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India's first WGM Vijayalakshmi turns 40

25/03/2019 -

S. Vijayalakshmi is the one of the greatest woman chess players of India. Her list of achievements is just endless. Her father Mr. Subbaraman taught her the game of chess and since then there has been no looking back. While India has had many WIMs, it was only Viji who opened the doors for female players to dream big - to think about WGM and IM title. Viji was the first Indian player to beome a WGM and  IM in 2001. In this article we tell you about Viji's playing style, preferences and much more. We also take you to the Hail Rapid Rating tournament that was held by Saudi Arabia from 15-18 March where Viji led right from start until the end, but a last round loss pushed her back to the second spot. We bring you an article dedicated to one of the greatest female players ever seen in Indian chess history. 

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Rishi Sardana takes sole lead at DCA Open 2019 after round 6

25/03/2019 -

IM Rishi Sardana took sole lead at the conclusion of round 6 by defeating IM Anup Deshmukh in DCA Open 2019. Five other leaders IM Somak Palit, CM Aronyak Ghosh, N Lokesh, Arindam Mukherjee and Bharat Kumar Reddy Potluri who were at 5.0/5, drew their respective games. Top seed IM Sayantan Das was shocked by Maulik Raval as Sayantan suffered the first loss of the tournament. Over 610 players from five different country Australia, Germany, Nepal, Turkey and India are participating including 10 IMs in this five-day 9-round Swiss League tournament with a total prize of ₹1818000 in 136 different prizes including separate rating category championship prizes. We bring you a pictorial report from round 6. Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Koustav Chatterjee wins 1st DD-DBCA All Bengal Open Rating 2019

25/03/2019 -

Top seed of the tournament Koustav Chatterjee wins 1st DD-DBCA All Bengal Open Rating 2019 convincingly. He scored 8.0/9 and finished a half-point ahead of the runner-up Arpan Das. There was a seven-way tie for the third position at a score of 7.0/9. However CM Aronyak Ghosh had a better tie-break score. Thus he secured 3rd position. Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary inaugurated the tournament which witnessed 218 participants from various district across the state of West Bengal. This was the first tournament under the newly formed DD-DBCA. GM Dibyendu Barua announced in the prize distribution ceremony that he plans to host more rating tournaments in this year. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

2018 rated player gets a winning position in 14 moves against 2692 GM and....

25/03/2019 -

This happened in the third round of the Sharjah Masters 2019. Sri Sai Baswanth (2018) hails from Andhra Pradesh. He was up against one of the strongest GMs at the event Maxim Matlakov from Russia (2692). With a rating difference of 674 Elo points very little was expected from Baswanth. He played the London System and with one strong move after another built up a winning position in just 14 moves. Matlakov was completely off colour. It seemed as if this would be the biggest upset of the entire event, when something unusual happened. What exactly? Read on to find out.

Upcoming Tournaments in April 2019

24/03/2019 -

Chess universe always has so many tournaments going on and the month of April is absolutely stacked. Which tournaments to play, which tournaments to follow, where are your favorites playing and how to get the details. We have everything you need to know in this article. From official tournaments to strong masters tournament, must see tournaments to tournaments in India, we bring all details of the most awaited ones in April. The month starts off with Dubai Open and Asian Youth, followed by 19th edition of Bangkok Chess Club Open which is Asia's one of the most popular tournament. Then we have GAMMA Reykjavik Open in Iceland and the super strong Grenke Open where Anand, Carlsen and many other World Class players will be seen in action in Grenke Chess Classic.

Sharjah Masters 2019 begins with 84 Indians in fray

23/03/2019 -

84 Indians are taking part in the Sharjah Masters led by GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly, who recently achieved the gold medal on board three of World Team Championships 2019 with a 2850 performance. Out of the 178 participants, UAE, the host country, has only 23 players while India has 84! We also have in form Abhijeet Gupta, and the talented youngster Nihal Sarin who will be looking to cross 2600 in this event. India's youngest GM D.Gukesh doesn't stop playing chess. After becoming a GM, he played the Delhi GM Open 2019, then the Aeroflot followed by HD Bank and now Sharjah. Can we expect another 2700 performance from him? Some of the other talents on whom we should have our eyes are Raunak Sadhwani, Aditya Mittal, Leon Mendonca, Divya Deshmukh, Bharath Subramaniyam, Pranav Anand, Raahil Mullick and more! The first round began on 22nd of March 2019.

IIT Bombay hosts its first FIDE Rapid Rating event with 493 participants

22/03/2019 -

Last year, the Aavhan rapid tournament at IIT Bombay was a success. Attracting a crowd of 208 players, it garnered the attention of the best Mumbai players. This year they went a step further and now Aavhan has become a FIDE rapid rating tournament with 493 participants. The whole Mumbai crowd was there for the top prize pf Rs.30,000 and a total prize fund of Rs.2,00,000 and yet they were all surpassed by IM Ravi Teja. In this report we tell you about Ravi's fantastic performance. Our young annotator Arhan Anand has annotated Ravi's game over Mehar Chinna Reddy. We also have an interview with the organizers who plan to soon bring a classical rating tournament to IIT Bombay. Report by Avathanshu Bhat.

