IM Dinesh Sharma wins the Ananda Thirtha Memorial Rapid

19/07/2017 -

The Late Sri. Prof. S. K. Ananda Thirtha Memorial All India FIDE Rapid Rating Chess Tournament was held in the historic city of Mysuru, Karnataka on the 1st and the 2nd of July, 2017. It was a strong rapid event with three IMs and three FMs taking part. In the Open section, IM Dinesh Sharma from Uttar Pradesh won with half a point lead over nearest of his rivals. Karthik Venkatraman finished second and Ram.S. Krishnan third. A report sent to us by the organizer of the event C.K. Muralidharan.

Help Nino Khurtsidze fight cancer

19/07/2017 -

Top Georgian player Nino Khurtsidze, who has been two-time World Junior Champion, is fighting a war against a malignant tumour. She underwent surgery in Germany and now has to undergo five cycles of Chemotherapy. The total cost of which is something that she is unable to afford. We ask the chess community to contribute in huge numbers so that Nino can overcome the situation and be back on the chess board. 

R. Balasubramaniam: An IM who knew no opening theory

18/07/2017 -

Can someone become an International Master without having much knowledge of opening theory? Is it possible that a person could master the game by merely playing it, without using books, software or databases as aid? In the contemporary scenario at least, the logical answer to this seems to be a big NO (yes, in all caps!). But when Ganesh Dorairaj told us about IM Ramnath Balasubramaniam, we were flabbergasted. He is one of those extremely gifted players who has made it to the IM title without using any external aids, be it computers or books. He's done it all by playing and watching the games of other players! Read and be fascinated.

The man who organized Mumbai's biggest tournament for 10 years!

18/07/2017 -

The 10th Mayor’s Cup opened grandly on 4th June 2017 and was successfully completed to 11th of June. The man who has been working day and night to make this tournament possible, Mr. Ravindra Dongre, gave an exclusive interview about the tournament. Himself being so passionate about chess, one can make out his efforts to bring this tournament to such a big level not only in India but also all over the world.

GM Himanshu Sharma bags top prize at the Barbera Del Valles Open

17/07/2017 -

Thanks to Himanshu Sharma’s fantastic run at the Barbara Open, the Indian charge continued its dominance at the second coveted event of the Catalan circuit in Barcelona, Spain. In the previous tournament of the circuit, the Montcada Open, it was Shyam Sundar who brought glory to India by clinching the title prize. As for GM Sharma, this is his first title prize at an Open outside his home country. Throughout the tournament, his play was aggressive and filled with energy. But to win such a prestigious tournament, it is indeed essential to find the balance between offence and defence. In this article, we shall look closely into how he composed himself to maintain this balance while also looking at the overall performance of the Indian contingent.

Essential classical chess books that you must read – Part II

17/07/2017 -

In part II of the "Essential classical chess books that you must read", Srikanth covers "The Chess Mind" by Gerlad Abrahams. The experienced author and mentor from Chennai writes, "What can I say about this little gem of a book. A rare one and practically unknown even amongst most fervent chess enthusiasts!" Through this article you not only get to know about one of the most deep books every written about chess, but also get to sharpen your arsenal with a few tactical themes that are discussed along with modern examples.

Geneva Grand Prix Round 9: Radjabov takes home the winner’s trophy; Harikrishna finishes joint third

16/07/2017 -

Having led the tournament from the word go, Teimour Radjabov won the Geneva Grand Prix 2017, half a point ahead of his nearest rivals. The only Indian in the field, Pentala Harikrishna finished in a seven-way tie for 4th-10th. After chasing that title prize for 8 straight rounds, Hari was finally knocked out of contention after his defeat against Li Chao in the penultimate round. However, in a field that comprised of bigwigs such as Aronian, Giri and Mamedyarov, his performance was undoubtedly a plausible one. Final round report with game analysis by Tanmay Srinath.

