Truly "a wonder!" Praggnanandhaa scores his first GM norm

22/11/2017 -

The world was waiting with a bated breath. Praggnanandhaa moved his knight to c6. The little American GM Awonder Liang saw no way to stave off mate and stretched his hand out in resignation! Little Praggu had done it! The boy has scored his maiden GM norm! But there is no time to relax. With 6.5/8 Pragg is in a great position to win the World Juniors title. All that he has to do is beat Norwegian Aryan Tari, who is in the lead, in the ninth round! It's going to be a fascinating finish. We bring you all the action from the eighth round with video analysis by IM Sagar Shah.

World Juniors Rd 6+7: Just past the halfway mark, Praggnanandhaa remains joint second

21/11/2017 - Post the seventh round, IM R Praggnanandhaa is heading strongly towards the finish line. While he gave a hint of an Anand-esque element in his play in round 6, in round 7 he left everyone surprised by his decision to repeat moves and go for a draw against GM Alekseenko in a better position. But with four more rounds to go, little Praggna has all chances of making it big at the event. Right behind Praggnanandhaa are three more Indian GMs, namely: Aravindh Chithambaram, Murali Karthikeyan and Shardul Gagare at 5.0/7. A report on round six and seven.

Mallorca GP Round 4+5: War and Peace

21/11/2017 -

The fourth and the fifth round in Mallorca were like two juxtaposing elements. While round four was a bloody affair which featured seven decisive games, peace abound round five as all games ended in a draw. Many of the participants who had not scored wins in the first three rounds scored on Sunday. And the best news for Indian fans was that Harikrishna, the only Indian at the event won his game against Francisco Vallejo Pons. A report on round 5 and 6. 

When the rook is as powerful as the queen!

20/11/2017 -

" Fortresses in endgame always appeals to the spectator when a side with a material disadvantage holds his own in a seemingly lost battle. Like the attractiveness of sacrifice in chess, fortresses too capture the imagination of players and annotators alike," writes GM Sundararajan Kidambi. He saw the game between Lupulescu and Navara live from the European Club Cup 2017 and was drawn towards the beauty of the Czech grandmaster's tenacious play. In this article we discuss the fortress of rook versus queen, which is not only possible with one pawn per side, but also when the side with the queen is a pawn up! | Kidambi's image in thumbnail: Alina l'Ami.

Remembering Jose Raul Capablanca

19/11/2017 -

Often described as "the chess machine", Jose Raul Capablanca, one of the greatest chess players the world has seen, was born today. Known for the simplicity of his games and an immaculate endgame technique, Capablanca has influenced several world champions like Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov. As a tribute to the genius of the third world champion, Aniket Sawant, a chess enthusiast from Mumbai has sent us this article.

Mallorca GP Round 2+3: Consecutive draws for Harikrishna

19/11/2017 -

After three rounds at the Mallorca Grand Prix, five players -- Aronian, Svidler, MVL, Giri and Radjabov -- are leading with 2.0/3. The only Indian in the fray, Pentala Harikrishna, after drawing all of his first three games is half-a-point behind the leaders at 1.5/2 along with eight other players. Of course, Hari is already out of the race for the two spots in the Candidates tournament. But if he is to finish things on a high note at the Grand Prix series, he will have to start scoring full points real soon.

Video analysis of S.L. Narayanan against Praggnanandhaa

19/11/2017 -

There's a video of Vidit Gujrathi on his Facebook page which has become quite popular. In it he gives an important advice towards the end - Analyze live games without an engine. Our author Sagar Shah did that after the fifth round of the World Junior 2017 and found that Praggnanandhaa's win over S.L. Narayanan was filled some amazing bit of variations and analysis. Not everything can be covered in a ten minute video, but we have made an attempt. Due credit to S.L. Narayanan's imaginative play, and all words of praise fall short in the way Pragg defended that position after being outprepared in the opening. 

World Junior 05: Chennai champs win the day!

18/11/2017 -

Nearing halfway stage, the World Junior Championship finally has found a sole leader in GM Kirill Alekseenko with a perfect 5.0/5 score. However, the little Indian star, R Praggnanandhaa is right under his nose with 4.5/5. In the fifth round, Praggna survived a hurricane of an attack by SL Narayanan to emerge victorious. Another Chennai lad in the fray, Aravindh Chithambaram also scored an impressive win over IM Pier Luigi Basso. Round 5 report.

