52 Saturdays of pure chess!

The image that started it all back in 2022!

On 10th of March 2022, Amruta Mokal gave a simul at the Phoenix Marketcity mall in Mumbai. It was a part of their women's day celebration. Little did we know that this event would start an association that would start something truly unique in Mumbai and Indian chess! On 19th of March 2022 we had the first session of the ChessBase India Chess Club. There were 50 chess sets arranged and 50 tables and chairs and thus began the journey of chess in the Atrium 5 area of the Phoenix Marketcity in Mumbai. The main aim of the club was to create a chess hub in the city. It would take place once every week on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. and it would be completely free and open for all. 52 Saturdays and one year later we are here! 

The Phoenix marketcity mall in Kurla is one of the finest malls in Mumbai

This is how the chess club looks from a top view!

Players from all across the city and sometimes even from other states and other countries would visit the ChessBase India chess club. What made this initiative truly successful was the love and the interest of people for chess.

Very soon we had a very nice community of loving chess players who would come to the club.

In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, we have decided to organize a big rapid event with a prize fund of Rs.1,25,000.

Here are the main details of the event:

ChessBase India Chess Club 1st Anniversary Tournament

Date - 11th March 2023

Start time - 12.30 p.m.

Venue - Atrium 5, Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla, Mumbai

Format - 10 mins + 2 seconds increment

Number of Rounds - 9

Total Prize Fund - 1,25,000 (25,000 women's only prize)

Entry Fee - Rs.100 for men and Rs.50 for women

Registration ends on 11th of March at 8 a.m. - No spot entries at the venue. First 200 entries only.

Prize structure:

Main prizes

Winner25000Sponsored by Samay Raina
Runner-up15000Sponsored by Samay Raina
2nd runner-up10000Sponsored by Samay Raina
4th5000
5th4000
6th3000
7th2000
8th2000
9th2000
10th2000
11th1000
12th1000
13th1000
14th1000
15th1000
16th1000
17th1000
18th1000
19th1000
20th1000

Age group prizes

Best under-16 1st1000Trophy
Best under-16 2nd750
Best under-14 1st1000Trophy
Best under-14 2nd750
Best under-12 1st1000Trophy
Best under-12 2nd750
Best under-10 1st1000Trophy
Best under-10 2nd750
Best under-8 1st1000Trophy
Best under-8 2nd750
Best under-6 1st1000Trophy
Best under-6 2nd750

 

Special prizes

Veteran (60+)
1st3000
2nd2000
3rd1000
Specially abled
1st3500
Total100000

Women prizes (sponsored by Phoenix Marketcity)

Best woman10000
1st runner-up5000
2nd runner-up2000
Best under-161000Trophy
Best under-141000Trophy
Best under-121000Trophy
Best under-101000Trophy
Best under-81000Trophy
Best under-61000Trophy
Best senior woman1000
Youngest girl1000Trophy
25000

Prize structure of the event

Rs.100 for men/boys/others

Entries are closed now

Rs.50 for women/girls

 

The entry is free for GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. They should write to us with their name, FIDE ID and phone number on chessbaseindia@gmail.com.

 

Once you make the payment, and it is successful, we will send you a mail before the event with the chess-results link. You can check that your name is there. Be there at the venue by 12 p.m. IST. The round will start at 12.30 p.m. sharp.

A huge thanks to our very own BM Samay Raina for sponsoring the first three prizes of this tournament of Rs.50,000. Samay will also play at the event.

A big thanks to our partners Phoenix Marketcity who are celebrating the women's month at the mall and have sponsored women's prizes of Rs.25,000

Some pictures that take you down the memory lane!

The Death Match between Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi took place in the same mall as the chess club!

We celebrated Nimay's success when he became the under-10 state champion

We celebrated Mumbai getting its 2nd GM (Aditya Mittal) by inviting Mumbai's 1st GM (Pravin Thipsay)

We had Samay Raina come over to give a simultaneous exhibition!
GM Swayams Mishra was the first grandmaster to visit the club and play with the members

A lot of visitors who watched the chess streams came to the chess club!

So many young kids got better playing here!

Some as young as 4 years old!

We had the famous Bollywood singer Nandini Srikar come to the club to enjoy a few games! Here she is playing against Amruta's mother Prachi Mokal

We have had guests all across the world enjoy the Indian hospitality!

AICF vice President Ranjan Mohanty visited the club
It was wonderful to have Biswa Kalyan Rath visit the chess club!

Checkout how people on the higher deck would follow the games happening below!

From October we launched monthly prize money events at the ChessBase India Chess Club. The first month's winner was IM Raahil Mullick.
Girlfriend surprises boyfriend by bringing him to the chess club!
Joel vs Amruta Mokal at the ChessBase India Chess Club
Samay Raina and backrank mate! What a love story!
Taking our home fights out to the club!
We unboxed our YouTube 1 million Gold play button at the mall

The beautiful ChessBase India team together!

One of the main pillars why the chess club became successful is Supriya Bhat - ChessBase India's Sales head. She would not only manage everything but also teach youngsters some basics!

Asim Khan (left) supported us tremendously with his innovative ideas around how to promote the club. How can we ever forget the composer of Bewafa Samay song Devin Anand (right).
Ending this article with a beautiful song composed by the man above Devin and his brother Derayne along with Sarthak Kalyani

Do you know the amazing news? We are opening the 2nd ChessBase India Chess Club - this time at the Phoenix Citadel Mall in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. We thank the Phoenix group from the bottom of our heart for supporting chess and promoting it in the country.

Don't forget to register before 11th of March 8 a.m. Only 200 players will be allowed to play. 

Update: Entries are CLOSED. (Please check the players list below. If you have paid the entry fee, your name should be there in the list below)

Players list

No.NameFideIDFEDRtg
1Mittal, Aditya35042025IND2386
2Mullick, Raahil35080350IND2245
3Kulkarni, Vikramaditya5009847IND2240
4Agrawal, Yash5023092IND2083
5Barat, Kaustav5020565IND2028
6Dere, Pushkar25040898IND1993
7Potawad, Anirudhha45081506IND1923
8Mishra, Arnab5033144IND1909
9Bartakke, Amardeep5003288IND1898
10Shah, Jeet45012954IND1796
11Gandhi, Jay5026032IND1783
12Nair, Saumil35016849IND1736
13Kochrekar, Vishvesh5037050IND1723
14Kadge, Rahul25053515IND1630
15Prakash, Guru25138316IND1597
16Bartakke, Aditya45019002IND1584
17Kayal, Aditi45075050IND1577
18Sandanshi, Anil25009150IND1553
19Gaikwad, Vishal35080091IND1550
20Keshri, Abhishek46679456IND1539

Complete list of players

Important links:

Entire YouTube playlist of ChessBase India Chess Club

The first session of the ChessBase India Chess Club

Launching monthly prize money tournaments