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AICF launches quarterly stipend scheme to support young chess players

03/07/2025 -

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has launched the Top National Players Stipend Scheme (TNPSS), an initiative to provide financial support to India's young chess talents. Under this scheme, the players will receive a quarterly stipend of Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 1,50,000 (depending on the age group). The aim is to ease the financial burden on families and help young players focus fully on their game. The first set of beneficiaries has already received their stipends. Check out the article to know who these players are and what they had to say about this scheme.

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

1st Andaman International Open FIDE-Rated Chess Tournament to be held from 23rd to 28th August

03/07/2025 -

The 1st Andaman International Open FIDE-Rated Chess Tournament will be held in Port Blair from 23rd to 28th August 2025. It will be a 9-round classical tournament with the time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from the first move. Out of the total prize fund of Rs. 7,00,000, the winner will take home Rs. 1,00,000. Titled players and players rated above 2000 will receive free entry for this event. The last date of registration for this tournament is 10th July. Check out the article to know more. Photo: Andaman Nicobar Chess Association

Dinesh Kumar H triumphs at 21st Delhi GM Category C Below 1700 Rating 2025

02/07/2025 -

Dinesh Kumar H and 12-year-old Naitik Sethi scored 9/10 each at 21st Delhi GM Category C Below 1700 Rating Tournament 2025. Dinesh won the tournament on tie-breaks, Naitik secured second place. Sibi M edged past seven more players to claim third place scoring 8.5/10. The total prize fund was ₹12100000, ₹3500000 in Category C. The top three prizes were ₹400000, ₹300000 and ₹200000 along with a trophy each. The four-day ten round Below 1700 Rating tournament was organized by Delhi Chess Association at Tivoli Gardens in New Delhi from 11th to 14th June 2025. This is Dinesh's first rating tournament triumph of his career. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Aditya Vikram Paul wins 2nd SXCCAA Rapid Rating Open 2025

02/07/2025 -

FM Aditya Vikram Paul and GM Mitrabha Guha scored 9.5/11 each at 2nd SXCCAA Rapid Rating Open 2025. Aditya won the tournament due to better tie-break score, Mitrabha secured second place. Four players - Soham Bhattacharyya, IM Souhardo Basak, FM Ankit Ray and Ritabrata Chakraborty scored 9/11 each. They were placed third to sixth each respectively. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹20000, ₹16000 and ₹12000 along with a trophy each respectively. The three-day eleven round Rapid Rating Open tournament was organized by St. Xavier's College Calcutta Alumni Association in association with Department of Sports St. Xavier's College Autonomous, Kolkata at St. Xavier's College Autonomous in Kolkata, West Bengal from 9th to 11th June 2025. This is Aditya's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh set to face Carlsen and co. at SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz 2025

02/07/2025 -

The third event of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 season is SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz. The defending champion, Fabiano Caruana (USA) will be joined by Magnus Carlsen (NOR), R Praggnanandhaa, World Champion - D Gukesh, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Anish Giri (NED), Wesley So (USA), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) and Ivan Saric (CRO).The total prize fund is $175000. The top three prizes are $40000, $30000 and $25000. Who do you think will win this tournament? The tournament takes place at The Westin Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia. In the first round, it will be Duda vs Gukesh and Firouzja vs Praggnanandhaa. Round 1 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Catch all the action on our youtube channel with live commentary by Amruta Mokal and IM Sagar Shah. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Praggnanandhaa is World no.4 and India no.1 in July 2025 FIDE Rating List

01/07/2025 -

It is official that R Praggnanandhaa is World no.4 and India no.1 in FIDE Rating List July 2025. He gained a total of 11.7 Elo rating points combining 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial and 2nd UzChess Cup Masters 2025. Arjun Erigaisi became World Rapid Team 2025 Champion. However, in Classical he dropped few points to move to World no.5. World Champion, D Gukesh maintained his rating by adding 0.4 Elo points at 13th Norway Chess. He is at World no.6. GM Pentala Harikrishna, GM Raunak Sadhwani and GM Abhimanyu Puranik added 1.7, 8.8 and 12.6 Elo rating points due to mostly from French Top 16. Despite losing rating points, GM Koneru Humpy moved up to World no.5 among Women, due other players' movements in the ranking. GM Harika Dronavalli gained 4.9 Elo points at 5th Cairns Cup. She is at World no.12. Four Indian Women are still among the Top 20. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

How did an IIT-IIM student Atharvaa Tayade become a secret weapon for Team MGD1?

01/07/2025 -

A player who left competitive chess for academics, but kept playing online 'just for fun'. Years later, he returns and destroys the World Rapid Team Championships 2025 with an insane 11/12 score! He is Atharvaa Tayade, an IIM student who helped Team MGD1 become World Rapid Champions. Think about this: An IITian, an MBA student who turned out to be an unexpected chess hero! His story will make you, or honestly, all of us, rethink what's possible. Check out the article to learn how this "recreational" player outsmarted the professional players. Photo: FIDE/Rafal Oleksiewicz

An invitation to Grandmasters for the GM Zia Memorial 2025

01/07/2025 -

Ziaur Rahman was the heart of Bangladeshi Chess. He became the country's second Grandmaster in 2002 and has inspired others, not only in Bangladesh but across the globe, with his journey. He passed away on 5th July 2024, but he left behind a legacy that still lives on in the memories he created and the games he played. To carry that legacy forward, the GM Zia Memorial 2025 will be held from 4th to 12th July in Dhaka. It will be a 9-round classical tournament. The organizers are specifically inviting Grandmasters to join this tribute with special conditions. Read the article to know more. Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Nine Indians will feature at FIDE Women's World Cup 2025

