chessbase india logo

Aeroflot Open R 5+6: Tournament lead changes hands

26/02/2018 -

After each of the last two rounds of the Aeroflot Open, a new player took over the tournament lead. Four rounds into the event, tournament lead was shared between three players: Bologan, Petrosian and Artemiev. Beating Bologan in the fifth round, Artemiev took sole lead. But this was very short-lived; just one round later, Artemiev was overtaken by his namesake, Vladislav Kovalev. Among the Indians, Sasikiran, Karthikeyan and Sethuraman share the third spot with eight other players while the star of the first four rounds, Eesha Karavade lost back to back games in rounds 5 & 6 and dropped to the 41st place. 

ChessBase 18 and Mega 2025 are here

ChessBase 18 is an all-new program that helps you manage all your databases as an ambitious player. Mega Database 2025 has 11 million games with over 113,000 games annotated by masters. The cost of ChessBase 18 is Rs.4499/- and the cost of Mega Database 2025 is Rs.6499/- However, if you go for the combo the total amount comes to Rs.8999 (instead of 10,998/-) helping you save Rs. 1999/-.

ChessBase 18 + Mega 2025 Combo

Flawless Deepan Chakkravathy wins 2nd Shaastra Rapid 2018 at IIT-M

26/02/2018 -

The Shaastra Rapid 2018 was held on the 24th and the 25th of February 2018 inside the IIT-M campus. The ten-round event had a time control of 20 minutes + 5 seconds increment. The top seed was GM Vishnu Prasanna, but he had ample competition coming from GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, GM R.R. Laxman, GM Sriram Jha and GM Tejas Bakre and seven International Masters. In the end, it was GM Deepan Chakkravarthy who won the tournament by displaying some phenomenal chess. He scored 9.5/10 and took home Rs.35,000. IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal who were present at the venue bring you a detailed report. Sagar also took part as a player in the event and shares his experience with you.

Mitrabha wins 2nd Queen's Gambit Rapid 2018

25/02/2018 -

Former National Sub-Junior and Commonwealth under 14 Gold medalist, FM Mitrabha Guha remained undefeated and won the 2nd edition of Queen's Gambit Rapid Chess Tournament 2018, organized by chesspert.com in association with SLOBA, held in St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata on 20th and 21st January 2018. Mitrabha finished ahead of two IMs and a WGM. He finished at 3rd position last year in the inaugural edition of the tournament. Top seed of the event IM Sayantan Das finished at 6th position. The tournament was inaugurated by India's elite GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and the Chief Guest of the Closing Ceremony was West Bengal's first and India's second GM Dibyendu Barua. The report contains photos, videos and interviews taken by Shahid Ahmed who was present at the venue and also one of the organizers.

Ramesh's book "Logical Decision Making" is now available for just Rs.799/- !

24/02/2018 -

GM R.B. Ramesh is considered as one of the best coaches in Indian chess circles. His wealth of chess knowledge is humongous. Not many coaches are able to guide their students right from the stage of learning the basics to becoming a grandmaster. Learning personally from Ramesh is every students' dream. Hence it was a great news for the chess community that Ramesh wrote his first chess book - Fundamental Chess - Logical Decision Making. And thanks to ChessBase India, this book is available to Indians at just Rs.999/- Don't miss the early bird offer - first 100 buyers for Rs.799/-! Thumbnail Photo: David Llada.

Eesha Karavade strikes again!

24/02/2018 -

She might be the bottom-most seed of the tournament but she sure as hell can bite. In the fourth round of the Aeroflot Open, IM Eesha Karavade continued her stupendous run at the event scoring yet another win against a 2600+ GM. With this victory, she has earned herself the shared second spot on the leaderboard. Another player to beat a higher rated grandmaster and share the joint second spot with Eesha was GM Murali Karthikeyan. With the white pieces, Karthikeyan took down the fourth seed of the tournament, Rauf Mamedov in a 77 move marathon. We have an illustrated report with interviews and annotated games.

Happy birthday to India's 8th Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly

24/02/2018 -

ChessBase India would like to wish India's 8th Grandmaster, Surya Sekhar Ganguly a very happy birthday. He has a lot of accolades to his name, National, Commonwealth, Asian title and he has won tournaments all over the world, Bangladesh, Australia, Philippines, UAE, Thailand and different parts of our country, India. He won the Arjuna Award in 2005. He has also worked with the team of seconds and assisted Anand in winning the World Title in Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and Gelfand in 2008, 2010 and 2012 respectively. We bring you an interview along with a few annotated games by the elite GM himself, which was first published in chessbase.com on 5th October 2015, conducted by IM Sagar Shah. Thumbnail image: Surya Sekhar Ganguly's facebook page.

