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Divya Deshmukh's amazing chess career in pictures

05/08/2025 -

Divya Deshmukh winning the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 is a phenomenal moment for Indian chess! She became the fourth Indian woman to achieve the Grandmaster title. What makes her achievement even more extraordinary is that she didn’t have a single GM norm before the event. With this, Divya has entered the top 15 in the women's rating list. The 19-year-old has also qualified for the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026. Recently, Divya reflected on her journey through some of the most memorable pictures of her career. Let's have a look at it in this article. Photo: Andrei Anosov

ChessBase 18 and Mega 2025 are here

ChessBase 18 is an all-new program that helps you manage all your databases as an ambitious player. Mega Database 2025 has 11 million games with over 113,000 games annotated by masters. The cost of ChessBase 18 is Rs.4499/- and the cost of Mega Database 2025 is Rs.6499/- However, if you go for the combo the total amount comes to Rs.8999 (instead of 10,998/-) helping you save Rs. 1999/-.

ChessBase 18 + Mega 2025 Combo

Abhishek T M clear first at 7th Ayodhana Rating Open 2025

05/08/2025 -

Abhishek T M scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 7th Ayodhana Rating Open 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. Three players - Karan J P, Pradeep Tiwari and Abhijith U scored 7.5/9 each. They secured second, third and fourth place respectively according to tie-breaks. Abhishek drew with the eventual runner-up, Karan in the penultimate round. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹70000, ₹50000 and ₹30000 along with a trophy each. The tournament was organized by Chess Players' Parents Forum, Guwahati, Assam at Assam Down Town University in Guwahati, Assam from 8th to 13th July 2025. This is Abhishek's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Assam Down Town University

Yuri Solodovnichenko triumphs at 5th La Plagne Masters 2025, Iniyan Pa second and Nitish Belurkar third

05/08/2025 -

GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (UKR) scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win 5th La Plagne Masters (>1900) 2025. Five players - GM Iniyan Pa, IM Nitish Belurkar, IM Harikrishnan A Ra, IM Svyatoslav Bazakutsa (UKR) and GM Christian Bauer (FRA) scored 7/9 each. They were placed second to sixth respectively according to tie-breaks. The top four remained undefeated. Harikrishnan earned his final GM-norm to become India's 87th Grandmaster. The total prize fund was €20000 in Masters. The top three prizes were €3500, €2500 and €1800 along with a trophy each. IM Nitish Belurkar scored his second GM-norm. FM Suyog Wagh scored an IM-norm. IM Sanket Chakravarty and Suyog scored 6.5/9 each. They secured eighth and ninth place respectively. Ananya Khadelwal won the Amateur (<1600) event scoring 7.5/9. Photo: Manuel Maulet/Club d’Échecs du Bassin Annemassien

Michael Concio Jr. perfect at 1st Bangkok Summer Open 2025, Nithin Babu second and Sayantan Das third

05/08/2025 -

IM Michael Concio Jr. won 1st Bangkok Summer Open 2025 with a 100% score 9/9. He won the tournament with a round to spare and finished a whopping two points ahead of the rest. Nithin Babu and GM Sayantan Das scored 7/9 each to secure second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. The top three prizes were THB 70000 + trophy, 30000 + Gold medal and 12000 + Silver medal each. Shubham Shukla won the Challegers (<2000) event scoring 8.5/9. N Tarun finished third in it 6.5/9. They won THB 20000 + trophy and 3500 + Silver medal respectively. Nithin finished third in the Blitz Open scoring 7/9. He got THB 2500 + Silver medal. This is Shubham's fifth overall, second rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Miguel Concio

Iniyan Pa clinches 2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Aix 2025 Masters via Playoffs

04/08/2025 -

GM Iniyan Pa defeated GM Jan Malek (POL) 1.5-0.5 in Playoffs to win 2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Aix 2025 Masters (>2100). In the ninth round, Malek won against the sole leader, GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR), propelling himself to the top. Iniyan being in a virtual must-win situation versus Poland's latest Grandmaster, Jakub Seemann, also was in the same boat. Iniyan won that game to insert himself in the Playoffs with Malek. Thus, Malek secured second place, Eljanov third. The total prize fund was more than €30000. The top three prizes were €8000, €5500 and €3500. Total 17 players scored 18 different norms - 2 GM, 11 IM, a WGM and 3 WIM-norms. Indians earned three IM-norms and a WIM-norm. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Hriday Garg wins Bronze at 23rd ASEAN Under-10 Open Age Group Championship 2025

