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Anish Giri takes lead, Vishy gets a head start

07/11/2019 -

Anish Giri pulled ahead of the rest of the field at the end of the first day of Superbet Rapid and Blitz here in Bucharest, Romania. The Dutch Grandmaster registered victories against Wesley So and Sergey Karjakin in rounds one and three respectively, and drew Fabiano Caruana in the second round to emerge as the sole leader with 5.0/6 points. Five-time World Champion Vishy Anand also started his campaign on an emphatic note by beating the Russian phenom Vladislav Artemiev with black pieces in the first round of the event and is now, along with Levon Aronian and Anton Korobov, just a point behind Giri. In this illustrated article we bring you glimpses of all the exciting moments from day one of the tournament through photos, analyses, and more.  

NEW Fritz 17 is now available

Fritz 17 - The giant PC chess program, now with FAT Fritz*. An extremely strong neural net engine inspired by Alpha Zero, which produces human-like strategic analyses of world class quality. Pre-order now to get your hands on Fritz 17 and Fat Fritz* on release day 12th November 2019.

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Mitrabha and Akshaya are sole leaders at National Junior 2019

06/11/2019 -

Overnight leader Mitrabha Guha made a quick draw with Koustav Chatterjee to maintain his half-point lead over the rest of the field at the conclusion of round 8 of 49th National Junior 2019. Rajdeep Sarkar also made a short draw with Aaryan Varshney in just 29 moves. Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi shocked Srijit Paul when the latter blundered a pawn and exchange in the opening. In the girls section, Bommini Mounika Akshaya defeated Arpita Mukherjee to claim sole lead, after the latter made a few inaccuracies in critical moment. Priyanka K missed plenty of opportunities and eventually drew with Srishti Pandey. Nityata Jain scored a big win against Saina Salonika. Photo: IA Jitendra Choudhary

Live games of Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2019

06/11/2019 -

The Superbet Rapid and Blitz is taking place from the 6th to the 10th of November 2019. It is Europe's latest addition to the Grand Chess Tour this year and is featuring the seven full tour participants along with three wildcard entries who will compete over nine rounds of rapid and eighteen rounds of blitz chess for an impressive prize fund of 150,000 US Dollars. Sponsored by the Fundatia Superbet, the event is being hosted in the prestigious Stejarii Country Club in Bucharest, Romania. In this page you will find all the information regarding this tournament at a glance and will be able to follow the games live with timely updates.

Raahil Mullick becomes an IM at the age of 12 years and 5 months

06/11/2019 -

A lot of chess prodigies are being created in India. Talents like Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and others have already graduated into stable grandmasters. The next set of Indian super talents are already on their way. Recently, we reported about Bharat Subramaniyam, a Chennai lad who became an IM at the age of 11 years and 8 months. Born in the same year 2007 - we now have another youngster who has made the country proud by becoming an IM at the age of 12 years and 5 months. That's Raahil Mullick from Mumbai. In this article you get to know about this young talent and what makes him special. We also have a game annotated by Raahil which showcases his style of play.

Mary Ann's resurgence at Romania

06/11/2019 -

Second seeded GM Alexei Fedorov of Belarus scored an unbeaten 7.0/9 to win Romanian International Open 2019. IM Artem Omelja of Ukraine also finished with the same score. Due to a better tie-break score, Fedorov clinched the championship. GM Gevorg Harutjunyan claimed the sole third position by scoring 6.5/9, The best Indian performer and the best woman performer of the event was by WGM Mary Ann Gomes who secured fourth place. She performed at 2539 and gained valuable 32 Elo rating points, making it her highest rating since February 2018. A huge report full of photos from the entire festival, games and historical significance of the location as well as the tournament by the Tournament Director FM Marius Ceteraş himself. Photo: Marius Ceteraş

Who is Evgeny Shtembuliak?

05/11/2019 -

He started as the seventh seed, but finished as the winner with a rating performance of 2752, gaining 23 Elo points and scoring 9.0/11 to become the World Junior Champion 2019. His name is Evgeny Shtembuliak. Originally from Ukraine, the youngster now lives in the United States and is studying on a full scholarship at the Texas Tech University. His feel for positional chess is outstanding and at the age of 20, he is already rated 2600. Being the World Junior Champion, we are sure to see him in action in many important events in the coming months. IM Sagar Shah got in touch with Evgeny after his World Juniors victory in Delhi for an interview. In this article you get to know everything you wanted to about this genial champion.

Arpita, Srishti, Akshaya and Priyanka are in a four-way lead

05/11/2019 -

Arpita Mukherjee, Srishti Pandey, Bommini Mounika Akshaya and Priyanka K are in a four-way lead with a score of 6.0/7 each at the conclusion of round 7 of 34th National Junior girls 2019. Arpita, Srishti and Priyanka K all three scored wins in both round 6 and 7, only Akshaya made a draw which was winning for her and then she won her next round. In the open section, Mitrabha maintained his sole lead with 6.5/7, after being held for a draw by Aaryan Varshney in round 6. Aaryan and top seed Koustav Chatterjee are closely following behind at 6.0/7 each. Action packed round 6 and 7 report contains annotated games and photos. Photo: IA Jitendra Choudhary

Tuesday King Hunts with GM Saptarshi Roy Parts IV & V

05/11/2019 -

The Tuesday King Hunts series, where Grandmaster Saptarshi Roy analysed some very instructive attacking play through a series of five videos, came to an end on the 8th of last month. In this write-up we review and give a gist of parts IV and V of the same. The penultimate part of the series featured a Semi-Slav brilliancy by the ever imaginative Vadim Zvjaginsev, while in the final lecture Saptarshi covered one of his own tournament encounters against GM Laxman Rajaram. The one obvious thing common in both games was Black launching an unstoppable attack and finishing off the party with an elaborate, spectacular chase of the white king! If you are a fan of tactical and dynamic chess then this article is just for you.  