Last seed Eesha Karavade is the best performing Indian at the Aeroflot Open 2018

23/02/2018 -

This is one of the biggest Indian contingent ever witnessed at the Aeroflot Open 2018. We have 16 players in the A group, 37 in the B group and 11 in the C. It comes to a total of 64 players! Of course, a lot of Indians get paired against each other, but that is just the part of the deal. After the initial three rounds a very surprising super performer for team India has emerged - IM Eesha Karavade! She is the last seed in the A group, but has scored 2.0/3 and is currently placed 13th, the highest rank by an Indian ahead of Vidit, Sasikiran, Sethu and the others! In the B group we have Nubairshah Sheikh who is on 3.0/3 and in the C group it is Kumar Gaurav on 100% score. Report from Moscow by Niklesh Jain.  

How to perform under must-win scenarios

22/02/2018 -

P. Iniyan is one of the most talented players currently in India. The 15-year-old has a rating of 2460 and has scored his two GM norms in very short time. The second one, however, took a lot out of him as he was in a must-win situation in the last round against Marco Baldauf, a German IM, rated 2498. Usually, in such last round must-win scenarios players come under a lot of pressure and are unable to come out with the desired result. But Iniyan delivered and he played a beautiful game. In this article he gives advice on what it takes to win such games and also sends us his in-depth analysis.

Understanding my passion for chess

21/02/2018 -

Many people claim that chess is their passion, but how many have thought deeply about the reasons why they love chess so much. It takes an IIT graduate and the head of an engineering college to think objectively about this intense subject! Prof. Lakshmi Narayana thought deeply about why he loves chess so much, and was able to break it down point by point. Through this article, you can realize how rich the game of chess is. As has been rightly mentioned, "Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe!" There is something in this game for everyone, right from a philosopher to an illiterate! 

Curly hair, never say die attitude, and a heart of gold!

20/02/2018 -

When the stakes are high, more often than not she delivers. This is one of the qualities that makes a champion and Padmini Rout surely is one of the greatest ones that Indian chess has ever produced. They say that your present qualities are an echo of what you have learned when you were young. Hence, it's always interesting to dig up the past and learn more about these great players. Sagar Shah caught up with Padmini after her fourth consecutive national title and did an in-depth interview with her. This article gives you a clear insight into how Padmini Rout functions and what makes her the player that she is. 

Any Time Chess - A brand new concept for chess education

20/02/2018 -

When Tarun and Trisha Kanyamarala started playing chess, they faced a problem - chess coaching was too expensive and even if they went for it the coaches were not able to give them dedicated attention. In such a scenario, how should they improve? The kids came up with a novel concept of ATC (Any time Chess). They invited players to come at one place and practice chess together. For this they even created their own ATC ratings and kept it as affordable as Rs.10 per game! As players started pouring in Tarun and Trisha got great practice at their home with a wide range of players which helped them to become stronger chess players. 

India's best visually challenged player Kishan Gangolli about to quit chess

19/02/2018 -

Kishan Gangolli is 75% visually challenged. But it has not stopped him from pursuing his passion - the game of chess. He is the five-time national blind champion, current Asian champion and two-time Olympiad medal winner. He is, perhaps, the greatest blind chess player that India has ever produced. The 25-year-old has always given the priority to chess over education. But, he has never received any recognition, sponsorship or support. Very reluctantly he has made a decision to quit chess and study for IAS. Can we save our star player? 

19 players from Maharashtra feted with the Shiv Chhatrapati Award

18/02/2018 -

The highest sporting honour for any sportsplayer in Maharashtra is the Shiv Chhatrapati awards. Since last three years because of some irregularities, the award had been stopped. All Marathi Chess Association (AMCA) along with senior players and administrators of Maharashtra chess convinced the Government that different grading system should be put in place for chess players to receive the award. Hence all the GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs in the last five years received this prestigious award. ChessBase India's Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal were present at the venue and bring you some exclusive coverage with beautiful pictures and lively videos.

Pranav becomes the second 11-year-old to score an IM norm at First Friday!

17/02/2018 -

The First Friday IM norm closed Round Robin tournament in Kuala Lumpur organized by Peter Long had reached its third edition in February. The tournament is a small one consisting of just 10 players, but its repercussions on Indian chess are pretty huge. Two of our biggest talents D.Gukesh and V. Pranav made their maiden IM norms at this event. Thanks to this achievement their chess careers get a tremendous boost! In this article, we tell you the story of how Pranav made his IM norm in the February edition and also bring to you two of his annotated games from the event.

Welcome to the land of staggering natural beauty- HD Bank Open Vietnam 2018

16/02/2018 -

What do you look for when you choose to play in an international event? 1. Strong field, 2. A good place to visit, 3. Affordability. What if we said that all of this is possible if you play at the HD Bank Open 2018 in Vietnam. With the top seed being 2737 and close to 100 titled players expected this is a perfect tournament for you to gain exposure/norms. Apart from this Hanoi is a beautiful city in Vietnam with a lot of tourist attractions. And thanks to ChessBase India Power this entire trip will cost you just Rs. 40,000. Check out this article and get ready for the South East Asian Experience. 

Contact Us