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Odisha-KIIT held Air India to a draw in round 3 of 16th National Team for Women 2018

10/02/2018 -

There is a four-way lead in the Open section between PSPB, RSPB-A, RSPB-B and Air India at six match points ea after the end of round 3 in the of 38th National Team Chess Championship 2018. In the Women's section, PSPB and AAI are the only two teams who have 100% match point at the end of round 2. Hometown girl, reigning State Junior champion, Smaraki Mohanty of Odisha-KIIT defeated former Asian Champion WGM Bhakti Kulkarni of Air India and her teammate Commonwealth under 14 gold medalist WFM Salonika Saina defeated experienced IM Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi. In this report you will find games from both sections and photos from both rounds. Photos: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

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

Prithu Gupta- IM title and one GM Norm at the age of 13!

10/02/2018 -

If you are a beginner who has started off with a rating of 1187, where would you see yourself in 4-5 years’ time? Maybe with a decent rating of 1500-1600. Some may be particularly good and come at 1850-1900. But nobody ever saw it coming when 13-year old Delhi boy Prithu Gupta achieved his IM title and a GM norm in the same time period. Prithu pulled this off in the recent Gibraltar Masters 2018. What started off as a hobby is now the journey to becoming a world-class player! Read on to find out more about how the Delhi lad came to rank third in India after Pragg and Nihal!

The ultimate middle-east experience - Play the Dubai Open 2018

10/02/2018 -

The 20th Dubai Open 2018 will be held from the 1st to the 12th of April 2018 (2nd April is the first round and 10th April is the last one!). It is one of the strongest open tournaments in the world and the good news for Indians that unlike other events which are in Europe or America, this one doesn't require huge amounts of travelling. This is an ideal tournament for all ambitious players to gain their rating or score their IM/GM norms. ChessBase India Power makes your task of planning the tournament easier by making arrangments for accommodation and travel. Get all the details about the tournament in this article. 

39 Indians will travel to Aeroflot Open 2018 fully sponsored by the Government

08/02/2018 -

A lot of positive developments have taken place in Indian chess under the leadership of Bharat Singh Chauhan as the Secretary of AICF. One such phenomenal news is the sanction of a fully sponsored trip for 39 Indians to the Aeroflot Open 2018 by the Government of India. It includes our male and female team in senior, junior and sub-junior section. Along with them five managers will also be sent at Government cost. Aeroflot Open is one of the best tournaments in the world of chess. This will be an amazing experience for all our players, especially because we will have the top seed as an Indian. Guess who?

Surya Sekhar Ganguly held to a draw in the opening round of National Team 2018

08/02/2018 -

Karan Trivedi of Gujarat shocked everyone when he held 770 ELO points higher, India's Elite GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly of PSPB in the opening round of 38th National Team Chess Championship 2018 held at KIIT University in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. PSPB made its return to the tournament after they skipped it in 2017. Sanjeeban Nayak of Odisha-MCF-2 also caused another upset by drawing with GM Tejas Bakre of Air India. All seeded women's team whitewashed their lower ranked opponents. We bring you the photos and games from the tournament. Photos by IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Contribution for National A Blind 2018 crosses Rs. 5,00,000!

08/02/2018 -

We have reached our goal! We started with the aim of collecting Rs. 5,12,000 for the event on 2nd of February 2018 and you will be pleased to know that on 8th of February we have collected Rs. 5,12,053! It's a victory for the blind chess community! A huge "thank you" to all of you who helped by contributing and spreading the word! The tournament has reached a key point with just five rounds to go. With five spots at stake for the World Team Championship in Bulgaria later this year, things are getting tense. Kishan Gangolli seems to be on course to get his fifth national title! Can someone stop him? 

Kaustuv Kundu wins New Year Open 2018

07/02/2018 -

Reigning State Junior and State Amateur champion, Kaustuv Kundu won New Year Open 2018, organized by Alekhine Chess Club and Outram Club on 3rd, 4th and 5th January 2018. Kaustuv remained undefeated throughout the tournament and finished ahead of two IMs. In the interview with ChessBase India, he himself said that he did not think that he would become champion as he feels there are many better players who are stronger than him in rapid. Maybe Kaustuv's modest nature helped him to clinch the championship trophy and ₹25000 from three of the biggest Grandmasters of West Bengal, GM Neelotpal Das, GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and GM Sandipan Chanda. Photos, videos and interviews were done by Shahid Ahmed, who played the tournament as well as covered it.

Blind Premier 2018 R04: Kishan Gangolli gunning for his fifth straight title!

