India to host quadruple GM Tournaments at the turn of 2017!

24/09/2017 -

Chess is becoming an increasingly popular sport in India. Not only are Indian players doing amazingly well at international events, our organisers have also upped the ante and a significant rise in Grandmaster tournaments has been seen in the country. A hallmark of this is the fact that for the end of the year, four back to back Grandmaster tournaments have been lined up in the country! You heard it right, the months from December 2017 to January 2018 will be witnessing four International Grandmaster events in Bhopal, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. In this report, we have all details about the forthcoming Indian winter circuit tournaments along with a few tips on what one can expect from each of the tournament destinations as a tourist.  

Asian Indoor Day one: Tan Zhongyi beats Vijayalakshmi

24/09/2017 -

The Asian Indoor games will be held from 20th-27th September 2017 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. 12 Indian players are representing our country in different formats. To begin with we have the Standard individual format where four of our players are in action. Sasikiran and Ganguly in men and Vijayalakshmi and Sachdev in women. We have the round one report with pictures, games and all the information you need about the event. Thumbnail source: Ashgabat 2017 facebook page 

Nielsen on ten years of Mexico 2007: Gelfand joins Anand at the top

21/09/2017 -

Being steady at a tournament like World Championship in Mexico 2007 is extremely important. After winning a game with white, it is important not to let your momentum go and play solidly with black. Anand did just that. After a fine win against Svidler in round five from the white side of the Marshall, he drew Leko in the Mueller Ruy Lopez with black. After six rounds Anand had a score of +2. Meanwhile Gelfand beat Morozevich and joined Anand at the top. We have the photo of our legendary Vijay Kumar who has done a great service to Indian chess, by covering all the top class tournaments where Anand would take part.

Nielsen on 10 years of Mexico 2007: Svidler Marshalled by Anand (R05)

21/09/2017 -

Marshall Gambit was an opening that was in great popularity back in 2007. Almost all the top players played it and there were serious theoretical discussions on it. The opening has stood the test of time and it is not possible to refute it. However, Anand and Peter Heine Nielsen came up with this interesting plan of 13.g3! It put Svidler in a spot of bother. With some very creative manoeuvring like fianchettoing the knight and undeveloping the bishop, Anand was able to beat Svidler. With this he took sole lead in the Mexico World Championship 2007 with a score of 3.5/5.

Indians at the World Cup 2017: What went wrong and right

21/09/2017 -

Seven Indians went to the World Cup 2017. If you look at the whole picture, we can say that this event was a failure for our players. None of them could go beyond the third round. However, on closer inspection you realize that there are so many positives that can be taken from this event. As one of the officials pointed out at the venue, "You can sense that India is becoming a super power, when you see Anand and Hari right at the top, and these hungry lions Vidit, Adhiban and Sethuraman capable of beating just about any top player on a given day!" We bring you the highlights of Indian performances. 

All about the Dress Code Scandal in Tbilisi

19/09/2017 -

The Chess World Cup was marred by an unfortunate controversy this year. The 25-year-old Canadian-Ukrainian GM, Anton Kovalyov decided to drop out of the event after an argument over his attire with the tournament's organizer, Zurab Azmaiparashvili. Kovalyov later stated in his Facebook post that he had dropped out because Azmaiparashvili had insulted him with racial slurs.The incident attracted a lot of reactions from all corners of the chess community. Organizations like the Canadian Chess Federation, the ACP, etc. openly protested against and condemned the way Azmaiparashvili treated Kovalyov. But Azmaiparashvili stood by his decision of not letting Kovalyov play in shorts while apologizing for inadvertently using a racist slur which he did not intend to use in that connotation. Here's a comprehensive report on the scandal in Tbilisi. 

Nielsen on 10 years of Mexico: No gamble in time scramble! (R04)

19/09/2017 -

Anand and Nielsen had prepared a new idea in the Semi Slav and it worked wonderfully against Morozevich. The Indian champion had a completely winning position in the middlegame. But then he started to play inaccurately and his advantage started to diminish. Yet, in the final position Anand (Black) was clearly better, but he agreed to a draw. Well, some might argue that this was an incorrect decision, but this is just the way that Vishy is. He is not the sort of a person who would gamble away his position in some time scramble. Know what sort of a player Anand is in more depth through this article. 

An hour with the God of chess!

