Marium Fatima becomes the first Woman FIDE Master of Bihar
Eight Indian chess players took part in strong open tournaments in Spain this June as part of the Catalan Circuit Tour conducted by My Chess Trip. Among them was Marium Fatima, selected through the HelpChess Foundation, who went on to win the Barbera del Valles 2025 Group B tournament. She gained 152 Elo points, reached a rating of 2083, and became the first Woman FIDE Master from Bihar. Apart from that, Kaivalya Nagare earned an IM norm during the tour. All the players returned home with strong performances and valuable rating gains. With this, a new tour has been announced, the Spain-Sweden Chess Tour, starting from 27th November. Check out the article for more details. Photo: Niklesh Jain
Marium Fatima becomes Bihar's first Woman FIDE Master
Marium Fatima made history by becoming Bihar's first Woman FIDE Master. She has now reached a FIDE rating of 2083. She is undoubtedly a promising candidate to become Bihar’s first Woman Grandmaster. She was a part of the Catalan Circuit tour organised by My Chess Trip.
This was Marium's first-ever experience competing in Europe, and it turned out to be a memorable one. Over the course of the tour, she played four tournaments: She won one, tied for first place in another, and gained valuable lessons from the remaining two.
Overall, it was a really good experience. I played four tournaments, won one, tied for first in another, and the other two also went well, even though there were a few tough moments. I'm still learning, so yeah, I'll keep improving. - Marium
Tournament | Date | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
47th Open Internacional Escacs Barbera del Valles 2025 Group B | 4th July-12th July 2025 | 7.5/8 | 1 |
13th July-21st July 2025 | 4.5/7 | 44 | |
22nd July-30th July | 7.5/9 | 2 | |
49 Obert Internacional d'Escacs "Ciutat de Badalona" Group A | 3rd August-11th August | 4/9 | 43 |
The Barbera Open was the most special moment of her tour. “It gave me confidence and trust in my game for the whole tour,” she said. That confidence carried her through, even during difficult moments. At Sitges, she narrowly missed the chance to win the event after a loss in round seven. In Badalona, she began strongly but faltered in the final rounds. “Reviewing my past games helped me regain confidence and focus… I see it as part of the learning process and continue working to improve my game,” she reflected.
To give a glimpse of her on the board, Marium shared three of her games from the Catalan Circuit tour, annotated in her own words.
Eight Indian players were part of this tour, out of which one seat was reserved for a player supported through the HelpChess Foundation, and that went to Marium Fatima. This tour gave the Indian players a chance to compete in a series of strong open tournaments in Spain. It was a memorable experience for the players as they returned home with podium finishes, rating jumps, and norms. Similar tours were also conducted in 2018, 2019, and 2024. Here is a summary of how the Indian players performed during the Catalan Circuit Tour 2025:
Player | Rating before the tour | Rating after the tour | Rating gain | Tournaments played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kaivalya Sandip Nagare | 2321 | 2352 | 31 | 5 |
Parth Prasad Moghe | 1711 | 2198 | 487 | 3 |
Jyothsnav Talukdar | 2006 | 2205 | 199 | 4 |
Harshit Sahu | 2191 | 2258 | 67 | 4 |
Fatima Marium | 1920 | 2083 | 163 | 4 |
Vijay Chauhan | 1849 | 1927 | 78 | 5 |
Karthick Raja | 1685 | 1969 | 284 | 3 |
Advaith Asokumar | 1836 | 2057 | 221 | 3 |
Total | 1530 |
About the Spain-Sweden Chess Tour
My Chess Trip is organising another trip, the Spain-Sweden Chess Tour, from 27th November to 4th January 2025. This tour will include three tournaments:
The total cost of the package is Rs. 3,40,000 + GST + TCS. There is a special discount of Rs. 15,000 for ChessBase India readers. Initially, it was valid until 21st September, but it has now been extended till 1st October 2025 for ChessBase India readers.
For registrations and details, you can visit www.mychesstrip.com, send an email to traveldesk@mysporttrip.com, or contact +91 7878860008.
What does My Chess Trip handle?
If you become a part of the Spain Sweden Chess Tour, you will receive support for the following things:
Flight tickets
Airport transfers
Accommodation
Visa Assistance
Insurance
Food
Things that are not included in the package will be:
Tournament entry fees
Internal transfers (city to city)
Sightseeing
A total of 15 players will be part of this tour. As in the previous year, one seat is reserved for a player supported through the HelpChess Foundation, and this time it will go to Anirudhha Potawad. The list of players confirmed so far:
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
Jyotsnav Talukdar | 2205 |
Harshit Ranjan Sahu | 2258 |
Ashwath Narayanan | 1904 |
Lavyajyoti Rautray | 1946 |
Anirudhha Potawad | 2328 |
The Spain Sweden Chess Tour will be led by Mr. Ankit Dalal. He is a National Instructor (NI), National Arbiter (NA), and an active organizer. He also has a FIDE rating of 1815 Elo.
My Chess Trip was founded with the intention to serve the Chess community and to make Chess borderless. It’s a platform where all Chess Players can find tournaments worldwide and find the way to play that tournament, also it will help you to choose the right logistics for the same.
- Ankit Dalal, founder of My Chess Trip.
Note: The Spain-Sweden Chess Tour is being fully organised by MyChessTrip. ChessBase India is not involved in the logistics or management of the tour and is not responsible for the same. We are simply helping to spread the word so that more chess players can benefit from this opportunity.
Important links
My Chess Trip Official Website
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"The Catalan Circuit" tour for aspiring chess players by My Chess Trip
@ 03/06/2025 by Rasika Ratnaparkhi (en) |