chessbase india logo

How the Northeast's rising star Arshiya Das is making her remarkable chess climb

28/08/2025 -

One name that is shining brightly from Northeast India is Arshiya Das. This 14-year old girl has crossed the 2100 mark, secured her first WIM norm and is aiming to become the first Woman International Master from the entire region. Arshiya’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable. In this article, we explore the milestones, challenges, and support that have shaped her into one of India’s most promising young talents. Read on to see what keeps young talents like her moving forward against all odds. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

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

Fujairah Global R3-4: Pranav Venkatesh and Jiner Zhu in the leaders' pack

28/08/2025 -

GM Pranav Venkatesh drew both of his games in Round 3 and 4 to stay at the top in Fujairah Global 2025 Superstars. Pranav first drew against GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) in 16 moves. Then he had a well contested draw against GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) where the majority of the endgame featured all four bishops. The sole female participant in the Superstars, GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) is also at an unbeaten 3/4. GM Raunak Sadhwani and GM Aditya Mittal are at 2.5/4 each. Raunak drew against GM Ivan Zemlyanskii and then defeated, GM Leon Luke Mendonca. Aditya on the other hand first defeated the two-time Asian Junior champion, GM Aleksey Grebnev and then split the point with GM Abhimanyu Mishra. Round 5 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Wesley So wins Sinquefield Cup 2025 via Playoffs, Praggnanandhaa second

28/08/2025 -

Wesley So (USA) won Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2025 after nine years by winning the Playoffs. R Praggnanandhaa drew his ninth round game against Levon Aronian (USA). Fabiano Caruana (USA) also shared the point versus the reigning World Champion, D Gukesh. Wesley So (USA) defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) to finish with the same score as Praggnanandhaa and Caruana 5.5/9 each. They had to battle each other in 5'+2" Playoffs. Praggnanandhaa won the first game against Caruana. So defeated Praggnanandhaa in the second game. He drew the third game of the Playoffs against Caruana, thus he became champion scoring 1.5/2 in the Blitz tie-break games. Praggnanandhaa finished second as he scored 1/2, Caruana third as he only managed to score 0.5/2. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Caruana, Aronian and Praggnanandhaa will battle in Sao Paolo, Brazil at the GCT Finals from 27th September to 3rd October 2025. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Dinmukhammed Makhanbetali wins 49th Sitges Open B 2025, Marium Fatima second and Parth Moghe third

27/08/2025 -

Dinmukhammed Makhanbetali (KAZ) and Marium Fatima scored 7.5/9 each at 49th Vila de Sitges Open Group B (1650-1950) 2025. The 11-year-old Dinmukhammed won the tournament and Marium was placed second according to tie-breaks. Parth Moghe edged past four more players on tie-breaks to secure third place. The total prize fund of the tournament was €8000. The top three prizes in Group B were €450 + trophy, €300 and €200 each. Karthik Kumbhar and Advaith Asokumar scored 6.5/9 each to claim fifth and sixth place respectively. Vijay Chauhan scored 6/9 to be placed tenth. In Group A, IM Subhayan Kundu scored 7/9 to finish fourth. WIM Angela Franco Valencia (COL) was the top female finisher. She scored 6/9 to finish tenth overall, win Best Female prize and also secure her maiden WGM-norm. Photos: FI Niklesh Jain

Praggnanandhaa or Caruana - Who will win Sinquefield Cup?

27/08/2025 -

R Praggnanandhaa drew against Wesley So (USA) to maintain his lead, heading into the last round of Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2025. Fabiano Caruana (USA) also shared the point with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA). Thus, both Caruana and Praggnanandhaa are at 5/8 each. The World Champion, D Gukesh played a hard-fought draw against the two-time FIDE World Cup winner, Levon Aronian (USA). Aronian and So are at 4.5/8 each. The top four finishers of the GCT standings will have to the Finals of the season slated to take place in Brazil later this year. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) scored his first of the event against Alireza Firouzja (FRA). Round 9 starts today at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Fujairah Global R2: Pranav Venkatesh wins two in-a-row

27/08/2025 -

GM Pranav Venkatesh defeated GM Eduardo Bonelli Iturrizaga (ESP) in the second round of Fujairah Global 2025 Superstars. Eduardo went wrong in the double rook and minor piece endgame, Pranav seized his advantage without any difficulty. GM Pranav Anand outplayed the reigning Asian Individual champion, GM Bardiya Daneshvar (IRI). GM S L Narayanan, GM Aditya Mittal and GM Pranesh M drew against their higher rated opponents - GM Raunak Sadhwani, GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) and GM Leon Luke Mendonca. The top seed, GM Nihal Sarin bounced back with a win over GM Ido Gorshtein (ISR). GM Bharath Subramaniyam H played a solid draw versus the legend and former World Rapid champion, GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR). Today is the sole double round of the tournament. Round 3 starts today at 10 a.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. IST. Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

FIDE World Cup 2025 heads to Goa

27/08/2025 -

Goa has been named as the host for the FIDE World Cup 2025 which will take place from 30th October to 27th November. World Cup is a knockout 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. Photos: FIDE

Samuel Stephen Noble S superb at 31st Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Open B 2025