04/08/2025 -

Xuan Phuong Nguyen (VIE) scored 8/9 to clinch Gold at 23rd ASEAN Under-10 Open Age Group Championship 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Hoang Tan Vinh (VIE) scored sole 7.5/9 to secure a Silver medal. Hriday Garg earned a Bronze medal scoring 6.5/9. He lost the eventual Gold medalist, Xuan in Round 4 and defeated the Silver medalist, Tan Vinh in Round 3. The reigning Delhi State Under-9 Open 2025 champion, Hriday won the sole medal for India at this event. The seven-day nine round Rating tournament was organized by ASEAN Chess Confederation, Malaysian Chess Federation, Penang Chess Association in Penang, Malaysia from 2nd to 8th July 2025. Photo: Hriday Garg's fb

Viani Antonio Dcunha dominates 22nd RCC Blitz Rating Open 2025

04/08/2025 -

IM Viani Antonio Dcunha scored an unbeaten 10.5/11 to win 22nd RCC Blitz Rating Open 2025. He finished a staggering 1.5 points ahead of the field. IM Ratnakaran K and Dhanush Ram M scored 9/11 each. They secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. Top seed of the tournament, Viani defeated both runners-up in Round 9 and 10. The total cash prize fund of the tournament was ₹60000. The top three prizes were ₹10000, ₹7500 and ₹5000 along with a trophy each. The one-day nine round Blitz Rating Open tournament was organized by Rao's Chess Corner at Officers Club in Mangaluru, Karnataka on 6th July 2025. This is Viani's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Rao's Chess Corner

Aayiu Atindrya Shetty perfect at 31st Mircea Pavlov Techirghiol Trophy Under-10 Rating 2025

03/08/2025 -

Aayiu Atindrya Shetty scored a perfect 7/7 to win 31st Mircea Pavlov Techirghiol Trophy Under-10 Rating 2025. The nine-year-old finished a staggering two points ahead of the rest. Ilio-Phoem Stanculet (ROU) scored sole 5/7 to secure second place. Six players scored 4.5/7 each. Out of them, the top seed of the event, Christian Toma (ROU) was placed third according to tie-breaks. Aayiu defeated both of them in the last two rounds. The top three prizes were 800, 600 and 500 Lei. The three-day seven round Under-10 Rating tournament was organized by CS Sparta Techirghiol and the Local Council of Techirghiol, the Techirghiol City Hall, with the support of DJS Constanța at Techirghiol, Techirghiol Sports Hall & CS Sparta Techirghiol Hall in Techirghiol, Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania from 4th to 6th July 2025. This is Aayiu's second rating tournament triumph in consecutive months. Photo: CSM Constanța

Bharath Subramaniyam wins big at 53rd World Open 2025

03/08/2025 -

GM Bharath Subramaniyam H scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win 53rd World Open 2025. Bharath finished a half point ahead of the rest. Four players - GM Jeffery Xiong (USA), GM Jianchao Zhou (USA), GM Robby Kevlishvili (NED) and GM Razvan Preotu (NED) scored 7/9 each. They shared second place. The total prize fund was US$ 208000. The top three prizes were $20000, $10000 and $5000. Bharath won $20000 (≈ ₹1744600). Bharath also won the Blitz Open event scoring a perfect 9/9. Jianchao, IM Eric Chang Liu (USA) and FM Zachary Tanenbaum (USA) scored 8.5/9 each. They shared second place. Bharath won $500 in Blitz. Before this, Bharath shared second place at 18th Philadelphia International 2025 where he scored 6.5/9. He won $981.82. GM Awonder Liang (USA) won that event scoring 7.5/9. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

New: Andrew Martin: How to play the Anti-Sicilians

03/08/2025 -

IM Andrew Martin’s video course provides practical and aggressive solutions against Anti-Sicilian lines, covering common systems like 2.c3, Nc3, and Bb5, as well as rare moves like 2.b3 and 2.Na3. Designed for club and tournament players, it helps you neutralize White’s sidelines and confidently take control of the game. Learn from IM FST Andrew Martin and increase your opening repertoire. Apart from downloading files and installing on your computer, you can also stream videos and study from ChessBase books on any device - computer, smartphone, tablets etc. The app runs on both Windows and Mac OSX. For Windows device, Windows 10 or higher is required. Photo: ChessBase

