They can't see the board, but they read it better than most of us. The Mind Champions Challenge, a rapid tournament for visually impaired chess players, returns for its 4th edition on Saturday- 17th October at the Phoenix ChessBase India Chess Club, Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla. The event is sponsored by the Lions Club of Bombay Uptown and organised with the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB), ChessBase India and Phoenix Marketcity. It has a prize fund of Rs. 53,000 and no entry fee . Two-time champion Swapnil Shah and defending champion Rohit Jadhav will both be looking for the another title. Can we have a new Champion this time? Here is everything you need to know.

Top seed Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta of India emerged champion with 7.5 points at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Chess Tournament, Organised by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust and Powered by The Habitat. International Master Aswath S finished runner-up with 7 points and, in the process, achieved his third and final Grandmaster norm to become India's 98th Grandmaster. IM Kushagra Mohan secured third place with 6.5 points, while Pune's FM Advik Agarwal earned his second International Master norm after finishing fourth with 5 points. Photos: IA/NI Vivek Sohani.

The final round of a Grandmaster Round-Robin is a high-stakes pressure cooker. For 17-year-old Aswath S, the equation at the Pune International GM Round Robin 2026 was unforgiving; he needed an explicit win with the Black pieces to claim his final GM norm and secure the ultimate title. Instead of letting the weight of the moment fracture his focus, the young talent from Nagercoil entered a state of complete calm, delivered a tactical masterclass, and emerged as India's 98th Grandmaster. Fresh off his historic breakthrough, Aswath sat down with ChessBase India to talk about his mindset, his legendary childhood idols, the backbone of his success, and why a single pawn push will live forever in his memory.

The Title norm hunt has long been the most expensive hurdle for aspiring Indian Grandmasters- but Pune is about to rewrite that script after Tamil Nadu. From June 30th to July 8th, 2026, the inaugural Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament is bringing the titleholders from globe right to Maharashtra's doorstep. This historic event merges the decades-long grassroots dedication of the Kunte family’s Buddhibal Kreeda Trust with the modern, inclusive hospitality of Balraj Singh Ghai’s The Fern Habitat .

The COB Revival concluded in fitting fashion with a final that had everything- sharp tactics, dramatic momentum swings, missed opportunities, horrific blunders, and nerves of steel under pressure. After a fiercely contested battle against Joel Dsouza, it was Prakhar Gupta who emerged victorious, overcoming multiple twists and turns in a true roller-coaster encounter. From the round-robin stage to the knockout rounds, the event delivered nonstop entertainment, and the championship clash proved to be the perfect finale as Prakhar crowned himself the COB Revival Champion.

The COB Revival semifinals produced two dominant 2-0 results with contrasting styles. In Semifinal 1, Joel Dsouza defeated Vivek Desai through strong central play, tactical precision, and a composed endgame conversion, eventually securing a hard-fought draw in Game 2 to reach the final. In Semifinal 2, Prakhar Gupta completed a clean sweep over Samay Raina, consistently neutralizing aggressive pawn storms and converting superior endgame positions in both games to book his place in the final. The event concluded with a lighthearted third-place match, where Samay defeated Vivek in a tactical Sicilian battle and claimed the symbolic ₹500 prize in a fittingly entertaining finish. Photos: IA/NI Vivek Sohani

The Comedians On Board (COB) Revival has moved into the knockout stage after a dramatic shift in momentum. Day 1 leaders Prakhar and Joel faced a tough second day, while Super PogChamps winner Samay Raina rose to the occasion as always to turn the tables. Samay not only defeated Trace in the final round of the round-robin stage but also clinched their Armageddon tiebreaker with the Black pieces. Meanwhile, Vivek Desai remained unbeaten on Day 2, comfortably securing his spot in the semifinals. Photos : IA/NI Vivek Sohani