06/02/2018 -

These are the initial days of the National Premier Blind 2018. Just four rounds have been completed and we already have a sole leader - top seed Kishan Gangolli, who is on 4.0/4. You might think he is Bengali because of his surname, but the lad comes from Shimoga in Karnataka and is one of the most accomplished blind players that Indian chess has ever seen. We bring you some very interesting pictures and moments from the single round day. As the round ended in the morning, the players indulged in a blitz session as well! Blind players playing blitz is never easy, but we have found out that nothing is impossible for these 14 individuals! And yes, the total contribution for this event has reached Rs.429,053! Amazing indeed!

Gukesh beats Russian cold to score his 2nd IM norm

06/02/2018 -

Cold, Russians, 2450+ opponents, nothing came in between Gukesh and his will to make his second IM norm. Gukesh had a very tough tour in India playing the Bhopal, Mumbai and Delhi Opens. He lost nearly 40 Elo points. But what he gained in return was invaluable experience which he made use at the Moscow Open 2018 to score his 2nd IM norm. In fact, the 11-year-old from Chennai was very close to scoring a GM norm! He missed it when he lost his last round. We bring to you two of Gukesh's games annotated by the boy himself where he beats two 2500+ opponents.

Watch the National A Blind 2018 Live!

05/02/2018 -

This is for the first time in the history of Blind Chess in India that the games are being broadcasted live. They were done once at the Asian Championship, but that was using the Monroi technology. This time we are using the DGT boards where moves are being made by the volunteers to bring you all the games live! We hope that you can follow the games, and get a feel for the level of play of these 14 best visually challenged players of India. These are the games of the National Premier Blind 2018 which is a 14 player Round Robin event. 

Blind National A 2018 R02+03: The atmosphere of a blind tournament

05/02/2018 -

You have to be there to feel it! The atmosphere at the blind national premier seems just like any other tournament, but on closer inspection you see things which you would never do at a normal event.We show you these intricate stuff in this article. The tournament is also picking up well. The players motivated by the support they have received from people all over the world and are giving their best. After three rounds we have two leaders Kishan Gangolli and Aryan Joshi. Both of them are on 3.0/3. In this report you will not only see the games, but also some excellent pictures by Amruta Mokal.

First Friday February R01+02: Tenacious Pranav doesn't care for his rooks!

04/02/2018 -

The February edition of the First Friday 2018 IM norm tournament is underway and we have two Indians participating. Both of them had quite opposing fortunes as Pranav Venkatesh scored 2.0/2, while Moksh Doshi started off poorly with 0.0/2. Until now only one player has been able to achieve his IM norm at the First Friday events - D. Gukesh. Will Pranav be able to do it this time? If the 11-year-old does it, it will be his first IM norm. And he requires 7.0/9. Very much possible! We bring you the analysis of his first two rounds victories.

Blind National A 2018 R01: Tournament takes off thanks to public support!

04/02/2018 -

2,93,153! Yes, that's the amount the chess community has contributed towards the National Premier Blind 2018. A total of 74 donors have come forward in just two days! When you have such a tremendous backing for the event, the morale of the players is bound to be on a high. As one of the participants said, "I feel more motivated this year because I know a lot of people will be seeing my games!" Thank you, dear contributors, for making this tournament possible. The first round began on 3rd of February 2018 and we saw some very interesting chess being played. Detailed report with analysis by IM Sagar Shah. 

Carl Portman makes use of chess in prisons to make a difference

03/02/2018 -

Carl Portman is an English chess player who wrote a unique book on chess. This is not another theoretical book, this is a legacy book as he likes to call it titled 'Chess Behind Bars' by Quality Chess. In his interview with ChessBase India, Carl talks about why he decided to start Chess in Prison voluntarily in England, what motivates him to continue working on this project, how successful he was in this unique project, how he tries to push this in governors' prison agenda, different situations he had to face and how he dealt with it. Here is an interview with Carl Portman by Amruta Mokal.

Over Rs.2,00,000 collected for the Blind National A in 24 hours!

03/02/2018 -

The National Premier Blind 2018 had no sponsors. No one came forward. A sport where the blind compete on equal terms with the visioned players was left neglected. There was something that had to be done. We finally decided to approach the chess community and gather the money via crowd-funding. And believe it or not, within just 24 hours chess players all over India raised nearly Rs. 2,15,000. This is a story of how the chess community cares for each other, this is a story of how we care for our blind players! ChessBase India thanks each and every person who contributed. The tournament begins today. Here's how things look at the venue:

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