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The land where everyone loves chess - Tura, Meghalaya

02/04/2025 -

Being a chess journalist, it gives me the unique opportunity to meet and interact with a wide range of chess enthusiasts and promoters from all corners of the world. From top professional organizers who have everything planned and sorted to the very last detail to the passionate ones who are filled with the vitality of the game and can arrange anything and everything on the spot. While everyone has their unique methods and practices, it is a joy to work with each and everyone and enjoy the process and needless to say, learn a lot. I, Aditya Sur Roy from ChessBase India visited Tura in Meghalaya where I met some amazing people who play chess. In this article, I share my experience of my trip to the far northeastern part of the country.

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

Six new champions crowned at 12th National Amateur Chess Championships 2025

02/04/2025 -

The twelfth edition of National Amateur Chess Championships 2025 witnessed a total participation of 450 players from various states, union territories and units across the nation. Six new champions were crowned in six different rating categories. They are: Vedant Ghadge (MAH) - Below 1700 Open, Aayusree Sarkar (WB) - Below 1700 Women, Archisman Patra (WB) - Below 2000 Open, Marium Fatima (BIH) - Below 2000 Women, Utkrisht Tuli (PUN) - Below 2300 Open and WFM Bristy Mukherjee (WB) in Below 2300 Women. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹300000. It was organized by All Bihar Chess Association at Sambodhi Retreat in Bodhgaya, Bihar from 25th to 29th March 2025. Photo: All India Chess Federation

My First Endgame Study Tourney: Awards

02/04/2025 -

Our composing tourney, My First Endgame Study, has come to a close, and we are excited to announce the award winners. This inaugural event, a joint venture between the World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) and ChessBase India, drew an impressive response from the chess community, with 35 budding composers submitting a total of 60 entries. The tourney provided a platform for newcomers to showcase their skills and creativity in endgame study composition. We are delighted to present the standout entries that caught the attention of our judge and mentor, Gady Costeff. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all participants for their enthusiastic participation. Special thanks are due to Marjan Kovačević, president of the World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC), without whose invaluable support and encouragement this event would not have been possible.

Simon Knudsen and Benjamin Melde win Prague International Chess Festival 2025 Pair Blitz Open

02/04/2025 -

FM Simon Knudsen (GER) and Benjamin Melde (GER) scored 18/22 to win Prague International Chess Festival 2025 K Pair Blitz Open. The top seed, IM Vadim Cernov (ROU) and his son, FM Henrik Cernov (GER) also scored the same. However, the German duo won the tournament as their third tie-break score was better than the Cernovs. The team of father and son were placed second. The team of 12-year-old kids - Krzysztof Zawal (POL) and Stanislaw Korszanski (POL) scored 15/22, edged past the Malaysian duo of CM Looi Xin Hao and Sivanesan Subramanian on tie-breaks to finish thid. The top three prizes were CZK 2000, 1500 and 1000 each. Check out interview with the champion and a few exciting games. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Arjun Erigaisi returns to World #4, Praggnanandhaa moves to #7 and Aravindh Chithambaram storms into #11

01/04/2025 -

Arjun Erigaisi returned to World no.4 in April FIDE Rating list 2025. R Praggnanandhaa gained only 0.2 Elo rating points at Prague International Chess Festival 2025 Masters. It moved him up by one place to number seven from eight. Aravindh Chithambaram's stellar triumph of Prague Masters 2025 and two wins at Bundesliga earned him 17.5 Elo rating points. It propelled him from 22 to 11 which is also his career highest ranking. Pentala Harikrishna added 2.8 Elo rating points at Bundesliga and by winning Czech Extraliga. He is now World no.29. Seven Indians are still in top 30. Harika Dronavalli increased her rating by 5 points at FIDE Nicosia GP. She also finished third there and moved to World no.15 from 16. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

ChessBase 18 – Tips for beginners, part 1: Enter and save your games

01/04/2025 -

Now and then, we are asked some of the most basic things about ChessBase softwares. In part 1 of our new tutorial series, we will show you how to quickly enter and save your own games. Just follow the explanations and screenshots and gradually build up your own database of games. Check out the tutorial and grab ChessBase 18 if you haven't yet. For those who are already using ChessBase 18, check out various tutorials we have shared on our website to maximize the software and help your understanding of it. Photo: ChessBase

Pentala Harikrishna clinches Czech Extraliga 2024-25 for Novy Bor Chess Club

31/03/2025 -

Novy Bor Chess Club won Czech Extraliga 2024-25 for the 14th time. They scored 30/33 and finished three points ahead of the rest. Exhibition center in Lysá and Labem, and BŠŠ Frýdek-Místek scored 27/33 each. They secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. GM Pentala Harikrishna scored an unbeaten 4.5/5, performed at 2868 for the winning team. He is the ultimate team player in the chess universe today and been so for quite some time. Whichever team wins a league in anywhere in the world, there is a good chance that Harikrishna played a key role in it. Novy Bor Chess Club is also the reigning 39th European Club Cup 2024 champion. Photo: Novy Bor Chess Club

Meet Sandip Upadhyay: The teacher who is creating champions with his own money

31/03/2025 -

He is unrated, yet he is a mentor to nearly 200 kids. His students can’t afford coaching, he teaches them free of cost. They can’t afford to travel to bigger tournaments, he started a fund to support it. This is the story of Sandip Upadhyay, a teacher in a remote village in Gujarat. He pours his day and night, time and money, everything into their chess journey. His dream is to create 50 Grandmasters and 10 World Champions! His students consistently finish in the top 10 of every tournament they enter. Discover how this man is transforming the lives of his students. Photos: Sandip Upadhyay 