South Mumbai Chess Academy celebrates 21 years of nurturing talents

18/11/2017 -

21 years! That's how long SMCA has been spreading chess in the city of Mumbai, state of Maharashtra and India! In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, the fourth prize money online blitz tournament - SMCA online blitz will be held on the 3rd of December 2017. This time we have a record breaking prize fund of Rs.62,500 with first prize of Rs.15,000 and special age category prizes, as well as best female player prize! One of India's finest players B. Adhiban has already confirmed his entry. In this article we tell you all about the tournament and also about SMCA and its contribution to the world of chess.

World Junior 04: Harsha Bharathakoti loses his lead

17/11/2017 -

Tournament leaders were halved from four to two after the fourth round of the World Junior Championship. The only Indian among the tournament leaders, IM Harsha Bharathakoti, slipped down after his loss to the Russian FM Aleksey Sorokin. On the bright side, however, R Praggnanandhaa, the 12-year-old IM from Chennai crushed the top seed of the tournament, Jorden van Foreest with surgeon-like precision. Another important win was scored by GM Murali Karthikeyan against the local GM Luca Moroni Jr. Round 4 report.

Mallorca GP 01: A spectacular start!

17/11/2017 -

The final leg of the Grand Prix series, Mallorca Grand Prix, began with a bang. Three out of the nine games finished decisively. Pentala Harikrishna, the only Indian in the field, was held to a 45 move long draw by the Norwegian GM Jon Ludvig Hammer. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, one of the contenders for the top two spots in the GP series, slayed Boris Gelfand's Accelerated Dragon and got off to a flying start. Richard Rapport turned out to be a bit too creative for himself and lost a complicated game after sacrificing a piece against Anish Giri. We have a report with games, pictures and analysis.  

Praggnanandhaa stuns top seed Jorden van Foreest at the World Juniors

16/11/2017 -

World Juniors is a tournament held for players below the age of 20 years. Little Praggu, although just 12, wanted to test himself against the best juniors in the world. That is the reason he flew down to Italy to fight it out against players much elder to him. With a rating of 2509 no one can underestimate Pragg, but when facing a seasoned campaigner like Jorden van Foreest, you begin to wonder whether the little boy has it in him to beat the former Dutch Champion. Well, Pragg gave us a resounding answer with a nearly flawless game and took home the full point without too many issues. We have the full game with critical moments and video analysis by IM Sagar Shah.

The man who created six Indian grandmasters!

16/11/2017 -

Many experts concur on the fact that India is in the process of becoming a super power in the world of chess. A lot of people and organizations including All India Chess Federation (AICF) have contributed to the growth of the sport in our country. While we all know the role played by R.B. Ramesh, India's national coach, in creating super talents, there is one person who is quietly uplifting the chess culture of the country. He is a grandmaster from Ukraine and he is responsible for creating six grandmasters from India! Know about this phenomenal coach who believes in strengthening the basics of each of his students. 

World Junior 03: Only one Indian remains at the top

16/11/2017 -

At the end of three rounds at the World Junior Chess Championship in Tarvisio, IM Harsha Bharathakoti from Telangana is in the joint lead with a perfect score of 3.0/3. A whisker away from him are R Praggnanandhaa and two of the highest rated GMs from India at the event, GM Murali Karthikeyan and GM SL Narayanan, all of whom won their first two games and conceded a draw in the third. A report with games and pictures.

Can Harikrishna score the biggest victory of his career?

16/11/2017 -

The Grand Prix series until now was not the most exciting string of tournaments held. Mainly because of the high number of draws in the past events. But the last leg held at Palma De Mallorca, Spain, which will begin from 16th of November, is extremely exciting, because two spots from the Candidates 2018 will be decided from here! Two players who have the best chance to make it are Teimour Radjabov and MVL. For Indians it will be interesting to see how Harikrishna fares at this event. He has proved by holding his own against the best, but can he beat them and emerge as the winner? We will have to see.