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The rise of chess in India - from 1988 to 2019!

03/06/2019 -

On 5th May 2019, India found its 62nd Grandmaster in Swayams Mishra when the 26-year-old from Odisha achieved his final GM norm. From having only one Grandmaster in 1988 and just three during the 90s to a whooping sixty-two in the present year, the nation has indeed come a long way as far as chess is concerned. Going by these numbers, the progress does seem almost overnight. India produced a record eight GMs in 2018 and this year, barely five months in, there are already four. An even brighter future beckons as a band of exceptionally talented teenagers are proving their mettle on chessboard all over the world day in, day out. Today in this article we wind back the clock and delve deep into the country's flourishing chess scene to understand what has made Caïssa shower such incredible graces on the Indian chess community in recent times.

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Two days in Scotland

02/06/2019 -

When you sit back home and watch a chess tournament, you see the players, their moves, their games and their scores. However, when you are present at the venue, you not only watch the games, but you try to soak in the environment. On 25th and 26th of May 2019 an extremely strong six round rapid event was held at Lindores Abbey in Scotland. Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Ding Liren, and Sergey Karjakin were the players. IM Sagar Shah was invited to the tournament as a journalist. Sagar's main aim was the coverage of the event, but at the same time he met a lot of different personalities. In this article he talks about the people whom he met and his overall experience of attending the strongest tournament ever held on Scottish soil.

Goryachkina and Dzagnidze score their first win in Women's Candidates

02/06/2019 -

Goryachkina has made the most of her opportunity when she defeated the former Women's World Blitz Champion Valentina Gunina. The youngest player of the tournament, showcased perfect handling of the endgame and did not make any mistake by converting it into a full point. The other win of the day was scored by Georgia's no.1 Nana Dzagnidze over Ukraine's no.2 Anna Muzychuk. Lagno had subtle chances against Kosteniuk before she traded Queens and settled for a draw. While Zhongyi was ambitious in her play in the middlegame, Mariya made sure she never in danger. IM and WGM Padmini Rout annotates Anna-Nana's game. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Neelash and Samriddhaa win 2nd West Bengal State under-17

01/06/2019 -

IM Neelash Saha and Samriddhaa Ghosh win 2nd West Bengal State under-17 2019. Both won their maiden State under-17 title emphatically scoring 6.5/7. Neelash won his second state championship in consecutive months as he won State Blitz last month while Samriddha bounced back after unsuccessful defence of her State Women's crown and finished a full point. CM Aronyak Ghosh also finished at 6.5/7 but due to a better tie-break score, Neelash edged ahead and won the championship. Newly crowned National Schools under-17 girls champion Diya Chowdhury scored 5.5/7 and finished at 2nd position among the girls. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Women's Candidates: Gunina survives a scare in round 1

01/06/2019 -

Valentina on top board survives a massive scare against Kateryna Lagno. The former Women's World Blitz Champion Valentina faced a deferred Steinitz Defence with white pieces but she was unable to get much out of the opening. The reigning World Blitz champion Lagno managed to equalize early in the middle game and then gain substantial advantage but she fell into perpetual check and the game ended up in a draw. Goryachkina kept pushing for an advantage out of the opening with an unusual variation in the Ruy Lopez but the Chess Queen Kosteniuk kept resisting, eventually Goryachkina missed an opportunity and it ended in a draw. Dzagnidze-Zhongyi and the battle of Muzychuk sisters ended up in uneventful draws. Photo: Anastasya Karlovich

If you are above 2400 Elo, a GM norm event is waiting for you in Indonesia

31/05/2019 -

If you are a 2400+ player and are looking for a GM norm tournament, you are in for some good news. The Japfa chess GM norm tournament with 12 players is taking place from 12th to 22nd of June 2019 in Indonesia. 10 players have already confirmed their participation and there is still space for two players. All your costs apart from flight ticket will be covered by the organizers. Apart from this you also have a guaranteed prize money amount that you will take home. Yes, there are only 12 days left for the tournament, but the big plus point is that Indians do not need to apply for a visa to go to Indonesia. If you are keen on taking part in this tournament, then write an email to the contacts given in the article and who knows you will be playing in the Japfa GM norm tournament 2019!

Upcoming tournaments in June 2019

31/05/2019 -

The month of June is stacked with tournaments of all levels. The very first day of June kicks off with National under-7 in Kolkata. Then Altibox Norway starts in Stavanger, Norway from 4th June starring Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand and other elite players. Asian Continental starts on 6th June in Xingtai, China. Israel hosts a strong Masters and Open tournament from 23rd June. Mayor's Cup continues the summer season of GM tournaments in India from 8th June in Mumbai with it's twelfth edition. The third GM tournament of the summer starts from 18th June with critically acclaimed Goa GM Open. World Chess is slated to bring Chess to television with Armageddon The Beginning from 10th June.

