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Raja Rithvik and K Priyanka win National Under 17

09/11/2017 -

The reigning National Under 13 Champion, Raja Rithvik R of Telangana and Commonwealth Chess 2017 Under 16 girls champion, K Priyanka of Tamil Nadu have emerged as the champions of Dr N. Mahalingam 28th National Under-17 Chess Championship 2017 in the Open and Girls' category, respectively. Even though both champions tripped once in their run and lost a game each, they managed to overcome the setback and emerged as title winners in their respective age category. Here is a report full of photos and games with photos by Sathish Kumar K.

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

National Premier 2017 Round 11: Aravindh keeps the race alive!

09/11/2017 -

Aravindh Chithambaram is not going to give up the race for becoming the national champion so easily! The lad was in grave trouble against P. Shyam Nikhil, but managed to find some key defensive ideas to win his game and join Lalith Babu at the top of the table. The duo are now on 7.5/11 and have a full one point lead over the field. Lalith has a tiebreak edge because he has beaten Aravindh in their personal encounter, but on the other hand Aravindh has relatively easier opposition in the last two rounds than Lalith. It's going to be a fantastic battle to the finish. Round 11 report from Patna.

Yuzvendra Chahal: From Greys to Greens

08/11/2017 -

Just before the Indian Cricket team clinched the T20 series against New Zealand yesterday, the Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal donned his chess-player hat yet again and played a few games of chess against his Kiwi counterpart, Ish Sodhi. Chahal, in his early days, had been a national level chess player and had even represented India at Asian and World U-12 Junior Championships. Here's a quick look at this fun match and Chahal's chess life.

M.R. Venkatesh on winning the Liffre Open

08/11/2017 -

M R Venkatesh's long wait for winning a title prize in a classical time control tournament was finally over at the Liffre  International Chess Open held in the final weeks of October. Scoring 8.0/9, Venkatesh emerged as the clear winner of the tournament, half a point ahead of his nearest rival. In this report, Venkatesh gives us a first-hand account of his experience in Liffre and also annotates a couple of games from the tournament.

National Premier 2017 Round 10: Will Lalith win his maiden National Premier title?

07/11/2017 -

Lalith Babu has never won the National Premier before. He is currently ideally placed to do that. With just three rounds to go, he has a half point lead over the field. In the tenth round he beat Sammed Shete with the black pieces. Lalith has three strong opponents left to play - Deepan, Swapnil and Narayanan. But as the article will convince you, self confidence is not something that Lalith lacks! The other decisive game of the round was between R.R. Laxman and Himanshu Sharma. The Haryana GM is unable stop the bleeding and slumped to his sixth defeat of the event. We have comprehensive coverage from Patna. 

Sandipan Chanda finishes joint first at the Bavarian Open Championship

07/11/2017 -

The recently concluded 21st Bavarian International Chess Open attracted almost 500 participants of whom around two dozen were Grandmasters. In fact, the top six seeds were rated above Elo 2600! There were only two Indian  GMs in this super strong field - GN Gopal and Sandipan Chanda. Despite being far from the rating favourites, both players performed outstandingly. Sandipan Chanda was tied for first and had it not been for the mishap in the final round, Gopal, too, would have been among the leaders. However, despite all odds, he finished tied for second with an unbeaten score. A report with pictures and games. 

National Premier 2017 Round 9: Lalith Babu throws the tournament wide open

07/11/2017 -

Just before the ninth round began we received messages like: This tournament is meant to be Aravindh's, the youngster from Chennai is on fire, sublime play by the 18-year-old and so on. With one point lead and five rounds to go Aravindh was in the driver's seat. But Lalith Babu had some different intentions. He came to the game with great confidence and managed to show some very balanced play to outplay Chithambaram. With this victory the tournament is wide open once again. Aravindh and Lalith lead the event with 6.0/9. Right on their heels are Karthikeyan Murali, Arghyadip Das and S.L. Narayanan who are on 5.5/9. A detailed account of all the happenings from Patna.

PM Narendra Modi subtly promotes the game of chess!