Laxman wins All India Rapid Rating at Nagpur

05/11/2019 -

Top seed GM Laxman R R of ICF scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 to win All India Rapid Rating at Nagpur, Maharashtra. Local player FM Shailesh Dravid of Nagpur also finished at 8.0/9, however since he suffered a loss against the eventual champion in round 5, he was placed second. IM Nubairshah Shaikh scored 7.5/9 to secure third position. Total 218 players from nine different states across the nation participated in this two-day rapid rating tournament organized by Jai Sai Welfare Foundation at Nagpur, Maharashtra on 31st October and 1st November 2019. Total prize fund ₹302000 was distributed among the prize winners. Photo: IA Swapnil Bansod

Mitrabha takes sole lead at 49th National Junior 2019

04/11/2019 -

IM Mitrabha Guha takes sole lead at the conclusion of round 5 of 49th National Junior 2019 Open. Mitrabha (WB) defeated FM Nitish Belurkar (Goa) convincingly to end the day with 5.0/5. Top seed IM Koustav Chatterjee also got back to his winning ways by beating FM Jeet Jain. The remaining three IMs Rajdeep, Srijit and Anuj, all of them scored a victory each. In the girls section, top two boards had an uneventful quick draw. Arushi's dream run was over by the top seed in the girls section WIM Priyanka Nutakki. Second seeded WIM Arpita Mukherjee survived a massive scare in a game where she should have had a comfortable win. WIM Sakshi Chitlange suffered a loss against her state mate, Vishwa Shah. Photo: IA Jitendra Choudhary

Bernadskiy wins 23rd OIBM, Sethuraman and Sandipan finish shared third

04/11/2019 -

23rd OIBM Tegernsee witnessed Ukrainian domination as Vitaliy Bernadskiy and Pavel Eljanov claimed first and second position. Among the Indians, both Sethuraman and Sandipan scored 7.0/9 each and they finished shared third. After squandering multiple winning chances in the penultimate round, Sethuraman won his final round game with ease. In the last two rounds, Sandipan played some inspired chess and they are absolutely a must see where he showcases his creativity with sharp play. Padmini scored a 21-move miniature in the penultimate round and utilized her king beautifully in the last two rounds to finish at 6.5/9, being the only woman to finish in top 30. Photo: OIBM official site 

Your Spanish is Fab!

04/11/2019 -

In 2018 an Italian American achieved one of the most prestigious honours in the history of the game - he qualified for a match that would decide who the World Chess Champion will be. He lost, but left many surprised as to how he out-prepared and out-played the Magnus Force in the classical portion of the match. He is none other than Fabiano Caruana, the current World No.2. Being a 1.e4 player his entire life, he has shared his deep knowledge about the Ruy Lopez in a 3-DVD series, acclaimed by amateurs and professionals alike. Tanmay Srinath takes a closer look in this comprehensive review. Thumbnail image: David Llada

Srihari holds Koustav in 49th National Junior 2019

03/11/2019 -

Srihari L R of Tamil Nadu continued his solid form by holding top seed in the open section IM Koustav Chatterjee to a draw. FM Jeet Jain of Gujarat used element of surprise to beat Harshavardhan G B of Tamil Nadu. IM Srijit Paul survived quite a scare as his opponent FM Aaryan Varshney of Delhi missed his opportunity to gain decisive advantage and perhaps score a full point. Among the girls, Toshali V of Andhra Pradesh shocked WIM Arpita Mukherjee of West Bengal. Arushi Kotwal continued her momentum and held WIM Sakshi Chitlange to a draw despite being better for the majority of the game. Vyshnavi Chinnam of Andhra Pradesh beat WFM Srishti Pandey. Three-way lead in the open section and four-way lead in the girls section at the conclusion of round 4. Photo: IA Jitendra Choudhary

The clash of generations ends in a tie

03/11/2019 -

Nihal Sarin held back and Anatoly Karpov held his own - in short, that's what happened in the battle of two generations that took place yesterday in Cap d'Agde, France. The 15-year-old Indian phenom managed to create chances in almost every game but surprisingly failed to capitalize on them. The first two rapid games ended in draws and in the blitz section it was the 68-year-old legend who dealt the first blow. Nihal was in a must-win situation in the final round and the pressure sort of goaded him to go for the kill; he played actively right from the start, won an exchange on move 17 and then finished things off smoothly in just 28 moves. Thus, the four-game match came to an end with a 2-2 tie between the players.

New: ChessBase Magazine #192

03/11/2019 -

Fan and financier: The chess world needs more personalities like Rex Sinquefield. Star analyses: Annotated games by Anand, Giri, Vidit, Vitiugov, Tomashevsky among others. Benoni forever! Tanmay Srinath’s active recipe vs. the Four Pawns Attack. The Chinese Dragon — Igor Stohl proves Black is fine after 10…Rb8!? Who surprises whom first? Niclas Huschenbeth dissects his World Cup victory over Naiditsch. Attacking ideas vs. the Italian Game — Mihail Marin shows how White succeeds on the kingside...and much more!