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Western Asian R01+02: Arjun Gupta stuns Sri Lankan talent Thilakarathne

07/09/2019 -

The classical games have begun at the Western Asian Youth and Junior Championships 2019. The first round itself saw a couple of upsets as Tanishka Kotia (2164) and Savitha Shri B (2076) suffered defeats in the hands of Vishwa Shah (1760) and Rathi Dhanashree (1631) in the under-20 girls section. While in round two of the second half it was Sankalp Gupta (2376) who fell victim to Harshal Shahi (2114) of the host city. The most emphatic performance of the day however came from the under-18 open category, where playing on board one Arjun Gupta (2024) outwitted the Sri Lankan talent Thilakarathne GMH (2397). In this report we bring you photos, analyses, and much more from the second day of the event. 

NEW! Learn the Ruy Lopez with Caruana

Over 16 hours of training in the Ruy Lopez by World Championship Challenger Fabiano Caruana. It's a bundle of three DVDs and will be launched in the shop on 25th of September. You can pre-order them now and get a big discount. Order Vol.01-03 from here, or read more about them.

Learn the Ruy Lopez

Aditya Samant wins Young Masters Rapid with a 100% score

06/09/2019 -

13-year old Aditya Samant scored 8.0/8 by winning all his games and finished 1.5 points ahead of the runner-up to win Young Masters Open Rapid in Pune on 1st September organized parents of Pune chess players. IM-norm holder Aditya beat WIM Aakanksha Hagawane, the eventual runner-up, in the penultimate round to take a full point heading into the final round. Top seed Gaurav Bakliwal also scored 6.5/8 to finish third. Here is a pictorial report of the tournament. Photo: Ganga Pant

India dominates at the Western Asian Rapids 2019

06/09/2019 -

The Western Asian Youth and Junior Chess Championship 2019 kicked off yesterday at the Hotel Tivoli Grand Resort in New Delhi with an action-packed seven-round rapid tournament. As expected, India bagged 15 out of the 16 gold medals at stake to commence the event with a dominating statement. The only gold that eluded grasp was in the under-18 open event where it was Mukhammadali Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan who clinched the title finishing half a point ahead of the rest of the field. While the host claimed 43 out of the total 48 medals, Uzbekistan was second with a lone gold, followed by Bangladesh and Tajikistan with a silver each. Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka settled for a bronze each. The classical section begins at 9:30 am IST from today and will continue till the 10th of September. The event will wind up with Blitz games on the final day.

Karthikeyan's helpmate puzzle explained

05/09/2019 -

India's 38th Grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali is well-known in the chess fraternity to be someone with a unique knack for chess compositions and problems. He claims solving to be his primary area of interest and being a strong 2600+ GM of over-the-board chess he most certainly is a very capable solver, but it seems his competence as a composer too is quite something to be reckoned with. Earlier today he posted a curious chess position on twitter which he mentioned to have composed a few years back. In this article we unravel the intricacies of this unusual problem and try to understand what makes it so special. Before reading our analysis do make sure to understand the stipulation well and have a go at it on your own!

Komodo 13 is World Champion of computer chess

05/09/2019 -

In Macau (China) the "Chess Events" of the International Computer Games Association (ICGA) came to an end last week. In fact, behind this prosaic name are world championships in three disciplines: the World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC), the World Chess Software Championship (WCSC) and the Speed Championship. At the start were six teams with their programs, including Komodo 13, which won in each of the two main disciplines WCCC and WCSC. | Photos: Erdogan Günes

Gukesh begins as the youngest participant at the Shanghai Haiwan Cup

05/09/2019 -

The Shanghai Haiwan New Star International Chess Tournament 2019 is being held in China from the 3rd to the 10th September 2019. Four Chinese youngsters and four talents from all over the world - India, Iran, Russia and Armenia, will fight it out against against each other in a Round Robin event. While all the players are either born in 1999 or 2000, Gukesh is the youngest participant, born in 2006. Having recently been trained by 14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, Gukesh is on a high. It will be interesting to see whether he will win the event ahead of strong players like Haik Martirosyan, Bai Jinshi, Li Di and others. An introductory report with pictures from the tournament venue. 

Nihal Sarin - The second highest paid player in the history of Indian chess?!

04/09/2019 -

It is clear that Vishy Anand is the highest earning chess player in the country. But who is the second biggest? Well, it seems like it is Nihal Sarin, after the 15-year-old signed a major long term sponsorship agreement with Akshayakalpa, an organic milk and milk products based company in Bangalore. The amount of sponsorship is kept as a secret for now, but backed by our analysis we feel that it could be somewhere between Rs.75 lakh to Rs.1 crore (between US$ 100,000 to US$140,000) per year. Why did Akshayakalpa decide to sponsor Nihal, what do Nihal and his team members feel after this agreement and how will this money be utilized? All of this and much more.

