Indians at International des Jeux de Cannes

05/03/2016 -

Have you played a tournament in a perfect setting with excellent conditions and everything that you could have hoped for - with an exception- you just cannot play chess there? Welcome to Cannes! The 30^th Festival International des Jeux de Cannes which was held from 22^nd February to 28^th February. It was a nine round swiss event with 79 titled players out of the total 111 in the A group with 19 Grandmasters. A perfect tournament to play chess one might say! IM Nisha Mohota brings us a richly illustrated report.

Aeroflot 01+02: pilgrimage to Moscow

03/03/2016 -

Aeroflot has been considered as the strongest Open in the world by default for many years now. There are newcomers in the form of Gibraltars and Qatars, but it is unlikely that anybody can really match the heritage of this annual tournament held in the chill of the Russian capital. They say one's chess education is incomplete without a sojourn in Russia and an army of Indians has made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Moscow. An illustrated report.

Vishy in 'Mann ki Baat'

01/03/2016 -

March is the month of examinations in our country and is often a stressful time for many of our friends -- the chess playing students. They have to cope with their usual appetite for our beautiful game and at the same time study hard for that impending examination that scares the living daylights out of some people. India's beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly address to the nation via 'Mann ki Baat', discussed some valuable insights regarding examinations and how to deal with them. The Prime Minister had a special guest in the form of a cerebral olympian who himself was an above average student in his school days -- Vishy!

A visionary's take on Make in India

27/02/2016 -

The IIFLW International tournament was the brainchild of one man - Praful Zaveri. He put his heart and soul into organizing the event and at the end of the day made sure that the highest level of organization was maintained at the tournament. Nagesh Guttula, the CEO of South Mumbai Chess Academy, was thoroughly impressed with the conditions. He sent us this article applauding Praful Zaveri for the humungous efforts taken in organizing this world class event.

Tehran Women GP 2016

27/02/2016 -

India's No. 1 and No. 2 women players -- Humpy and Harika -- had their hands full playing some of the best females at the Tehran Grand Prix 2016 held in Iran. Chinese grandmaster Ju Wenjun won the tournament in a chaotic race to the finish. In this report, however, we shall focus on the Indian performance at the tourney. An illustrated report with games.

Cappelle: Anurag shines for India

24/02/2016 -

Anurag Mhamal of Goa was the best performer among the Indians at the Capelle la Grande Open 2016 held in France. Twelve Indians were participating in this strong French Open that was held from 13-21 February and collectively, we had a reasonable showing. 11-year-old Nihal Sarin scored the first IM-norm of his career. An illustrated report.

The Indian 'Candidate' in Moscow

23/02/2016 -

The Candidates tournament will be held at the Central Telegraph building in Moscow, Russia, from the 11^th to the 30^th of March 2016. The interest of Indian fans is sparked by the qualification of Vishy Anand – the greatest chess player that our country has ever seen. Anand qualified to this year’s Candidates on the basis of being the previous World Championship runner-up. There are seven more players who have qualified to the event through various means (rating, FIDE Grand Prix, World Cup 2015 and Wild Card).A press release.

The fight for India number one!

22/02/2016 -

Ever since Anand's substandard performance at the Gibraltar Masters, analysts have been keeping a keen eye on the live rating list. Reason? There has been a sharp race between Harikrishna and Vishy on who would become India number one on the Elo rating charts. Hari came close on many occasions but was not able to overtake the five-time World Champion. On 21st February 2016, the two met each other across a chess board in the ninth round of the German Bundesliga. Read the article to know what happened in this thrilling game and who is the current numero Uno of Indian chess.

Garry Kasparov in Delhi!

20/02/2016 -

While you were busy doing your daily chores, Garry Kasparov walked into the Indian capital and delivered an interactive talk to entrepreneurs at the Regional Interaction Event, Zinda Dilli 2016, organised by Entrepreneurs' Organization. Garry discussed a wide range of topics like chess politics, his approach to chess, the future of the game and his invaluable insights to chess and life.

Soumya shines in Moscow

19/02/2016 -

Soumya Swaminathan was the tenth seed at the Women's Cup in Moscow. She was the lone Indian in the fray. Fighting the cold as well as some really tough opponents, she played an excellent tournament gaining 35 Elo points and finishing second. In this article she shares her experience of playing in Russia and how she managed to keep her "cool" in the sub zero temperature weather.

Indians at Cappelle La Grande

17/02/2016 -

12 Indians are playing at the Cappelle La Grande tournament in France. We have some of the top guys like Sasikiran, Abhijeet Gupta, Lalith Babu who are all on 4.0/5 and also fiery talents like 11-year-old Nihal Sarin who beat his first grandmaster of his chess career! With four rounds to go the tournament is very interestingly poised and we can look forward to a strong Indian finish.

Zurich 2016: Déjà vu!

16/02/2016 -

In 2015 Anand came to Zurich after a lacklustre performance at the Grenke Classic. He played a superb tournament but could only go back with the second place after Nakamura beat him in the armageddon game towards the end of the event. In 2016, something similar happened. Just that Grenke was replaced by Gibraltar and armageddon by Sonnerborn Berger tiebreak system. Anand missed out on the first place as Nakamura was ajduged the champion. Nevertheless it was a good event for Anand who summed it up by saying, "Nice to know I play good moves!"

National Teams 09: a gripping affair

16/02/2016 -

Sugar, spice and everything nice -- the National Teams Championship 2016 ended with a spectacular finale that was as gripping as gripping could possibly mean. The adrenaline rush felt by not just the players, but the fans as well was a sight to behold for an observant eye! Railways-A managed to take home the title, or did they? They say things are simple but never easy. Read our illustrated report and find out what happened in the ninth and the final round!

Anand maintains lead in Zurich

15/02/2016 -

After mating Levon Aronian and Anish Giri on day one of the Zurich Rapid, Anand consolidated his lead with two draws against Alexei Shirov and Hikaru Nakamura. He is now on six points and leads one point ahead of Nakamura and Kramnik. The final round will witness Anand taking on Kramnik with the white pieces. It will be a game to look forward to! As of now we have the games from rounds three and four for you.

Round 07+08: Railways almost home