The return of Comedians on Board – COB Revival kicked off with absolute madness on Day 1. Moving away from massive 32 player elimination formats of the lockdown era, this edition gathers 8 battle-hardened Indian Comedian Chess Players for a intense round robin tournament held over the board for the qualification into the Knockouts. The tournament is held over four days at Habitat, Mumbai where audience can join in to witness live commentary sitting in front of casters, meet and greet sessions and much more. The event is produced by Nodwin Gaming and Sponsored by Airlearn. The top 4 players from the group stage will advance to knockout semifinals. The time control for the event is 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment from move 1. Photos: IA/NI Vivek Sohani

The Super Heroes Cup 2026 will be remembered not only for its inspiring participants but also for the sheer quality of chess produced across all rounds. In a knockout format where every game could end a campaign, IM Shashikant Kutwal delivered a performance of remarkable control, precision, and maturity to lift the title. Unlike many knockout events dominated by chaos, this tournament showcased a fascinating blend of fearless attacking play and classical positional understanding by the top differently abled players of India. Here is a detailed round-by-round report, featuring key positions and annotated highlights. Photos : Vivek Sohani

२४ डिसेंबर २०२५ रोजी भारतीय बुद्धिबळ विश्वातील एक तारा निखळला! वैद्य सर म्हणून बुद्धिबळ जगतात ओळखले जाणारे अरुण वैद्य भारताचे सातवे आंतरराष्ट्रीय मास्टर होते. ग्रीस येथे झालेल्या १९८४ सालच्या फिडे ऑलिम्पियाड स्पर्धेत त्यांनी भारताचे प्रतिनिधित्व केले होते. “आपण जे मिळवतो त्यातून आपला उदरनिर्वाह होतो; पण आपण जे देतो त्यातून आपले जीवन घडते.” विस्टन चर्चिलचं हे वाक्य वैद्य सरांना तंतोतंत लागू होतं! ते स्वतः तर उत्कृष्ठ खेळाडू होतेच पण बुद्धिबळ क्षेत्रातील अनेक नामांकित खेळाडूंच्या जडणघडणीत त्यांचा मोलाचा वाटा होता. आज ह्या सदरात आपण त्यांच्याविषयी अधिक जाणून घेऊ तसेच त्यांच्याविषयी विश्वनाथन आनंद, प्रवीण ठिपसे यांच्यासारख्या खेळाडूंचे गौरवद्गार देखील बघू.

Dreamhack Rapid and Blitz 2025 will take place from 31st Oct to 2nd Nov in Hyderabad, Telangana. Total ₹500000 prize fund is up for grabs, ₹300000 for Rapid and ₹200000 for Blitz. Entry is FREE for GM, IM, WGM and WIM. For everyone else, entry fee is ₹1391 for both events. This tournament is unlike any other as it takes place inside a gaming convention, which means loud music and noise will be there throughout the day. So if you haven't registered yet, do it right away. Whoever can block out the noise, focus on their game, will win big and become the champion.

जैन हिल्स येथे संपूर्ण भारतासह विदेशातून ११ वर्षाखालील बुद्धिबळ खेळाडूंनी सहभाग घेतला. ५३८ खेळाडूंसह त्यांच्या पालकांची व्यवस्था उत्तमरित्या जैन इरिगेशनच्या माध्यमातून होत आहे. जळगावात होणाऱ्या ३८ राष्ट्रीय बुद्धिबळ अजिंक्यपद स्पर्धेतून क्विन दिव्या देशमूखसह गुकेश डोम्माराजू सारखे खेळाडू घडतील, तसा खेळ खेळाडूंकडून घडेल आणि देशाचे नाव जगभर बुद्धिबळमध्ये उंचावेल असा विश्वास व्यक्त करत खेळाडूंनी चिकाटी ठेऊन मेहनत केली पाहिजे असा प्रेरणादायी संवाद ग्रॅण्डमास्टर अभिजीत कुंटे यांनी सहभागी खेळाडूंशी साधला.