Maharashtra State Schools witness over 600 participants

04/09/2019 -

Total 605 players from various districts of Maharashtra participated in this Maharashtra State Schools Selection FIDE Rating Tournament in four-day age group rating tournament held between 27th and 30th August at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Total 24 players (top two from each group) qualified for the upcoming National Schools Championship 2019 which will also be held in the same city and organized by the same organizer Grandmaster Chess Foundation. Here is a pictorial report of the tournament which witnessed almost 1200 people from all across the state including parents and officials. Photo: Vijay Deshpande

India's 64th GM Prithu Gupta visits India's 1st GM Vishy Anand's home in Chennai

04/09/2019 -

It's said, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." For India's 64th GM Prithu Gupta, 3rd of September 2019 was one such day. He got the chance to meet his idol Viswanathan Anand at Vishy's residence in Chennai. Prithu flew down from Delhi to Chennai and spent a few hours with Anand and together they analyzed some interesting chess positions. In 1987, Vishy Anand became India's first GM and on 18th July 2019, the first chess board of Indian GMs was completed when Prithu Gupta became the 64th GM. It was wonderful to see the first and the 64th GMs together! In this article Prithu tells us what he learnt from this unique meet with the chess legend.

NEW: Nicholas Pert: Typical Mistakes by 1000-1600 Players

03/09/2019 -

Learning from our mistakes is, of course, crucially important for players of all levels. In the latest video series from Nick Pert, the English grandmaster and experienced trainer tackles common mistakes that are made by players rated between a FIDE Elo of 1000 and 1600.

War of Wits - A Corporate Chess Championship Preview

03/09/2019 -

e-Zest Solutions presents, first Inter IT Chess Tournament in collaboration with Victorious Chess Academy on 8th September 2019. The tournament is open to IT Professionals of above 18 years only. The tournament will take place this sunday 8th September at e-Zest Solutions Ltd. in Pune. The tournament will be played in rapid time control of 15 minutes + 10 seconds each. Maximum 150 players can participated and the tournament will comprise of a minimum seven round in Swiss league format. The champion will receive ₹11000 and a trophy. However there are three prizes for Best Company to fight for the bragging rights. Photo: Tournament Circular 

Understanding a very deep case of mutual zugzwang

03/09/2019 -

Mutual zugzwang or reciprocal zugzwang refers to those special kind of situations where whichever side it is to move finds itself in a disadvantageous position. The idea continues to thrive since ages as one of the primary curiosities in endgame composition. In today's article, the author Satanick Mukhuty, presents a uniquely deep scenario of the same in a pawn study. An endgame with just a few pawns and a pair of kings on board is the simplest type of position to analyse. But in chess, the infinitely rich game of possibilities that it is, even such meagre material can give rise to unusual complexities!

Harikrishna's brilliant play at Polish Extra League takes him to Elo 2754 and world no.16

03/09/2019 -

The last five months have been fantastic for Pentala Harikrishna. From a rating of 2723, he has moved to 2754. This makes his World no. 16 as he moves ahead of world class players like Nakamura, Topalov, Svilder etc. How has Harikrishna engineered his comeback? We tell you all about it and also delve deep into three of his games from the Polish Extra League. The tournament is currently in progress and Hari is playing on the first board of team Wroclaw. He has already beaten Heberla, Piorun and Mista. With a performance rating of 2900+ he is gained eight Elo points. Check out Hari's games and learn from the fastest improving player in the elite chess circle.

Sushrutha Reddy: Revolutionizing Chess in Karnataka at the Grassroot level

02/09/2019 -

Chess in Bangalore and Karnataka is on the rise and it is only because of dedicated individuals like Sushrutha Reddy. His teachings to students in all the schools has made a significant change. His hardwork over the years has led to nearly 1500 blooming talents across the country. We got a chance to talk to the man himself, and his story through the years really grabs ears. His friend, and respected coach by his own stature, Aravind Shastry, also had his own insight into Reddy's journey. Some of his most loyal students also gave their piece of mind on his coaching. The summary of all their responses is common: that Reddy's teaching is unique in it's own regard. The following article is in honour of Sushrutha's birthday.

"I feel I have learnt a lot in endgame play from the Kramnik Camp" - IM Leon

02/09/2019 -

Goa’s IM Leon Mendonca (2401) was one of six of the brightest chess talents from the country identified by the 14th World Champion, Vladmir Kramnik for an intensive 10-day chess program at Chens-Sur-Leman, France recently. Looking back at the residential Kramnik Microsense India Chess Program which was managed by Chess Base India, the 13-year old chess prodigy gushes at the opportunity afresh to memory as one of his biggest accomplishments till date. Photo: Gulesh D