8 Reasons why you shouldn't miss the Chess960 event tonight on ChessBase India
What an amazing star studded event we are going to witness on the 18th of July 2020 on ChessBase India. It's the late M.D. Bhagwat Memorial blitz sponsored by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust. The format is Chess960 and a total prize fund of Rs.50,000 is at stake. The top seed of the tournament is Vidit Gujrathi, who will not just play the event but also stream it LIVE on his YouTube channel. He will be given stiff resistance by the Beast (Adhiban), Aravindh Chithambaram, Karthikeyan Murali, Gukesh, Raunak Sadhwani and several other Indian youngsters. This is your last chance to register for the event and play in the same tournament as the biggest names in the world of chess!
There are several reasons why you should be playing the chess960 event that will be held on 18th of July 2020 on Playchess. Here are a few of them:
1. To remember the great M.D. Bhagwat
The tournament is held in the loving memory of an ex-National A player, a revered International arbiter and a well-known organizer. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Shiv Chatrapati award. It would be a wonderful gesture to play in the tournament and remember the great chess lover.
2. A total prize fund of Rs.50,000 and first prize of Rs.12,000
The tournament has been sponsored by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust. It is one of the organizations that has been working tirelessly for chess players for three decades now. Under the leadership of Prakash Kunte (father of GM Abhijit Kunte and WIM Mrunalini Kunte) BKT has organized several online events. The Chess960 event is one more such fine initiative which is meant for the benefit of the players.
Main Prizes
| 1 | ₹12000 |
| 2 | ₹8000 |
| 3 | ₹5000 |
| 4 | ₹3000 |
| 5 | ₹2000 |
| 6 | ₹1500 |
| 7 | ₹1000 |
| 8 | ₹1000 |
| 9 | ₹800 |
| 10 | ₹700 |
| 11 | ₹600 |
| 12 | ₹600 |
| 13 | ₹600 |
| 14 | ₹600 |
| 15 | ₹600 |
| 16 | ₹600 |
| 17 | ₹600 |
| 18 | ₹600 |
| 19 | ₹600 |
| 20 | ₹600 |
Best Women
| 1 | ₹600 |
| 2 | ₹500 |
| 3 | ₹400 |
Rating Category: 1601-1800
| 1 | ₹600 |
| 2 | ₹500 |
| 3 | ₹400 |
Rating Category: 1401-1600
| 1 | ₹600 |
| 2 | ₹500 |
| 3 | ₹400 |
Rating Category: 1201-1400
| 1 | ₹600 |
| 2 | ₹500 |
| 3 | ₹400 |
Rating Category: 1000-1200
| 1 | ₹600 |
| 2 | ₹500 |
| 3 | ₹400 |
Best Unrated
| 1 | ₹600 |
| 2 | ₹500 |
| 3 | ₹400 |
3. 50% of the entry fee will be donated to the PM Cares fund
All the entries collected (Rs.350 per player) will be donated to the PM Cares Fund. The last date for registration is 12 p.m. IST on 18th of July. Entry is CLOSED.
Foreign players can pay €5 via Paypal here as their entry fee.
Titled players must write to us at teamchessbaseindia@gmail.com with their playchess id to confirm their entry. Titled players have a free entry.
4. Vidit Gujrathi is the top seed and will also be streaming on his YouTube channel
Not only will GM Vidit Gujrathi play in the tournament, he will also be streaming it live on his YouTube channel. It will be exciting to see if Vidit, who is the top seed of the event, will go on and win it!
5. Beast will be seen in action!
The man who will give Vidit a run for his money at the event is GM B. Adhiban, also known as the beast. Known for his aggressive style of play, Adhiban is going to thrive in the chess960 format. Also Adhiban has a personal bond with the late Moreshwar Bhagwat, in whose memory this tournament is being held. Adhiban played in the MCL for the Jalgaon team which was managed by M.D. Bhagwat. "He always used to push me to get better at chess", says Adhiban, fondly remember Bhagwat sir.
