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FIDE World Cup 2025 to take place in India

21/07/2025 -

FIDE World Cup 2025 will take place in India from 30th October to 27th November. World Cup is an event where not only World's best players but the respective country's best players can also face a World-Class player, something that may not happen in other events except Olympiad. A total of 206 players will take part. Out of them, 20 Indians have already qualified via various path. They are - D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Aravindh Chithambaram, Vishy Anand, Nihal Sarin, Iniyan Pa, Raja Rithvik R, Narayanan S L, Pranesh M, Harshavardhan G B, Karthikeyan Murali, Karthik Venkataraman, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Neelash Saha, Diptayan Ghosh, Aronyak Ghosh, Himal Gusain, Lalit Rohith and Vidit Gujrathi. More Indians can qualify as FIDE President and Organizer's nominees are pending. Who do you think will win this edition? Photo: FIDE

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

2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Aix R2: Jobava's beauty game

21/07/2025 -

GM Baadur Jobava (GEO) played a beautiful game in the second round of 2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand 2025 Masters. He has had a long and illustrious career full of fantastic games by him. He admitted that these do not fall in his top ten best games, still one must take a look at it to be familiar with Jobava's brand of play. GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR) is the sole player among the top five seeds to win his game. GM Jorden van Foreest (NED), GM Awonder Liang (USA), GM Nils Grandelius (SWE) and GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP) were held to a draw each by IM Bennet Hagner (GER), IM Aaryan Varshney, IM Mohamed Anees M and IM Atilla Kuru (TUR) respectively. Round 3 starts today at 2:30 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Koneru Humpy becomes the first Indian woman to qualify in a FIDE Women's World Cup Semifinal

21/07/2025 -

GM Koneru Humpy became the first Indian woman ever to advance to the Semifinal of a FIDE World Cup. She drew against IM Yuxin Song (CHN) to secure her spot in the final four. GM Tingjie Lei (CHN) defeated GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) again. It means Humpy will face Tingjie in the Semifinals. GM Harika Dronavalli and IM Divya Deshmukh had another well contested draw. GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) defeated GM R Vaishali to eliminate her. Zhongyi will face the winner of the tie-breaks between Harika and Divya. Round 5/Quarterfinal Tie-break games start today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Aix R1: Gulenay and Marco battle for nearly 6.5 hours

20/07/2025 -

The second edition of Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Aix 2025 features over 400 players from 40+ countries. In the very first round, teenagers WIM Gulenay Aydin (TUR) and IM Marco Materia (FRA) battled for over six hours and 20 minutes before their intriguing six minor piece endgame finished in a draw. Gulenay thwarted all attempts by Marco to score a win. CM V S Nandish had a great opportunity to trap GM Max Warmerdam's (NED) bishop in the endgame. Time trouble caused him to miss it and he ended up losing the game. Raghav V played a good game against the super strong GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR). However, in the endgame, Raghav got his knight trapped. A total of 39 GMs, 62 IMs, 4 WGMs and 9 WIMs are taking part in the Masters (>2100) section. Round 2 starts today at 2:30 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Women's World Cup 2025 QF1: Humpy wins, Harika, Divya and Vaishali draw

20/07/2025 -

GM Koneru Humpy defeated IM Yuxin Song (CHN) in the first game of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 Quarterfinals. Humpy needs a draw in the second game to secure her place in the Semifinals. IM Divya Deshmukh drew against GM Harika Dronavalli. GM R Vaishali had a hard-fought draw against GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN). GM Tingjie Lei (CHN) defeated GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO). She is also a draw away from advancing to the Semifinals. The top three finishers earn a place in the next FIDE Women's Candidates. So the stakes are very high. Round 5/Quarterfinal Game 2 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

Honi Arora clear first at 58th Biel Chess Festival 2025 SZB U20 Blitz Rating

19/07/2025 -

Honi Arora scored 7/8 to win Biel Chess Festival 2025 SZB Under-20 Blitz Rating. He finished a full point ahead of the rest. Shirui Ding (CHN) secured second place. Felix Meshach (SUI) was placed third. Honi defeated both eventual runners-up, Shirui and Felix 2-0. His sole loss was against Weronika Trzcsinska (POL) with the black pieces. Each player faced four opponents and played two games with both colors each. The one-day eight-round Under-20 Blitz Rating Tournament was organized by Biel-Bienne Chess in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. This is Honi's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Biel Chess Festival

A new home for chess players opens up in Gurugram!

19/07/2025 -

A new chess club is launching in Gurugram called the Espresso Defense Chess Club. It is launched in partnership with the beautiful cafe space called Cut Coffee Paste that envisions to make this a regular weekend chess club open for all! 15 chess sets will be placed for chess enthusiasts from all across the city to come and play over the board! The club is being launched with a Rapid Tournament on the occasion of International Chess Day! Read more to know about the story behind it and to register for our launch event

Biel GMT R4: Aravindh Chithambaram maintains his sole lead

19/07/2025 -

GM Aravindh Chithambaram drew both his third and fourth round games against GM Volodar Murzin and GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL) respectvely at 58th Biel Chess Festival GMT Masters 2025. He is now at 15.5/30, 1.5 points ahead of GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO). GM Salem Saleh's win over Fedoseev ensured Aravindh's sole lead. Salem moved to 13/30. GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) stays ahead in the Challengers section with a score 19/30, 3.5 points ahead of GM Aram Hakobyan (ARM). In the Master Tournament (MTO), GM Karthikeyan Murali, GM Pranav Anand and GM Sasikiran Krishnan are in a three-way lead 4.5/5. GMT Round 5 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas: Levon Aronian vs Hans Niemann in the Finals