26/08/2025 -

Samuel Stephen Noble S scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 31st Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Rating Open B (≤1999) 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Seven players scored 7.5/9 each. Out of them, Tigran Agh. Petrosyan (ARM) and Agshin Alizada (AZE) secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. Samuel drew against the eventual second runner-up, Agshin in the seventh round. Total combined prize fund for Open A and B was US$ 20300. The top three prizes were $2000, $1500 and $1000 along with a trophy each. This is Samuel's fourth overall, second rating tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Fujairah Global R1: Pranav Venkatesh checkmates Nihal Sarin

26/08/2025 -

The reigning World Junior champion, GM Pranav Venkatesh made a strong start at the inauguration Fujairah Global 2025 Superstars. He defeated the top seed, Asian Individual 2025 Silver medalist, GM Nihal Sarin. Nihal got himself into an inferior position, lacked space and trapped his own bishop. GM S L Narayanan, GM Pranav Anand and GM Pranesh M held GM Sam Shankland (USA), GM Salem Saleh (UAE) and GM Jose Educardo Marinez Alcantara (MEX) to a draw each respectively. The Superstars event witnesses the participation of 44 GMs with an average rating of 2606. The total prize fund of all events is US$ 125000, $80000 in the Superstars (>2600), $30000 in Masters (2200-2599) and $15000 in Open (<2200). Top three prizes are - US$ 23000, $13000 and $9000 each. Round 2 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Sinquefield Cup: Praggnanandhaa wins his first Classical game against Firouzja, catches up with Caruana

26/08/2025 -

R Praggnanandhaa defeated Alireza Firouzja (FRA) for the first time in a Classical rated game in Round 7 of Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2025. This win moved Praggnanandhaa to the top as he joined the lead with Fabiano Caruana (USA). Caruana drew his game against Levon Aronian (USA). Both Caruana and Praggnanandhaa are at the top with 4.5/7 each. Aronian and Wesley So (USA) are close behind at 4/7 each. So defeated the World Champion, D Gukesh. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) handed Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) his fourth loss of the event. Praggnanandhaa's last two opponents at this event are - So and Aronian. Round 8 starts today at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Aleksey Grebnev wins Oskemen Open 2025 Masters, Sethuraman third

25/08/2025 -

GM Aleksey Grebnev and GM Richard Rapport (HUN) scored an unbeaten 7/9 each at Oskemen Open Masters 2025. Grebnev won the tournament due to better tie-break score, Rapport was placed second. GM Sethuraman S P and GM Dmitry Bocharov scored 6.5/9 each. They secured third and fourth place respectively. Sethuraman also remained undefeated. The total prize fund was US$ 100000, $78000 in Masters. The top three prizes were $18000, $14000 and $10000 along with a trophy each. The nine-day nine round rating tournament was organized by Kazakhstan Chess Federation at D Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University in Oskemen, Kazakhstan from 21st to 29th July 2025. Photo: Dastan Kapayev

Sinquefield Cup: Five draws again

25/08/2025 -

The sixth round of Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2025 had the same results as the previous round. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) was the only player who had the best winning chances against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). The World Champion, D Gukesh had the second-longest game of the round against Alireza Firouzja (FRA). All five games ending in a draw means the standings remain unchanged. Fabiano Caruana (USA) is still the sole leader 4/6. Levon Aronian (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa are at 3.5/6 each, followed by Firouzja, Wesley So (USA), MVL, Gukesh and Samuel Sevian (USA) at 3/6 each. Round 7 starts today at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Darshan G dominates 2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Aix 2025 Accession

24/08/2025 -

12-year-old Darshan G scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 2nd Dole Trophy Pasino Grand Accession (1700-2200) Rating 2025. He finished a full point ahead of others. Asal Salimova (UZB) scored sole 7/9 to secure second place. Six players scored 6.5/9. Out of them, Jean-Michel Bigonnet (FRA) finished third due to better tie-break score. The total prize fund combining three tournaments was more than €30000. The top three prizes in Accession were €800 + trophy, €550 and €350. In Petits Zelos (<1700), the top three prizes were €250, €150 and €100. This is Darshan's second overall, first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

New: Krishnan Sasikiran: The Art of Sacrificing

24/08/2025 -

The perfect sacrifice is every chess player's dream. You give your opponent material "for free", but in return you gain overwhelming piece activity, which, combined with creative ideas, can lead to a memorable game. In his new FritzTrainer course, Krishnan Sasikiran - who played no fewer than 11 Olympiads - shows how to correctly sacrifice a piece and obtain sufficient compensation for the material! Grab this Fritztrainer, increase your understanding of the art of sacrificing. You can now stream videos and study from ChessBase books on any device - laptop, smartphone or a tablet. Photo: ChessBase

Can Aditya Mittal win 31st Abu Dhabi Masters?

24/08/2025 -

GM Denis Lazavik defeated Chongsheng Zeng (CHN) to end his unbeaten streak in the penultimate round of 31st Abu Dhabi Chess Festival 2025 Masters. GM Arkadij Naiditsch (BUL) got the better of GM Haowen Xue (CHN). GM Aditya Mittal played ambitiously and scored a victory over compatriot, GM Bharath Subramaniyam H. Denis, Aditya and Arkadij are now in a three way lead at 6.5/8 each. Denis and Arkadij will clash, Aditya will be up against the two-time Asian Junior champion, GM Aleksey Grebnev who is at 6/8. IM Mayank Chakraborty missed a great opportunity to win against GM Iniyan Pa. Iniyan and GM Prraneeth Vuppala are at 6/8 each. Round 9 starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Contact Us