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Mihir Shah wins the 4th ChessBase India Chess Club tournament on IM Sagar Shah's Birthday!

by Himank Ghosh - 12/03/2023

28th of January is always a very special day for ChessBase India. Do you know why? It's because this is the Birthday of the ChessBase India CEO Sagar Shah! This year, it was even more special as it was Saturday - which means it's the day for a ChessBase India Chess Club session at Phoenix Marketcity! Talented youngster Mihir Shah won the 4th edition of the ChessBase India Chess tournament with a perfect 7/7. Aniruddha Potawad stood 2nd with 6/7, and 12-year-old Ram Vishal Parab bagged the 3rd spot with 6/7. Sagar cut his special Birthday Cake at the Chess Club itself! Check out the full report of this exciting day.

Mihir Shah wins the ChessBase India Chess Club tournament for the first time

On the 4th edition of the ChessBase India Chess Club tournament, it was the talented youngster Mihir Shah who clinched 1st place! In a competitive field, Mihir scored a perfect 7/7, also defeating the defending champion Aniruddha Potawad in the process!  This was Mihir's first triumph at the Phoenix Marketcity Mall, Mumbai. What was even more special about the occasion was ChessBase India CEO IM Sagar Shah's Birthday!

Champion - Mihir Shah 7/7 | Photo: Supriya Bhat
Celebrating Sagar Shah's Birthday! | Video: ChessBase India

Sagar's beautiful Birthday cake from the CCC (ChessBase India Chess Club)!

Runner-up - Aniruddha Potawad 6/7 | Photo: Supriya Bhat

Second Runner-up - Ram Vishal Parab 6/7 | Photo: Avathanshu Bhat

4th Dhanush Nagula 5.5/7 | Photo: Avathanshu Bhat

7th Siddhesh Nar 5/7 | Photo: Avathanshu Bhat

8th Nimesh Kshirsagar 5/7 | Photo: Avathanshu Bhat

Interesting games from the tournament

Mihir Shah vs Sanjay Bhat - a pawn is very costly

Ram Vishal Parab vs Sohum Pawar - King and pawn endgames are very tricky

All of the prizes were distributed by the Chief Arbiter Mayur More and Yaseen Sheikh, ChessBase India's Administrative Officer. One thing we must mention is Mihir's amazing performance in the National Rapid and Blitz Championships 2023! In a very strong field with several Grandmasters and International Masters, Mihir played some phenomenal chess. In the rapid section, the youngster had a perfect score of 4/4 on the first day of the event,  beating players like Vignesh B (1956) and the talented WIM Savitha Shri B (2317).  But in the blitz section, he had a dream run of winning seven games in a row. Mihir defeated IM Sidhant Mohapatra, IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh and IM Avinash Ramesh!

Complete Interview with Mihir Shah - the untitled player who shocked the field! | Video: ChessBase India
The IM has only five seconds against an Untitled player | Mihir Shah vs IM Avinash Ramesh | Video: ChessBase India
"Do not watch this game if you have a weak heart" | IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh vs Mihir Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Mihir Shah's thoughts on winning the 4th ChessBase India Chess Club tournament

Mihir Shah at the National Rapid and Blitz Championships 2023. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Playing the ChessBase India Chess Club tournament was a great experience, as the location is inside the mall which is a great place to play in. I also got to play against strong players including a titled player. The monthly prize tournaments are a great add-on, as it allows everyone to get a chance to play against strong players. For me personally, it is hard to attend all the Saturdays in a month due to studies but the option for entry fee is a good alternative.

I am Mihir shah, right now in my first year doing BBMM in NMIMS (Bachelors of business management and marketing). I started playing chess when I was small (around 4th grade) but left the game for like 4-5 years, only to restart playing in the pandemic and increase my passion for it by playing bullet online and now back playing OTB chess.

Photo Gallery

Going to the Chess club means meeting new chess fans every time!

IM Sagar Shah discussing details of the tournament with the technical support expert, Avathanshu Bhat

The tournament champion Mihir Shah deep in thought against Ashok Upadhyay in Round 4.

Ram Vishal Parab is only 12 years old, but he put up a very strong performance finishing 3rd!

From very young children...

to teenagers and seniors, we have players of every kind taking part in this event!

A view of the crowded tournament hall

ChessBase India merch is actually quite popular among a lot of the players!

The chief arbiter of the tournament, Mayur More

A total of 56 players took part from various parts of the country. The one-day seven-round Swiss league Blitz Open tournament took place at Phoenix Market City in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 28th January 2022. The time control of the tournament was 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final standings

Rk.SNoNameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
17Shah, MihirIND1520730,53333,00
22Potawad, AnirudhhaIND19426313324,50
35Parab, Ram VishalIND158562729,524,50
438Nagula, DhanushIND05,5273021,75
51Kulkarni, VikramadityaIND22735293219,00
63Bhat, SanjayIND1679528,53019,00
740Nar, SiddheshIND05273019,50
811Kshirsagar, NimeshIND12765252714,00
94Pai, NitinIND158552022,517,00
109Pawar, SohamIND13684,52931,516,75

Details