The art of looking for Candidate moves

31/05/2019 -

By playing games of chess, looking at games of masters, and solving positions, you develop a feel for chess. This is what we call intuition. When you glance at a position the first moves that come to your mind are because of your intuition. A good chess player has developed a fine intuition for the game through his incessant hardwork. However, this is not enough in a practical game, because there are often many hidden possibilities which the intuition cannot grasp on first look. Hence, it is important to dig deeper for options. This art of digging deeper in the position is called the search for "Candidate Moves". In this article GM Swapnil Dhopade talks about the important subject with the help of a few examples. Also we have the solution to Swapnil's previous challenge.

The World Children's Winners Games 2019 - overcoming cancer with sports

31/05/2019 -

The World Children's Winners Games better known as The Winners Games are international sports competitions for survivors of childhood cancer. The “Gift of Life Foundation”- founded by Russian actresses Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun gives a great opportunity for the survivors of childhood cancer. Each year, “The World Children Winner’s Games” are organized in Moscow, Russia, where survivors from all over the world are invited to participate in competitive events like Track, Chess, Football, Table tennis, swimming and Shooting where they go on to search for and gain their self-worth. This year the games will be held from 4th to 7th July. We have a look at the event and also the preparations of Indian team.

FIDE Women`s Candidates Tournament kicks off in Kazan

31/05/2019 -

The tournament with the world strongest female players competing for a spot in the World Championship match, was officially opened in the Kazan Palace Hotel on May 30. The eight-woman Double Round-Robin tournament will determine who will face Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Championship. It has been decided that players from the same federation will play against each other first before facing other federations for the federations which has two or more players. A rest day is allotted after every 3 rounds. Drawing of colors was done last month by the strongest woman chess player in history GM Judit Polgar in presence of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. Photo: Official site

The Problemist Diary Part 4: Theatrical Positional Draw

30/05/2019 -

A few days ago Levon Aronian posted an interesting study on twitter for solving. He refused to give away the name of the composer and just hinted that its idea was very “theatrical” and “hidden”! So what is it in this position that intrigues a world class player like Aronian so much? We also reproduced the position on our ChessBase India page as an exercise for our readers. Well, here we are now to not only spill the beans but much more! Our compositions expert Satanick Mukhuty also delves into other positions which are similar to this theme. A lot to learn for practical chess players.

Last 2 days to register for the 2nd Goa GM International 2019

30/05/2019 -

In 2018, Goa organized the biggest sporting event in the state. Was it cricket event, or a football tournament? Turns out it was chess! The 1st Goa GM International 2018 saw record participation of over 1200 participants at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium. This year the tournament is back again, bigger and better from the 18th to 25th of June 2019. We bring you a review of the tournament held in 2018, so that you know what to expect this year. The last date for registration is 31st of May 2019! So, don't miss the opportunity to play a strong tournament in one of the most scenic and beautiful states of India. 

Ian Nepomniachtchi wins Moscow GP

30/05/2019 -

The first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess at Moscow in Russia is over, and Ian Nepomniachtchi has taken a significant step toward trying to become the challenger for next year’s World Chess Championship match. But there is a long way to go before Nepomniachtchi, or someone else, will earn the right to play for the title. The match was decided by two rapid tie-breaker games after the regular games were both drawn. The first symbolic move in the game A. Grischuk - I. Nepomniachtchi was made by Alexander Ovechkin, a Russian professional hockey player, a three-time winner of the World Championship as a member of the Russian national team, ice hockey winger of the Washington Capitals, the 2018 Stanley Cup owner. Photo: World Chess

10-year-old Ilamparthi wins 30th CUSAT Open Rating tournament and creates history

29/05/2019 -

Ten-year-old A R Ilamparthi of Tamil Nadu created history by winning the CUSAT International FIDE rated tournament held at the Cochin university of Science and Technology, Kochi. One has to search and find whether it is a world record. The traditional CUSAT FIDE rated tournament completed its 30th edition on 22nd May 2019. The four-day open tournament comprising eight rounds had 343 participants from nine states. IM Al Muthaiah of Tamil Nadu had the privilege of being top seeded, followed by Senthil Maran, also from Tamil Nadu. But, fifth seeded A R Ilamparthi of Chennai had the honour of winning his maiden Open FIDE rated tournament title. Photo: R Anantharam

World's youngest GM Gukesh is now a teenager

29/05/2019 -

A young boy from Chennai was taught chess when he was six years old. Seven years later, today, he became a teenager! 13 years old. What happened in those seven years? Well, the youngster became the under-11 national champion, under-12 Asian Champion, under-12 World Champion, scored his three IM norms, reached 2400 Elo, became an IM, scored his three GM norms, reached 2500, became a GM, became India's youngest GM, second youngest GM in the history of chess! Phew... Yes, the youngster we are talking about is Gukesh! And the good news for Indian chess is that he has just started his journey. A very happy 13th birthday, Gukesh.

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