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IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam clear first at 4th Zion-Alwin Fide Rated Open 2026

07/02/2026 -

International Master Ramnathan Balasubramaniam clinched the title of the 4th International Fide Rated Chess Tournament organised by Zion-Alwin Group of Institutions with 7.5/8 points and a clear half-point lead over the field. Four players scored 7/8 points, but better tiebreaks helped Jayanth Venkatesh to secure second place, while Dharsh M secured third place. The event was held at  Zion International Public School, Mappedu, Chennai, from 10th to 13th January with a total prize pool of ₹4,00,000, including the top three prizes of ₹40,000, ₹30,000, and ₹25,000, respectively. Photos: FT & IA Ravichandran Venkataraman/Founder Mount Chess Academy

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The talented 11-year-old Safin Safarullakhan becomes FIDE Master

07/02/2026 -

Safin Safarullakhan earned the FIDE Master title after his performance at the IM-3 RR 102 Putnik Tournament. He scored 5/9 points and finished fourth in the standings. He entered the event with a rating of 2107, performed at a rating of 2319 and gained 98 Elo points. During the tournament, he defeated two grandmasters, Evgeniy Podolchenko and Handszar Odeev. Safin is training under GM Viorel Iordachescu and GM Stany. IM Jubin Jimmy worked as a mentor for the 11-year-old talent. Read the full article for more details on his performance. Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

Karuppasamy C wins Star Chess Foundation 3rd Below 1700 Classical

07/02/2026 -

Karuppasamy C of Tamil Nadu won the 3rd International Open Fide Rated Below-1700 chess tournament organised by Star Chess Foundation. Karuppasamy C scored 8/9 points, remaining unbeaten in the event with two draws. For second place, it was a four-way tie on 7.5/9 points, but Baland Prajith S T secured second place on a better tie-break score, and Raman R secured third place. The top three prizes were ₹50,000, ₹35,000, and ₹25,000, respectively. The event took place at Indra Ganeshan Group of Institutions, Trichy, Tamil Nadu from 10th to 12th January with a time control of 45 minutes + 30-second increment from move 1. Photos: Mr. P. Ismail

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 4: Mayank Chakraborty gets his first victory

07/02/2026 -

The fourth round of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 was played on 6th January in Chennai. In round four of the event, it was an all-Indian clash where all six International Masters from India played against each other, we saw three decisive results where Mayank Chakraborty scored his first win of the event against Ethan Vaz, Audi Ameya scored an important victory over Harsh Suresh, and in the last decisive game it was Aronyak Ghosh who won his game against Akshay Borgaonkar to secure his second win of the event. The other two games ended in a quick draw. The 5th round starts on 7th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Queen of Chess: A Documentary on Judit Polgar releases today on Netflix

06/02/2026 -

You all remember "The Queen's Gambit," the Netflix series telling the story of the (fictional) chess prodigy Beth Harmon. It quickly became the platform’s most-watched miniseries. Now Netflix is doing it again, but this time it's about the (real-life) strongest female chess player ever: Judit Polgar. She started as a child prodigy and went on to break records against the world’s top male players. Her fearless spirit made her a legend. Judit fought skepticism and sexism at every step of her journey. By taking on the greatest champions of her time, including Garry Kasparov, she earned her place among chess’s all-time greats. The documentary will be released on Netflix today. To get you in the mood, Frederic Friedel describes his encounters with Judit over the last forty years. Photo: Netflix

Chola Chess GM Norm RR Round 3: Ethan Vaz scores another win

05/02/2026 -

In the third round of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026, we saw two decisive results. In an Indian clash, Ethan Vaz played a brilliant game to win against Aronyak Ghosh with the white pieces. In another decisive game, Alisher Suleymenov won his second game of the event against French Grandmaster Girel Joseph. All other games ended in a peace where Harsh Suresh held a draw against Delgado Ramirez Neuris, Akshay Borgaonkar and Ameya Audi played a draw in 32 moves, and Boyer Mahel vs Mayank Chakraborty also ended in a draw. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Shreyas Ghadi wins 30th RCC Rapid Rating Cup 2026

05/02/2026 -

Shreyas Ghadi from Maharashtra wins the 30th RCC International Fide Rated Rapid Cup with 8/9 points and a half-point lead over the field. This is Shreyas's first rapid-rated tournament victory of the year. For second place, it was a tie among three players on 7.5/9 points, but Nirmal L of Tamil Nadu secured second place because of his better tiebreaks, while Dhanush Ram M of Karnataka secured third place. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹1,00,000. The top three prizes were ₹ 15,000, ₹ 10,000, and ₹ 7,000, along with a trophy each. The one-day nine-round Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Ballary Kalyana Mantapa, Ranebennur, Haveri District, Karnataka on 18th January 2026. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Chess at MeepleCon: A Fun and Enriching Experience

05/02/2026 -

Chess was a part of MeepleCon this year, with two blitz tournaments held during the day. The top three finishers received cash prizes, and young players were encouraged with board game rewards. The tournament ran smoothly from start to finish. It was a positive experience for both players and organizers. We look forward to a bigger chess presence at MeepleCon in the future.

