing all hopes pushing for a full point. Thus the game between former World Champions Kosteniuk and Zhongyi ended up in a draw. Anna drew with Goryachkina and halted her momentum while her sister Mariya returned her opponent Lagno's exchange sacrifice too early and eventually lose the game. Olympiad Gold medalist IM Padmini Rout analyzes Nana's game. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Shahid Ahmed

Norway Chess 2019 Round 1: Armaggeddon Crazy Chess at Norway 2019!

05/06/2019 -

5/5! That's how many encounters that were decided by Armageddon games! Clearly, all the players were in a mood for fighting chess but had to place their faith in Caissa's blessing, as the five classical games ended in fascinating draws. Carlsen had the best chance of the round against Anand, but the Indian champion defended resourcefully and forced a drawn rook ending. Elsewhere, Mamedyarov missed one of the finest nuances in his game against Caruana, while Aronian was somewhat worse against Grischuk but drew. Ding Liren and So drew while still in their preparation. The armageddons were full of excitement and action, yet surprisingly one-sided at times. An in-depth report by Tanmay Srinath.

16-year-old Keval Nirgun wins Late Babukaka Shirgaokar Open at Sangli

04/06/2019 -

16-year-old Keval Nirgun of Pune, surprised everyone by winning 52nd Late Babukaka Shirgaokar Open at Sangli on 23rd May 2019. The tournament was organized by Nutan Buddhibal Mandal, one of the oldest organizers in India and it took place at Sangli, Maharashtra from 18th to 23rd May 2019. Total 220 players participated from various states across the country. Top seed of the tournament was Anish Gandhi and IM Ramnath Balasubramaniam was the only International Master in the tournament. Total Prize fund ₹200000 was distributed among 66 different prizes. Photo: FA Vivek Sohani

Bhakti Sensational at National Rapid and Blitz 2019

04/06/2019 -

The reigning National Women's Champion WGM Bhakti Kulkarni had a fantastic run at National Rapid and Blitz 2019. She scored 8.0/11 in both Rapid and Blitz each to secure 8th and 3rd position respectively. This is the best performance by a woman in the National Rapid and Blitz event for the past five years. Previous best was by her only in 2014 when she scored 7.0/11 and 7.5/11 to secure 11th and 8th position respectively in Rapid and Blitz. In this article we interview her to get to know about her performance and her best game from the tournament. Photo: Kanwarjeet/Punjab Kesari  

Norway Blitz: Hurricane MVL destroys the competition, moves to world no.1 with 2948 Elo!

04/06/2019 -

2948! His New Rating! French No.1 Maxime Vachier Lagrave produced another breathtaking blitzkering to take sole first in Norway with an unearthly score of 7.5/9, thus retaking the top spot in the World Rankings in blitz. The Frenchman lost only once, but won 7(!) games with Magnus Carlsen being the biggest casualty. The resurgent Levon Aronian played a remarkable tournament, and so did Carlsen, but their untimely losses meant that they took 2nd and 3rd respectively. Mamedyarov was a distant 4th, while Ding and Yu Yangyi produced mid table performances. Grischuk, Caruana and Anand finished tied at the bottom with a sombre 3.0/9. An illustrated report by Tanmay Srinath.

Home Front - The Hidden Bane of Top Level Chess

03/06/2019 -

22nd November 2013. Who doesn’t remember that date. Magnus Carlsen began his iron fist rule of the top of the chess world by defeating Anand in Chennai. The Mozart of Chess finally took over the mantle of World Champion, taming the Madras Tiger in his own den! Does playing in front of your home crowd in chess make any difference? The players are after all fighting it out inside four walls with no real fans in sight. In this article we try to understand this subject which has not really been given importance in the chess world - the pressure of playing on home-turf. This topic assumes even more importance when we have the Norway super tournament beginning from today where Carlsen will fight in front of his home crowd.

Vishy Anand welcomes Nihal Sarin to the 2600 club!

03/06/2019 -

On 1st of June, at the age of 14 years and 10 months Nihal Sarin crossed 2600 on the published FIDE rating list. He became the third youngest player in the history of the game after Wei Yi and John Burke to cross 2600. Currently he is the youngest 2600+ player in the world. Of course this achievement is phenomenal and has lot to do with the consistency with which Nihal is improving as a player. Nihal's rating and results are enough to gauge his humongous talents, but it is always nice to get affirmation of this fact from a five-time World Champion. On 2nd of June, Vishy Anand tweeted, "Nihal has made a lot of progress in the last year. His tenacity and focus is commendable." 

Women's Candidates Round 3: Goryachkina and Dzagnidze in joint lead

03/06/2019 -

Round 3 in Women's Candidates saw all four games to have decisive results and surprisingly all of them were from white pieces. Gunina tricked her opponent Kosteniuk by opting for Scotch game. Kateryna Lagno missed multiple opportunities to save her game against the youngest player of the tournament Aleksandra Goryachkina. Former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi made a couple of lucky escapes as her opponent Anna Muzychuk suffered second consecutive defeat. Nana Dzagnidze accepted Mariya Muzychuk's pawn sacrifice early in the middle game and won comfortably. We have reigning Asian Women's Champion IM Padmini Rout analyzing Goryachkina and Lagno's game in this report. Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich and Shahid Ahmed

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