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Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh feted with Arjuna Award

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Simul with GM Aravindh Chithambaram at Chola Chess Club, Chennai on 22nd August!

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A World Cup winner walks into a chess team: Gerard Piqué joins Fyers American Gambits

19/08/2026 -

Barcelona's legendary centre-back, a 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 champion, and one of sport's most restless entrepreneurs is now a stakeholder in a chess franchise. Gerard Piqué has come on board the Fyers American Gambits as a strategic shareholder, joining former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin in the ownership group, ahead of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 4 in Bengaluru (3rd-13th September 2026). It is the biggest crossover chess has seen between football and the 64 squares.

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Wadim Rosenstein and his vision for chess if he became the FIDE President

19/08/2026 -

The FIDE Elections are now just a few days away. Leading up to it we interviewed all 3 Candidates who are going to take part in the FIDE elections - Timur Turlov, Wadim Rosenstein and Jan Buettner. While Timur and Jan did a video interview with us, Wadim preferred a written interview. We speak about different subjects - from FIDE's finances to governance, to digitilzation. We effectively try to understand Wadim's vision if he did become the FIDE President.

32nd Abu Dhabi Masters R4: Antonio Viani Survives a Scare, Iniyan P. Maintains his Joint Lead

19/08/2026 -

The top table clashes in round 4 of the 32nd Abu Dhabi Masters 2026 ended in peaceful draws. No big upsets happened in this round. On the top board, Iniyan Panneerselvam drew against Ahmad Ahmadzada, and now they are in joint lead with 3.5/4 points. GM Edgar Mamedov defeated GM Pranav Anand on the 4th board. The top seed, Daniil Dubov, drew against IM Usov Aleksandr E. The 5th round will start on 19th August at 5 PM Local Time/6:30 PM IST. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Lala Shohradova Wins 2026 Asian Junior Girls Rapid, Pratitee Bordoloi Second, Prishita Gupta Third

19/08/2026 -

WFM Lala Shohradova of Turkmenistan scored 6/7 points to win the 2026 Asian Junior Girls Rapid Chess Championship. WFM Pratitee Bordoloi also scored 6/7 and finished in 2nd place due to a tiebreak. FM Prishita Gupta scored 5/7 points to finish in 3rd position. Lala finished 2nd in the Blitz section too, making it her second podium finish in just 2 days. The tournament was organised on 17th and 18th August at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. Photos: Tushar Damor

Vivaan Vishal Shah Becomes 2026 Asian Junior Rapid Champion

19/08/2026 -

FM Vivaan Vishal Shah scored 6/7 points to win the 2026 Asian Junior Rapid Chess Championship. Akshay Borgaonkar also scored 6/7, and he secured second place in the tournament according to tiebreak scores. IM Apoorv Kamble of India and Akhilbay Imangali of Kazakhstan tied for 3rd place, and in the tiebreak blitz match, Apoorv defeated Akhilbay 1.5-0.5 to claim 3rd place. The tournament was organised on 17th and 18th August at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. Photos: Tushar Damor

Saranya Devi Narahari Becomes 2026 Asian Junior Girls Blitz Champion

18/08/2026 -

Saranya Devi Narahari scored an unbeaten 6.5/7 to win the Asian Junior Girls Blitz Chess Championship 2026. Lala Shohradova of Turkmenistan scored 6/7 points to finish in second place. Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna scored 5.5/7 to finish in 3rd place. Saranya drew her 2nd game and scored five consecutive wins to clinch the title. The tournament was organised on 17th August at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. Photos: Tushar Damor

Vignesh Advaith Vemula Becomes 2026 Asian Junior Blitz Champion

18/08/2026 -

Vignesh Advaith Vemula scored 6/7 points to become the 2026 Asian Junior Blitz Champion. Vignesh Vemula, Viresh Sharnarthi, and Nandish VS all scored 6/7 points, but better tiebreaks helped Vignesh clinch the title. Vignesh suffered a loss in the 4th round but scored three consecutive wins and defeated GM Mayank Chakraborty in the important penultimate round. The tournament was organised on 17th August at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. Photos: Tushar Damor

32nd Abu Dhabi Masters Round 1-3: Iniyan Panneerselvam Starts with a Perfect 3/3

18/08/2026 -

The 32nd Edition of Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival started on 15th August 2026. The Masters Group is one of the strongest Swiss tournaments in Asia. Grandmaster Daniil Dubov is the top seed of the tournament, and after the completion of 3 rounds, second seed GM Iniyan Panneerselvam is leading with 3/3. IM Goutham Krishna H drew against Daniil Dubov in the 2nd round. So many talented youngsters from India and around the globe are taking part in this fantastic event. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Cairns Cup 2026 R7: Tan Zhongyi Extends Her Lead After Beating Divya Deshmukh