From a glittering trophy to the Padma Shri award - The story of Dronavalli Harika

22/03/2019 -

GM Harika Dronavalli was conferred with the Padma Shri Award on 11th March 2019. Honorable President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented the award at a special function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in India after Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. It is given to an Indian citizen for their contribution in various spheres of activity including the arts, education, industry, literature, science, sports, medicine, social service, and public affairs. In this article we take you through the journey of Harika's life - how she began playing chess, how she persevered, how she and her family took bold decisions and finally how she excelled at the sport to be where she is right now - an inspiration to the entire chess and sporting community of India. 

This Holi, Indian GMs share the most colourful games of their life!

21/03/2019 -

Today, 21st of March is when the entire country celebrates the festival of colours - Holi. We, at ChessBase India, decided to ask the top grandmasters of our country two questions - 1. Which is the most colourful game that you have played in your chess career? and 2. Why do you find that game colourful? A total of 21 GMs replied to this question including Vishy Anand, Harikrishna, Adhiban, Sasikiran, Sethuraman, Ganguly, Nihal Sarin, Gukesh and many more. Each of them shared with us their beautiful gem, the best creative effort in their chess career. It's an article filled with unparalleled beauty. We ask you to have a look at these splendid games and get inspired for your upcoming tournaments!

Why are Harikrishna, Vidit, Adhiban, Humpy, Harika and 12 more GMs in Mangalore?

20/03/2019 -

The average rating of team ONGC led by Vidit Gujrathi is 2644! The average rating of team BPCL led by Harikrishna is 2628 and that of IOCL led by Adhiban is 2621. Each of these teams can take part in a chess Olympiad and have great chances to fight for a medal! But 17 GMs, 5 IMs and 2 WGMs have gathered at the MRPL Employee's recreation centre in Mangalore. Why? Each of the top Indian GM apart from Vishy Anand is employed by Petroleum Sports Promotion Board. This is the annual event which has to be compulsorily attended by each of the players. That's the reason why we see top players like Harikrishna, Vidit, Adhiban, Sasikiran, Ganguly, Sethuraman, Abhijeet Gupta and others fighting out here for their team's glory! Which is the team on the top? Read on to find out. Photos and videos from Mangalore by Deputy arbiter Ganesh Babu.

ChessBase Magazine (CBM) 188 with a new layout!

19/03/2019 -

CBM 188 has been launched and now it's available for everyone! For all those who are not aware about the ChessBase Magazine (Better known as CBM), it is a magazine for the chess professionals. So what do you get my spending Rs.824? Well, you can enjoy top class training in the new ChessBase Magazine layout! Tata Steel 2019 with analyses by Anish Giri, Vishy Anand, Vidit, Peter Svidler etc. Yannick Pelletier, Erwin l'Ami and Mihail Marin present selected games in video format. Plus 11 opening articles with new repertoire ideas, e.g. Dutch with 2.Bg5!? and more. Here's a look into what you can expect if you purchased the ChessBase Magazine 188!

Frederic Friedel in India - Part I

18/03/2019 -

In January co-founder of ChessBase and former editor-in-chief Frederic Friedel took a trip to India, to visit his partners at ChessBase India, to visit two big GM Opens, and to meet some of the incredible young talents the country is currently producing. There was a preteen grandmaster, a number of candidate GMs in their very early teens, and a delightful U12 girl's world champion. Frederic made many new friends, but he also used the opportunity to conduct his famous talent test on them. Here are the results and a biographical video.

Aditya Mittal’s inspirational journey of becoming an IM at the age of 12

18/03/2019 -

Born in September 2006, Aditya Mittal became an IM at the age of 12 years and 5 months when he achieved his final norm at the Aeroflot Open 2019. Even though it's just been seven years since Aditya started playing chess, the story of his achievements from a beginner to a master is worth narrating. ChessBase India author Paras Gudka made his way to Aditya's home in Mumbai and sat down with the boy and his family to know about one of India's brightest chess talents. Aditya's life is a story of grit and determination. In spite of innumerable obstacles, the boy overcame each one of them and has emerged victorious. A famous Indian GM made a prediction in 2016 that Aditya is so talented he would become a GM in six years. The way he is progressing, we think it might just take him three!  

Wang Hao wins 9th HDBank International 2019, Gukesh gives a 2700 performance!

17/03/2019 -

Top seed GM Wang Hao won the 9th HDBank International Open 2019. Despite starting the event with a draw, he scored 7.5/9 and won the tournament for the second time. GM Wen Yang of China and GM Stanislav Bogdanovich of Ukraine scored 7.0/9 each and were placed first and second runner-up respectively. GM Gukesh D also finished at 7.0/9 after he scored a convincing win over GM Megaranto Susanto of Indonesia in the final round. WIM Nandhidhaa P V finished at 6.5/9 and she was declared as the best woman player. She made her maiden WGM and IM norm in the tournament after missing it eight times before. The final report contains selected games, photos and videos from final round award giving ceremony.

Pack your bags! It's time for the ChessBase India Power Tour to Spain

16/03/2019 -

In 2018 we came up with the bold idea of a ChessBase India Power Group Tour - the idea was go to the Catalan circuit in Barcelona, Spain for nearly 50 days with a tour manager and play in five back to back tournaments. Having a tour manager ensured the youngsters whose parents were not able to travel were also able to send their kids. The results were phenomenal. The youngsters learnt how to handle their finances, plan their day, make their own decisions, but more importantly the entire group of 20 players gained 4359 Elo points! This year we are back with the ChessBase India Power Group Tour to the Catalan circuit from 24th of June to 10th of August. You can find all the information about this tour in the article below.

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