Saptarshi RoyChowdhury wins 9th Kurukshetra Rating Open 2025

31/03/2025 -

GM Saptarshi RoyChowdhury and Kishan Kumar scored an unbeaten 8/9 each at 9th Kurukshetra Rating Open 2025. Saptarshi won the tournament on tie-breaks, Kishan had to settle for second place. 12-year-old Krishay Jain scored 7.5/9 to finish third. Saptarshi defeated him in the final round to become the champion. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹280000. The top three prizes were ₹40000, ₹30000 and ₹24000 along with a trophy each respectively. The five-day nine round Rating Open tournament was organized by Guardians of Greater Dibrugarh Chess Players in association with DHSK College, Dibrugarh and Dibrugarh District Chess Association at DHSK College in Dibrugarh, Assam from 19th to 23rd March 2025. This is Saptarshi's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: SNA Apurba Sonowal

Italy's biggest Chess tournament, Sardinia Chess Festival 2025 to kick off from 26th April

30/03/2025 -

The strongest Chess tournament of Italy, the Sardinia World Chess Festival kicks off from 26th April! Consisting of 3 categories - Open A (2000+ rating), Open B (<1999 rating), and Open C (<1699 rating), the chess festival at Sardinia, Italy boasts a prize fund of 50,100 Euros. The top seed this year is GM Benjamin Gledura, and the top Indian seed is GM Leon Mendonca! The defending champion last year, GM Daniel Dardha is the 2nd seed in the tournament. Registrations for this spectacular event are still ongoing! Read the full article for all the information on the event. Photos: Lennart Ootes, Frans Peeters

Nihal Sarin prevails at 18th Tashkent Open, Abhimanyu Puranik third

30/03/2025 -

GM Nihal Sarin drew against GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) to win 18th Tashkent Open, Agzamov Memorial 2025 Open A (≥1800). He finished a half point ahead of the rest as both GM Abhimanyu Puranik and GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) drew their games against GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) and GM S L Narayanan respectively. Sanan secured second place and Abhimanyu third according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was US$ 75000. The top three prizes were US$ 20000, 10000 and 7000 along with a trophy each. GM Aditya Mittal is the only other Indian to make a top ten finish. He scored 7/10 to finish tenth. This was Nihal's first Classical rating tournament in 2025 and he won it convincingly. Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

World School 2025: Pragnika Vaka Lakshmi Golden, Silver for Om Esh Gottumukala and Divi Bijesh

30/03/2025 -

Pragnika Vaka Lakshmi scored a perfect 9/9 to win the Gold medal for India at the World School Under-7 Girls Chess Championship 2025. She defeated both runners-up, Mohinur Azakhujaeva (UZB) and Vera Jintian Xu (NZL) in Round 4 and 5 respectively. Om Esh Gottumukala secured a Silver medal in Under-7 Open. He scored 7.5/9, suffering only one loss against the eventual champion, Abdul-Malik Kairat (KAZ). Om drew with Oskar Fatkhlislamov in the last round. WCM Chinzorig Nandinjiguur (MGL) and WCM Divi Bijesh scored an unbeaten 8/9 each in Under-11 Girls. Chinzorig won Gold and Divi had to settle for Silver. Their sixth round game against each other ended in a draw. Photo: Andrej Jovanovic/Chess Federation of Serbia

Anirudhha Potawad dominates 1st Vidyalankar Institute of Technology Rapid Rating Open 2025

29/03/2025 -

FM Anirudhha Potawad scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win 1st Vidyalankar Institute of Technology Rapid Rating Open 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. FM Gaurang Bagwe, Arvind Iyer and WIM Parnali S Dharia scored 8/9. They were placed second to fourth respectively. Only Parnali among them remained undefeated. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹20000 + trophy, ₹10000 and ₹8000 each respectively. The one-day nine round Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by and at Vidyalankar Institute of Technology in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 9th March 2025. This is Anirudhha's second overall, first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Ravindra Potawad

Can Nihal Sarin win 18th Tashkent Open?

29/03/2025 -

GM Nihal Sarin defeated GM Jingyao Tin (SGP) to gain sole lead 7.5/9 at 18th Tashkent Open, Agzamov Memorial 2025 Open A (≥1800). His coleader GM Abhimanyu Puranik drew with GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) to trail by a half point at 7/9 each. IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (TKM) lost his second consecutive game. This time it was against the 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB). Nihal will face Shamsiddin in the final round. A win makes him a clear champion. However, a draw may not be enough to finish first as both Abhimanyu and Sanan have better tie-breaks than him. Round 10 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

GM Swapnil Dhopade on the art of Paralyzing your opponent's pieces

29/03/2025 -

A very common term we have heard in chess is "Improve your worst placed piece!" But chess is not just a solo battle! You have an opponent sitting in front of you, who is trying to galvanize his pieces as well. And in this regard it might be an excellent idea sometimes to paralyze his pieces. This is what GM Swapnil Dhopade talks about in this article - "The Art of paralyzing your opponent's pieces!" There is also a surprise gift for all of you by Swapnil. Read on to know more.

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