01/07/2025 -

Nine Indian women will be seen in action at FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 starting on 6th July in Batumi, Georgia. The top four Indians - GM Koneru Humpy, GM Harika Dronavalli, GM R Vaishali and IM Divya Deshmukh will play from Round 2 as they are the seeded players. The remaining five will have to play the first round. The pairings for them are - IM Yuxin Song (CHN) vs WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty, WGM Zsoka Gaal (HUN) vs WIM Priyanka K, WFM Lala Shohradova (TKM) vs IM Vantika Agrawal, IM Padmini Rout vs Lanlin Zhang (CHN) and WIM Anahi Ortiz Verdezoto (ECU) vs WGM Nandhidhaa P V. Opening Ceremony and Draw of Colors is on 5th July. Round 1 Game 1 starts on Saturday 6th July. Photo: FIDE

Cultivating the joy of giving and learning with Gift of Chess

01/07/2025 -

You will never know what miracles you are capable of until you set out to create them yourself. On the 29th of June, members of Tribe 64 chess and TeachChess India gathered at Cheers Foundation in Hyderabad. The idea was to spread the knowledge and the joy of learning chess. Team Gift of chess and Ambit were kind enough to send us two-hundred chess sets for donations in Hyderabad which will be distributed at various homes and shelters in the city with the help of our amazing volunteers in the coming days. Tribe64 Chess is a special initiative by Communitie Hyderabad to grow and promote the game of chess in the city of Hyderabad and its surrounding areas. TeachChess India, Hyderabad ChessBase India and Communitie Hyderabad have the common mission to grow the love of the game among youngsters who do not get the chance to learn and improve their game. All photos by Aditya Sur Roy

FIDE World Cup Cadets 2025: Eight Indian kids to battle for medals

01/07/2025 -

A total of eight Indian kids have advanced to Stage 2 of FIDE World Cup Cadets for Under-8, 10 and 12. Srinikhila Yadavilli secured second place in Under-8 Girls Group B Stage 1. She will face Tharshan Kajishana (SRI) for Bronze. Sarbartho Mani and Oishik Mondal topped Under-10 Open Group A and B respectively. They will clash against each other for Gold. CM Aarit Kapil finished second in Under-10 Open Group B. He will fight for Bronze against Iman Nabiyev (KAZ). WCM Divi Bijesh topped Under-10 Girls Group B. WCM Sharvaanica A S secured second place. Divi will face WCM Zhihan Chen (CHN) for Gold. Sharvaanica will battle Nadezhda Vlad Volkova for Bronze. Aadya Gowda and WCM Pratitee Bordoloi won Under-12 Girls Group A and B respectively. They will inevitably clash for Gold in Stage 2. Photo: Official site

Following in the footsteps of Torre

30/06/2025 -

The Philippines has had a long tradition of being one of the chess powerhouses in Asia. From the times when GM Eugenio Torre became Asia’s first Grandmaster in the year 1974, other top players emerged following in Torre’s trailblazing footsteps. Rosendo Balinas Jr, Rogelio ‘Joey’ Antonio and then Buenaventura ‘Bong’ Villamayor got the coveted title of Grandmaster (GM). After the turn of the century, Mark Paragua and then Wesley So (before his transfer of FIDE nationality to the USA) who then was still a took turns of becoming the youngest Filipino GMs. Photos: Caroline Cu, FM Ivan’s mother

Satvik Andabatla superb at 21st Delhi GM Category B Below 1900 Rating 2025

30/06/2025 -

13-year-old Satvik Andabatla scored an unbeaten 9/10 to win 21st Delhi GM Category B Below 1900 Rating Tournament 2025. Four players - Sundram Kumar, Shaikh Sohil, Prajwal Avhad and Md. Tabsheer Alam scored 8.5/10 each. They secured second to fifth place respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund was ₹12100000, ₹3500000 in Category B. The top three prizes were ₹400000, ₹300000 and ₹200000 along with a trophy each. The four-day ten round Below 1900 Rating tournament was organized by Delhi Chess Association at Tivoli Gardens in New Delhi from 7th to 10th June 2025. This is Satvik's first rating tournament triumph of his career. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Phenomenal Praggnanandhaa clinches 2nd UzChess Cup Masters in thrilling Playoffs, now World #4 and India #1

29/06/2025 -

It does not matter how many times you get knocked down. What matters is how many times you have the ability to get up and fight. R stands for Rameshbabu in Praggnanandhaa's name. However, in this tournament, he once again showed that it can be for 'Resilient' as he showed incredible resilience. He lost two games in-a-row in Round 5 and 6, won the last two rounds in a virtual must-win situation. In the Playoffs, twice he won must-win games against Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) with white and black pieces respectively. This triumph made Praggnanandhaa World no.4 and India no.1 in live ratings. His calmness and the ability to overcome adverse situation reminds one the character of Sripati Samanta written by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay aka Bonoful. It was appreciated by the maestro, Vishy Anand too. GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) and GM Saparmyrat Atabayev (TKM) won the Challengers and Futures section. Shamsiddin Vokhidov's (UZB) victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi also marked the end of an era. There is no Russian in World Top ten. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

New: Jana Schneider: Ruy Lopez for Tournament Players

29/06/2025 -

This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines. 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. Grab this Fritztrainer by WGM Jana Schneider (GER) and enrich your knowledge in Ruy Lopez. Photo: ChessBase

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