19/09/2017 -

Many people in India started playing chess by listening about the exploits of Vishy Anand. For many Indian chess fans, Viswanathan Anand is the God of chess. To get a glimpse of him is a dream of every chess player. To talk to him would be asking a bit too much. But playing a game against him! Now that's just impossible. Well, not for Prasanna Rao! In the year 2000, this seven-year-old boy from Dombivli, Mumbai, got a chance to not only meet Anand, but also play an hour long game against him! Now Prasanna is 23 years old, an IM with three GM norms and 2464 rating, but that hour spent with Anand still remains the most special memory of his life till date!

Nielsen on 10 years of Mexico 2007: An opening debacle in the Petroff (R03)

18/09/2017 -

Vishy Anand and Peter Heine Nielsen had decided not to pay too much attention from the white side of the Petroff for the tournament. Their strategy was to find an idea one or two days prior to the game and then figure out things during the game. However, this strategy almost backfired when in a normal opening position Anand went wrong and very soon landed in trouble. A pawn down in a rook endgame with white might be a disaster for many, but for Vishy it was a simple draw, and he proved it by making accurate moves. 

The Golden Girl of Indian Chess - Divya Deshmukh

18/09/2017 -

When WFM Divya Deshmukh was asked, "What are your future plans in chess?", she replied, "I have no plans!" The girl just loves playing chess and this is reflected in her performances! She doesn't need any external motivation like Elo, medals or prizes to keep her going. No wonder, she has won 14 gold medals at international level for India at just the tender age of 12 years! Recently she won the gold in world cadets under-12 in Brazil, and ChessBase India's Shahid Ahmed caught up with her for a Skype Interview! We also speak with her father. We hope that through this interview you get to know Divya better, because we are sure you going to hear a lot about her in the near future.

Powerplay 25: No more stress against 1.d4 deviations!

17/09/2017 -

When you play competitive events you will face 1.d4 in almost half of your games as Black. It makes sense to have a firm repertoire against it. With that in mind, famous ChessBase author Daniel King recorded two DVDs Powerplay 23 and 24, the first one dealing with Queen's Gambit Declined and the second with Black's options against the Catalan. However, recently we have people playing so many unorthodox systems with 1.d4 like the London, Colle, Trompowsky, that it is a must to be prepared against them. Powerplay 25 helps you in that respect. And we have Davide Nastasio who reviews this DVD and tells you all about it.

Nielsen on 10 years of Mexico 2007: Beautiful novelty 17...c5 against Aronian! (R02)

14/09/2017 -

Our series on celebrating ten years of Mexico 2007 continues. Game two was an extremely crucial one, mainly because Anand was able to overcome his last move mistake against Gelfand in game one and score a scintillating victory over Aronian in game two. Peter Heine Nielsen who was one of the key elements in the game, tells us how the move 17...c5! surprised Aronian and gave Anand a great position. Vishy made an excellent positional move to turn a volatile situation in his favour. Pictures by Ali Nihat Yazici, videos by Vijay Kumar, video analysis by Peter Heine Nielsen and annotations by Mihail Marin. An article that should not be missed! 

Nielsen on 10 years of Mexico 2007: Anand saved against Gelfand (R01)

13/09/2017 - ChessBase India is celebrating ten years of India getting its first undisputed World Champion. Viswanathan Anand became the World Champion when he won the World Championship tournament in Mexico 2007. It was an eight player double round robin tournament. Anand's second Peter Heine Nielsen met Sagar Shah in Vilnius and Tbilisi and the two broke down the event game by game. On 13th of September 2007, the first game was played by Anand against Gelfand. We bring you Peter Heine Nielsen's thoughts, pictures, videos and detailed analysis.

World Cadets 2017: Indians so near yet so far

13/09/2017 -

The World Cadets has been an event where India has dominated in the past. We have youngsters who are so good that they are able to show their superiority at the world level. However, the World Cadets 2017 at Brazil from 22-31 August turned out to be an exception. India returned with only one medal - Divya Deshmukh won the gold in girls under-12. It was a case of being so near yet so far as two of our boys finished fourth. FI Praful Zaveri was with the team and he sends us a report.

Vidit gives 'Anand' to Indian fans!

13/09/2017 -

Anand means happiness in Hindi. Vidit's qualification to the third round gave Indians plenty of 'Anand' and helped us forget the pain of our hero Vishy Anand getting eliminated from the World Cup 2017. Vidit beat Le Quang Liem 1.5-0.5 while Vishy Anand lost with the same score to Canadian Anton Kovalyov. Harikrishna and Sethuraman are tied at 1:1 and will play the tiebreaks today, and Adhiban will take on Nepomniachtchi in the shorter format. Plenty of action from Indians at hotel Hualing, Tbilisi.