Unfolding the rise of India’s fourth Senior International Master, Tanmay Srinath

02/08/2025 -

Tanmay Srinath has become just the fourth Indian to earn the Senior International Master (SIM) title in correspondence chess — and only the second active player from the country to hold it, alongside none other than GM Krishnan Sasikiran. What makes his achievement even more special is that he skipped the IM title altogether, jumping straight from Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) to SIM — a rare feat at the highest level of correspondence play. Tanmay is also a familiar name to ChessBase India readers, having contributed a range of thoughtful and well-researched articles over the years. In this piece, he takes us behind the scenes of his journey — the games, the turning points, and the lessons that shaped his path. Photo: Tanmay Srinath

Prishita Gupta storms into World Top 100 and India Top 10 among Women in August 2025 FIDE Rating List

02/08/2025 -

There is no change at the top in World rankings among Indian players. Wei Yi (CHN) had the sole rating change among World Top 10. GM Karthikeyan Murali gained 7.6 Elo rating points by winning 58th Biel Chess Festival Master Tournament (MTO). GM Aryan Chopra added 7 Elo rating points by finishing second at Aktobe Open 2025 Masters. There are a dozen Indians in World Top 100. Among the Women, GM Divya Deshmukh gained 15.2 Elo rating points en route her victory at FIDE Women's World Cup. IM Padmini Rout and WGM Nandhidhaa P V increased 10 and 14 points at the same event. WFM Prishita Gupta gained the maximum among Indians, 135.28 points to become India no. 8 and World no. 85 among Women with a rating of 2353. Four Indian Women are still among the Top 20. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Magnus Carlsen wins the inaugural Chess Esports World Cup 2025

02/08/2025 -

The World no.1, GM Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) won both sets of the Finals against GM Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) to win the inaugural Chess Esports World Cup 2025. The finals were a best of three sets, similar to tennis. Carlsen clinched both sets with 3-1 score. He suffered the only loss in the first game of the second set. This win etched his name in history, earned him US$ 250000 and 1000 points for his team. Firouzja got $190000. GM Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) defeated GM Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports) 3.5-2.5 to finish third. Nakamura got $145000 and Arjun $115000. With a victory at the Esports World Cup, one can only wonder whether Carlsen will return to India later this year and defend his FIDE World Cup crown with an aim to tie Levon Aronian's record of winning the grueling month-long event for the second time. Photo: Esports World Cup 2025

Kaustuv Kundu dominates 1st Assam University Rating Open 2025

02/08/2025 -

The top seed of the tournament, IM Kaustuv Kundu scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 1st Assam University Rating Open 2025. He finished a full point ahead of the competition. Eight players scored 7/9. Out of them, Tanmay Rajbongshi and Snehaal Roy secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. Kaustuv defeated Tanmay in the penultimate round. The total prize fund was ₹600000. The top three prizes were ₹51000, ₹41000 and ₹30000 along with a trophy each. The six-day nine round Rating tournament was organized by Aikagunya Foundation and Cachar District Chess Association at Assam University in Silchar, Assam from 28th June to 3rd July 2025. This is Kaustuv's third rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Bibendu Das

Divya Deshmukh becomes fourth Indian female to earn the Grandmaster title

01/08/2025 -

IM Divya Deshmukh became the fourth Indian female to earn the Grandmaster title on Monday 28th July 2025. She also became World's 44th and India's 88th Grandmaster by defeating her compatriot and the reigning World Rapid Women's champion, GM Koneru Humpy. The legend Humpy became India's first female to earn the GM title back in 2002. Nine years later, Harika Dronavalli became the second Indian woman to earn the GM title. Divya also defeated her in the Quarterfinals. The Nagpur girl has an illustrious career so far, the GM title certainly cements her among the world's best. She has won a multitude of National, Asian and World age group titles, among Senior ones she won National and Asian Continental Women, three Gold medals at Olympiad and also World Junior Girls title. She is just 19, qualified to the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026. Women's World title is certainly one of her next goals. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

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