Will there be another table-bang moment at Norway Chess this year?

05/02/2026 -

Norway Chess returns on May 25 with another exciting edition of top-level classical chess. The tournament will take place from 25th May to 5th June 2026 at the Deichman Bjørvika library in Oslo. This will be the first time the event will take place outside Stavanger. Norway Chess is known for it's intense format and high-pressure games. Last year perfectly showed how intense the tournament can be. Magnus Carlsen’s table-bang after his loss to World Champion D Gukesh became one of the most talked-about moments in recent chess history. Will we see something like that again in 2026? We will have to wait and see. Read the article to find out which players have been confirmed so far. Photo: chess24

Chola Chess GM Norm RR D2: Aronyak Ghosh and Ethan Vaz gets the winning start

04/02/2026 -

The second round of the Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 was played today in Chennai. In round two of the event, we saw three decisive results where Aronyak Ghosh won his game against Boyer Mahel with the white pieces, Ethan Vaz got the winning start against Ameya Audi, and Alisher Suleymenov won his game against Mayank Chakraborty. The other two games ended in a draw, where Harsh Suresh and Akshay Borgaonkar played a draw, and in the last game, Girel Joseph vs Delgado Ramirez Neuris also played a draw. The 3rd round starts on 5th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Sai Agni Jeevitesh wins double crown at SDM RCC ROTO-Lawyers Rapid and Blitz Cup

04/02/2026 -

International Master Sai Agni Jeevitesh dominates at SDM RCC ROTO-LAWYERS International Fide Rated Chess Cup. It was a two-day event held on 31st January and 1st February, in Belthangady, Karnataka. IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh of Telangana won the Rapid Cup with a point lead, while the Blitz Cup with half point lead, scoring 9/10 and 11/13 respectively. In the rapid event, Kolla Bhavan and Mani Bharathy secured second and third place, while in blitz, Arul Anandh SPK and Lakshith B Salian secured second and third place. Read the full report of the event here. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

FIDE Rating list February 2026: Arjun Erigaisi continues to be India no.1 in all formats

04/02/2026 -

India has thirteen players in the world’s top 100 in the Open category and seven in the Women’s category. Arjun Erigaisi continues as World No. 5 in classical, while remaining World No. 4 in Rapid and World No. 7 in Blitz. He is the only Indian in the world's top 10 across all formats. R Praggnanandhaa and World Champion D Gukesh remain at World No. 8 and No. 9. Nihal Sarin is at World No. 26. In the Women’s rankings, GM Koneru Humpy slipped one spot to World No. 6, GM Divya Deshmukh and GM R Vaishali remain at World No. 12 and No. 16, and GM Harika Dronavalli moved up to World No. 18. India maintains World No. 2 status across the Open, Women’s and Mixed federation rankings. Check out the article to know more. Photo: Prajwal Bhat

Come and witness the game of chess in the dark where minds see what eyes cannot

04/02/2026 -

There are some chess events which are a little extra special because some really special people become a part of it. One such event was organised at the Agriculture Colony Community Hall, Hasthinapuram, in Hyderabad, India. Venkat Reddy S became the undefeated champion with a perfect score of 5/5. A total of thirty-three players participated in the one-day rapid event. The event was organised by Mahender Vaishnav who is former member of Indian visually challenged national cricket team. The entry fees was only Rs. 200 for all and for students just Rs. 100. The players were provided breakfast, lunch, evening tea and dinner. Each and every player got cash prizes, trophies and participation certificates making this an absolutely unique chess event. We wish more tournaments like these are organised at every part of the world regularly so that these players can get more chances to play. Photos by Aditya Sur Roy.

Chola Chess GM Norm RR D1: Audi Ameya starts with a win

03/02/2026 -

The Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 started today in Chennai. There was only one decisive game in the first round of the event, where IM Audi Ameya won his game against GM Mahel Boyer of France with the black pieces. Audi played a great attacking game to secure the victory in the first round. Other four games ended in a draw, but not without a great fight. The event consists of a very strong field of 6 Indian IMs and 4 GMs from outside the country. The 2nd round starts on 4th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Sriram Adarsh Uppala, Prishita Gupta and Aamuktha Guntaka receive the 6th edition of the Pursue Your Chess Scholarship

03/02/2026 -

Among all HelpChess initiatives, "Pursue Your Chess Scholarship" stands as the longest-running support for young talents. It began six years ago with Rs. 50,000, supporting just one player, and has since helped nine players on their chess journeys. This year, three more names join that list: Sriram Adarsh Uppala (Rs. 1,00,000), Prishita Gupta (Rs. 50,000), and Aamuktha Guntaka (Rs. 25,000). With this, the impact of the scholarship continues to grow, reaching players at crucial stages of their careers. Read on to learn more about the scholarship’s journey.

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