06/11/2017 -

When PM Modi met the royal family of Bhutan -- who is currently on a four-day trip to India -- his gift to Prince Jigme Namgyal Wangchuck was something that caught our eye. The cute little Bhutanese Prince was given a chess set as a gift! Memories of the Swarnim Chess Mahotsav which was held back in 2010 immediately sprung up and we couldn't help wondering if this was a subtle way of promoting the royal game by the PM.  

Setyaki leads First Friday November with 3.5/4

05/11/2017 -

The First Friday IM norm round robin tournament that is taking place from 4th until the 8th of November is heating up. Jodi Azarya Setyaki, a talented Indonesian FM, is playing some strong chess to lead the event with 3.5/4. India's reigning national under-17 champion Rithvik Raja is on the second spot along with Malaysian Mas Hafizulhelmi. Grandmaster Niaz Murshed has simply been unable to get going and has four draws from four rounds. We have an illustrated report with pictures and games.

National Premier 2017 Round 8: Winning this tournament is not Aravindh's aim!

05/11/2017 -

"Winning the tournament is not my aim. I just want to make good moves!" That's what Aravindh Chithambaram said after he beat S.L. Narayanan in the eighth round of the National Premier 2017. How can one beat a man with such an attitude? Aravindh sacrificed a piece and played some sublime chess to extend his lead by a full point over Lalith Babu and Arghyadip Das. This round had four decisive encounters, we bring you the analysis of the same. Round eight report by our authors Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal from Patna, Bihar.

National Premier 2017 Round 7: Unrest after the rest day!

04/11/2017 -

Rest days are supposed to spent taking rest. However, some of the players travelled nearly 250 kilometres to enjoy the sight of Bodh Gaya. While this excursion worked well for some of the players, for others it turned out to be an exhausting experience as they blundered on the board. The most affected was Himanshu Sharma as he lost his game and now is in the last spot with 2.0/7. Aravindh Chithambaram was starting down at defeat, but defending brilliantly to draw against Deepan and maintain his half point lead. He is followed by three players on 4.5/7 - Lalith, Karthikeyan and Narayanan. A comprehensive report from Patna. 

Mikhalchishin on pattern recognition and planning: A review

04/11/2017 -

Pattern recognition and planning are some of the most important concepts to learn if you're on your road to chess mastery. In every position, the biggest hint to finding the right plan lies in the pawn structure. In this DVD, GM Adrian Mikhalchishin teaches how to recognise patterns and find the right plans accordingly. Besides, he also sheds light on some key concepts in plan execution including exploiting weak squares, piece manoeuvring etc. using ample examples from grandmaster games. Impressed by this selection of games, David Nastasio, the author of this review, felt one can find all the wisdom of the Soviet chess school in it.

Under 9 Nationals: Vidit Jain scores a major upset

04/11/2017 -

Lately, chess talents are not only cropping up from the southern part of India but also from the north. This also includes states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Assam etc. where the chess culture isn't that great. Thanks to the advent of the internet and other technological advancements, knowledge is no longer inaccessible to those who do not come from places where chess is a big thing. And of course, the efforts of the All India Chess Federation could also not be discounted. A very recent example of this is the Punjabi boy, Vidit Jain, who got the better of the top seed, A R Ilamparthy from Tamil Nadu in the second round of the National U-9 Chess Tournament and caused a major upset. A short report.

Live games from First Friday November

04/11/2017 -

The first Friday tournament is into its second edition. The November IM norm round robin tournament has a grandmaster playing in the form of GM Niaz Murshed. Two Indian players have also made their way to the event - recently crowned under-17 National Champion Rithvik Raja and YVK Chakravarthy. We would like to remind you that in the first ever edition of First Friday in October youngster D.Gukesh made his maiden IM norm. Here you can watch the live games of the event. Rounds begin at 6.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. IST every day.

Are you ready for the biggest blitz bonanza of 2017!

03/11/2017 -

We have organized three online prize money tournaments in 2017 - Fischer online, KCA online and DBCA online. Now we would like to end the year with a bang. The biggest prize money blitz tournament of the year is here. The total prize fund is Rs.62,500 and the first prize is Rs.15,000. It will be 10 rounds of 3'+1" blitz and this time we have special female and age category prizes! This event celebrates 21st anniversary of South Mumbai Chess Academy (SMCA). The last date of early bird registration is 12th of November. More details:

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