19/07/2025 -

Levon Aronian won the World Cup twice for a reason. He defeated Arjun Erigaisi twice in the Semifinals to advance to the Finals of Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas. Hans Niemann (USA) also won his match 1.5-2.5 against Fabiano Caruana (USA) to move to the Finals. Caruana had winning chances in both first 30'+30" and 10'+10" games. In the Finals, it will be Aronian vs Niemann. Arjun will play Lower Bracket Semifinal against Caruana. R Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer (GER) 1.5-0.5 in the Intermediate Stage 1. Lower Bracket Semifinals and Intermediate Stage 2 Game 1 starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Finals will take place tomorrow on 20th July. Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Women's World Cup 2025 R4 TB: Humpy, Harika, Vaishali and Divya qualify to the QF, create history

19/07/2025 -

For the first time in a FIDE Women's World Cup, four Indian women are in the Quarterfinal stage. It means 50% of the players remaining in the tournament are Indians. Both GM Koneru Humpy and IM Divya Deshmukh needed two tie-break games to eliminate GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) and GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) respectively. Divya scored a huge win against Jiner and Humpy remained undefeated in her match. GM Harika Dronavalli knocked out GM Kateryna Lagno by 2.5-3.5. GM R Vaishali had to battle the longest. She eliminated the giant-killer of the tournament by 4.5-3.5 after a grueling tie-breaks. Round 5/Quarterfinal Game 1 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas: Arjun Erigaisi will face Levon Aronian in the Semifinals

18/07/2025 -

A new chapter will be written in the Arjun Erigaisi-Levon Aronian saga. Arjun needed only two 30'+30" games to beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) by 0.5-1.5. Levon Aronian won his Semifinal against Hikaru Nakamura by 2.5-1.5. R Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana had an exciting where they traded wins for six consecutive games. Armageddon had to decide winner which was Caruana. Hans Niemann (USA) defeated Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) to secure his place in the Semifinals. He will face Caruana in the next stage. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) whitewashed Vidit Gujrathi 2-0 and now he will face the Upperbracket QF losers in a Lowerbracket QF. Upper Bracket Semifinals and Lower Bracket Quarterfinal Game 1 starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

AICF announces ten FIDE Trainer Seminars in 2025

18/07/2025 -

Chess is indubitably the number one sport in India. World Champion, both Olympiad champions are currently from India. Players from all over the country are winning laurels at various events. To ensure the momentum and legacy continues, there needs to be an infusion of quality chess trainers. More chess coaches who are properly trained can help learn budding talents to become strong, work efficiently and effectively. Thus, All India Chess Federation has announced ten FIDE Trainers' Seminar. Ten to take place in 2025 and the eleventh one will be held in January 2026. All of them will take place in eleven different states and dates. Check out more details in the article. Photo: ECU

Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas: Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen, advances to QF with Arjun Erigaisi

17/07/2025 -

R Praggnanandhaa handed Magnus Carlsen (NOR) his first loss in the fourth round of Round Robin stage at Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas 2025. The World no.1 played boldly and imploded. Even though he got a chance to get back in the game, he missed it. The result affected him so much that he lost the following game against Wesley So (USA) in a winning position. Later, Levon Aronian (USA) defeated Carlsen twice in tie-breaks to advance to the Quarterfinals. It means, Carlsen can maximum get a third place finish at this event by winning the Lower Brackets. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi are the two Indians to have advanced to the Quarterfinals. Quarterfinals Game 1 starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Biel GMT R2: Aravindh Chithambaram emerges sole leader

17/07/2025 -

GM Aravindh Chithambaram won an exciting battle against GM Frederik Svane (GER) in Round 2 of 58th Biel Chess Festival GMT Masters Qualifiers event. It was a back and forth game which could have gone either player's way. The Germany no.2 erred in time trouble and arrived at a lost rook and bishop vs queen endgame. Aravindh had no trouble converting his advantage into a win. He is now the sole leader 12.5/18. GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) increased his sole lead in the Challengers by defeating the gentleman of the sport, GM David Navara (CZE). GM Karthikeyan Murali and GM Pranav Anand are the two Indians with a perfect score 3/3 in the Master tournament (MTO). GMT Round 3 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Women's World Cup 2025 Round 4.1: Divya Deshmukh outplays Jiner Zhu

17/07/2025 -

IM Divya Deshmukh scored a huge win over GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) in the first game of Round 4 at FIDE Women's World Cup 2025. The World no.6 among women, made a series of piece trades and arrived at a queen and knight vs queen and bishop endgame. Divya made the most out of her material combination as it is known that queen and knight is generally better than a queen and bishop. She outplayed her opponent and defeated Jiner for the first time in their Classical rated battles. GM Koneru Humpy, GM Harika Dronavalli and GM R Vaishali drew against GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI), GM Kateryna Lagno and IM Meruert Kamalidenova (KAZ). Round 4 Game 2 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

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