Back in the 90s Nisha Mohota and S. Vijayalakshmi were arch rivals trying to beat each other to win every national title. However the rivalry existed only over the board. Off the board they were good friends and one of the primary reasons was Vijayalakshmi's father who always used to motivate Nisha and her family. It's been 12 years since A.S. Subbaraman, Viji's father passed away, but his actions and words still live on. In this article Nisha Mohota speaks about Subbaraman uncle and how he was instrumental in giving India's first WGM Viji the confidence that she possesses today. Here's a memoir by Nisha on the eve of the 1st A.S. Subbaraman Memorial Blitz Rating event.

IM Nisha Mohota is one of the strongest female chess players of India. Even after three decades of actively playing chess, her love for the game is very much intact. She has won multiple accolades in her career both in the country and internationally. She takes the time to write down her experiences both on and off the board for all chess readers as well as non-chess players too. She wrote one a few days on her experience in playing at Lienz, Austria, how she fell in love with the beautiful city and more. In Part II of her article, she answers the question asked at the end of part I and explains variations in detail, engines' role and how a GM friend of her reacted when the position was given to him and more. Photo: Nisha's blog

IM Nisha Mohota is one of the strongest female chess players of India. Even after three decades of actively playing chess, her love for the game is very much intact. She has won multiple accolades in her career both in the country and internationally. She takes the time to write down her experiences both on and off the board for all chess readers as well as non-chess players too. She wrote one a few days on her experience in playing at Lienz, Austria, how she fell in love with the beautiful city and more. In Part I of her article, you will get to know how the love for Austria began. Photo: Nisha's blog

There are many norm tournaments taking place in India these days. However, there is a catch here. Even in the A-category events players with extremely low rating are included so that they get a chance to compete in the same events as grandmasters and best players of the country. While this is an excellent thought for the lower rated players, for the higher rated players, this turns out to be a huge bane. Making norms when facing such lower rated opponents becomes next to impossible. However, IIFLW 2018-19 decided to conduct a tournament with a difference. In the A-category, Indian players above the rating of 2100 were only allowed. The result? Five players made their norms. In this article IM Nisha Mohota thanks the sponsors IIFLW and organizer Praful Zaveri for keeping a strict cut-off.

IM Nisha Mohota is one of the strongest female chess players of India. Even after 30 years of actively playing chess, her love for the game is very much intact. To become a stronger player she has worked with many coaches. On the other hand, she herself has worked as a serious coach helping many young players improve their game. She has seen both the sides of the coin - as a student and as a coach. She is in an ideal position to give you the right guidance on what chess coaching really means. There are some do's and dont's when it comes to finding the most appropriate trainer for your child. After this article, as a chess parent, you will be better placed to wade through the muddy waters of finding the best chess trainer for your kid.

Three months ago the National Women Challengers tournament was held in Chennai. It was emphatically won by S. Vijayalakshmi. The tenth spot in the same event went to IM Nisha Mohota. This was not particularly a performance that Nisha was proud of. In the 7.5 points that she scored, she went through moments of extreme pain, dejection and helplessness. But, in the end she was able to fight her ghosts and come out stronger than ever. In this article she shares with us some intimate details of pain and pleasure in the life of a professional chess player. A must-read.

Have you played a tournament in a perfect setting with excellent conditions and everything that you could have hoped for - with an exception- you just cannot play chess there? Welcome to Cannes! The 30 th Festival International des Jeux de Cannes which was held from 22 nd February to 28 th February. It was a nine round swiss event with 79 titled players out of the total 111 in the A group with 19 Grandmasters. A perfect tournament to play chess one might say! IM Nisha Mohota brings us a richly illustrated report.

On 29th of January Vishy Anand gave a Master Class which lasted one hour 25 minutes. This was filled with high quality analysis and some brilliant ideas shared by the five-time World Champion. And this video is now available to you. IM Nisha Mohota who attended this Master Class gives us first hand experience of what it felt like learning from the Indian legend.

The Khordha District Chess Association, under the leadership of Subhasis Patnaik, organized the 5 th Bhubaneswar All India FIDE Rating Open Championship for Girls Only between 10-15 December 2015 at the Infocity Campus in Bhubaneshwar. The event, despite being organized in the best possible manner, did not quite receive the kind of reception a tournament of such ilk richly deserves. The local star WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty won the tournament ahead of WGM Bhakti Kulkarni, WGM Mary Ann Gomes and IM Nisha Mohota, who sent us a beautifully illustrated report.