Interview with Mr. Commonwealth Abhijeet Gupta

16/07/2017 -

Dubai Open, Reykjavik, Azgamov, Al Ain, Indian National A, World Juniors. Apart from being extremely strong tournaments, what else is it that they have in common? They have all been won by the Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta! Abhijeet has many tournament victories to his credit, and his resumé just became better as he won the Commonwealth title for a record fourth time, a few days ago in Delhi! No one else has won the Commonwealth Championship so many times. Thus it won't be wrong to endow upon him the title of Mr. Commonwealth! An interview and free download of the ChessBase India show.

"I wonder why everyone wants me to retire!"

15/07/2017 -

Recently in an interview with Maurice Ashley Vishy Anand was clearly dejected and said, "If I am playing chess like this I shouldn't bother." Was he hinting towards retirement. In his interview with Susan Ninan from ESPN, Anand clarifies that he has no such thoughts on his mind. He also speaks about Kasparov's return to competitive chess, Leon Masters defeat against Wesley So, Carlsen's dip in form and last but not the least, why he would like Roger Federer to win the Wimbledon. A 35-year-old in Tennis is similar to 47-year-old in chess!

Future Grandmasters of Karnataka - Part II

15/07/2017 -

At the Karnataka State Under 9 Championship in Mysore, Sushrutha Reddy took upon himself the task of profiling the finest upcoming talents in the state of Karnataka. Over the course of the tournament, he successfully profiled most of the state's future masters and shared the fruits of his hardwork with ChessBase India. In the previous instalment of this article, we shared with you the profiles of the best female talents. And in this second part, we will be taking a look at the boys who hold the potential to bring glory to the state of Karnataka and India.

Geneva Grand Prix Round 8: Harikrishna’s chances to win the Geneva GP evanesce

15/07/2017 -

India's Pentala Harikrishna was having a tremendous run at the Geneva Grand Prix. Until round 8, he hadn't lost a game and had even been co-leading the tournament. The penultimate round, however, brought disaster for the Indian ace. Not only did he lose his first game of the event to Li Chao, he also lost all chances of winning the title prize. Report with analysis.

Geneva Grand Prix Round 7: Radjabov overtakes Hari and Grischuk to take sole lead

14/07/2017 -

After his win against Aronian in the previous round, India's Pentala Harikrishna had joined the lead along with Alexander Grischuk and Teimur Radjabov. In round 7, he was paired against one of his co-leaders, Grischuk and had the white pieces. This was a good opportunity for him to shoulder one of his opponents behind in this race towards the title. But this was not to be. Hari forgot some of his preparation and could only draw. While Radjabov, on the other hand, made the most of this opportunity by winning his game against Svidler. A detailed report with Hari's annotated game.  

Stany sizzles in the Italian heat!

13/07/2017 -

We have published many articles on Stany winning tournaments in France. Sautron, Malakoff, Lille to name a few. Now the International Master from Karnataka has extended his reign to Italy! In June Stany won the 8th Forni Di Sopra Open ahead of four grandmasters and many International Masters. In this article written by Davide Nastasio, we not only show you the beautiful town of Forni Di Sopra, but also treat you to some crunchy combinations played by Stany.

Geneva Grand Prix Round 6: Harikrishna stuns Levon Aronian!

13/07/2017 -

Pentala Harikrishna had been chasing the leaders all through the first five rounds of the Geneva Grand Prix. In round six, he was paired against the Armenian superstar, Levon Aronian. Keeping in mind that his opponent was Aronian and that he had the black pieces, it was hard to predict that Hari would emerge victorious and join the top rankers of the leaderboard Radjabov and Grischuk. But the Indian ace did it! A detailed report and game analysis by Tanmay Srinath.

The future Grandmasters of Karnataka - Part I

13/07/2017 -

In the recently concluded Karnataka Under-9 State Championship, Sushrutha Reddy got a chance to profile some of the budding talents in the state. Grabbing this opportunity, he not only profiled these chess stars of tomorrow in a very comprehensive manner, but also shared them with us. In this first part, we'll be sharing with you the achievements and stories of all the girls; and in the next part, we'll take a look at the boys. Mind you, these are all the stars of tomorrow, and if one of them goes on to become a world class player, don't tell us that we didn't warn you!