18/08/2026 -

Tan Zhongyi is showing her class at the 2026 Cairns Cup. In the 7th round, she defeated Divya Deshmukh with black pieces. After this win, Zhongyi is now leading with a full point, as he is on 5.5/7. Bibisara Assaubayeva also won in the 7th round against Stavroula Tsolakidou, which takes her to joint second place with Alice Lee. Koenru Humpy drew her game against Alexandra Kosteniuk. The 8th round will start on 18th August at 12 PM Local Time / 10:30 PM IST. Photos: Lennart Ootes

Sinquefield Cup 2026 R7: Javokhir Sindarov Beats Vincent Keymer To Score His First Win

18/08/2026 -

In the 7th round of the 2026 Sinquefield Cup, Javokhir Sindarov defeated Vincent Keymer to register his 1st win of the tournament. All the other games between Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Jorden van Foreest and Sam Sevian ended in a draw. Wesley So is still in the lead after a draw against Anish Giri in the 7th round. The tournament is still wide open for anyone to grab. The 8th round will start on 18th August at 12 PM Local Time / 10:30 PM IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Meet Purvansh Shah: An Emerging Chess Talent who Dreams of Becoming the Youngest World Champion

18/08/2026 -

Every year, thousands of children across India sit down at a chessboard for the first time. Emerging young talent Purvansh Shah was one of them, at age six, in Bangalore. What has followed since is a story built on daily habit: hours of practice, tournament after tournament, careful analysis of every loss, and a family that decided early on to treat his interest seriously. That combination has taken him from his first school-level win to the Karnataka State Schools Chess Championship (U-7 Open) title and many more.

Sinquefield Cup 2026 R6: Anish Giri Beats Jorden, Pragg Draws against Aronian

17/08/2026 -

In the 6th Round of the Sinquefield Cup, there was only 1 decisive result, and it was in a Dutch clash between Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest. Anish scored his 1st win of the tournament. With the other 4 games ending in a draw, Wesley So is still leading the tournament with 4/6. Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, R. Praggnanandhaa and Maxime Vachier Lagrave are in joint second place with 3.5/6 points. The 7th round will start on 17th August at 12 PM Local Time / 10:30 PM IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Cairns Cup 2026 R6: Alice Lee Scores a win against Koneru Humpy

17/08/2026 -

Alice Lee defeated Koneru Humpy in the 6th round of the Cairns Cup 2026. The sixth round was played after the rest day on 15th August, and this was the only decisive result of the round. IM Carissa Yip missed a crucial chance against Bibisara Assaubayeva. Vaishali made a solid draw against Anna Muzychuk. Divya had some practical chances against Stavroula Tsolakidou. Tan Zhongyi is still leading the field with 4.5/6. The 7th round will start on 17th August at 12 PM Local Time / 10:30 PM IST. Photos: Lennart Ootes

GM Aaryan Varshney scores a perfect 9/9 to win 1st Rival of Anga Rapid Rating 2026

17/08/2026 -

Grandmaster Aaryan Varshney produced a flawless performance, scoring an unbeaten 9/9 to clinch the inaugural 1st Rival of Anga International Open Rapid Rating Chess Tournament 2026 in Bhagalpur, Bihar. The two-day tournament was held on 8th and 9th August 2026 at the Bihar Agricultural University campus in Bhagalpur. The total prize fund was ₹3,00,000, with the top 3 prizes of ₹30,000, ₹20,000, and ₹15,000 along with trophies. Photos: Ajay Kumar Mishra

The Man Behind India’s 97th Grandmaster: A Conversation with Gopalakrishnan K

16/08/2026 -

Every grandmaster title has two stories. The one played out on the board, and the one lived quietly off it, by the parents who skipped holidays, saved every rupee, and never once asked for credit. When Harshavardhan completed his third GM norm at the Chola Chess tournament, the cameras found him first. But just as important was the man standing a little further back, visibly emotional, finally exhaling after years of tournaments. His father, Gopalakrishnan K who is a chess trainer, former player, and by his own admission, a man who simply cannot stop loving this game. He sat down to talk about what it really takes to raise a grandmaster.

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News Bites

Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh feted with Arjuna Award

Simul with GM Aravindh Chithambaram at Chola Chess Club, Chennai on 22nd August!

14-year-old Aadik Lenin scores his 2nd IM norm in Hungary

2009-born Jihan Tejas Shah scores his maiden IM norm!

10-year-old Aarit Kapil scores his 2nd IM norm in Serbia

Who is Kong Xiangrui?

12-year-old Avirat Chauhan shines in local rapid event, gains 50 Elo

Beyond Chess: Tania official commentator at Commonwealth Games

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