6. Over 50 titled players
The tournament is extrememly strong and has the participation of over 50 titled players. Before the tournament is about to begin we expect this number to rise. For untitled players this is a unique opportunity to cross your swords against some of the best players in the world of chess!
| Sl.no. | Name | Playchess ID | Rating | Gender |
| 1 | GM Vidit Gujrathi | 2726 | M | |
| 2 | GM Adhiban Baskaran | 2659 | M | |
| 3 | GM Aravindh Chithambaram | hittter1999 | 2641 | M |
| 4 | GM Alan Pichot | Alan Pichot | 2630 | M |
| 5 | GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov | keramin | 2627 | M |
| 6 | GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | Js3131 | 2620 | M |
| 7 | GM S L Narayanan | NarayananSL | 2618 | M |
| 8 | GM Mikhail Kobalia | Mikhail kobalia | 2614 | M |
| 9 | GM Karthikeyan Murali | Fighter64 | 2606 | M |
| 10 | GM Vaibhav Suri | irus1997 | 2600 | M |
| 11 | GM Abhimanyu Puranik | pabh | 2584 | M |
| 12 | GM D Gukesh | gk06 | 2563 | M |
| 13 | GM Raunak Sadhwani | Devil1234 | 2545 | M |
| 14 | GM Deepan Chakravarthy | J2d | 2535 | M |
| 15 | GM Jakhongir Vakhidov | Uzbektiger95 | 2533 | M |
| 16 | GM Deep Sengupta | Deep Sengupta | 2527 | M |
| 17 | GM Xu Yi | ActorXu | 2527 | M |
| 18 | GM Shyamsundar M | shyamsundar | 2518 | M |
| 19 | GM Visakh N R | Visakh | 2516 | M |
| 20 | GM Shardul Gagare | IndianKing97 | 2514 | M |
| 21 | GM Harsha Bharathakoti | RACEKING | 2509 | M |
| 22 | IM Terry Renato | TerryR | 2504 | M |
| 23 | GM Dusan Popovic | DusanPopovic | 2500 | M |
| 24 | GM Girish A Koushik | gak_chess | 2498 | M |
| 25 | GM Masoud Mosadeghpour | masmos97 | 2498 | M |
| 26 | IM Arjun Kalyan | Arjun Kalyan | 2477 | M |
| 27 | GM Vishnu Prasanna | Fidodido | 2476 | M |
| 28 | IM Harshit Raja | Johncking | 2472 | M |
| 29 | IM Volodar Murzin | Murzin | 2465 | M |
| 30 | IM Arghyadip Das | Arghyadip | 2453 | M |
| 31 | IM P Shyaamnikhil | Pshyaamnikhil | 2453 | M |
| 32 | IM Mitrabha Guha | Babysnake | 2445 | M |
| 33 | IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh | CREATOR 1198 | 2445 | M |
| 34 | IM Rathanvel V S | vsr64 | 2445 | M |
| 35 | IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | Samudragupta | 2441 | M |
| 36 | IM Aditya Mittal | vinniethepooh | 2438 | M |
| 37 | IM Bharath Subramaniyam H | Harishankkar | 2437 | M |
| 38 | IM Pranesh M | Pranimastermuni | 2437 | M |
| 39 | IM Aronyak Ghosh | STRANGE | 2436 | M |
| 40 | IM Koustav Chatterjee | KoustavChatterjee1 | 2431 | M |
| 41 | IM Sayantan Das | Ambitious | 2431 | M |
| 42 | IM Sankalp Gupta | Gupta_Sankalp | 2429 | M |
| 43 | IM Himal Gusain | Rajdhani express | 2414 | M |
| 44 | FM L R Srihari | lsr | 2414 | M |
| 45 | IM Neelash Saha | gamechanger | 2413 | M |
| 46 | GM Laxman R R | LAXMAN | 2411 | M |
| 47 | GM Reefat Bin Sattar | tacticabd | 2409 | M |
| 48 | IM Raja Rithvik R | MasteredUI | 2408 | M |
| 49 | IM GMH Thilakarathne | pendragon619 | 2398 | M |
| 50 | IM Viani A Dcunha | Viani A Dcunha | 2397 | M |
| 51 | IM Tania Sachdev | Tania Sachdev | 2392 | M |
| 52 | IM S Nitin | snitin | 2381 | M |
| 53 | CM Shahil Dey | Shahildey | 2376 | M |
| 54 | IM Sidhant Mohapatra | Sidhant | 2367 | M |
| 55 | IM Rajdeep Sarkar | ItsTime | 2355 | M |
| 56 | IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni | kamblefy | 2355 | M |
| 57 | IM Aleksei Kireev | MaestroASK | 2351 | M |
| 58 | IM Soumya Swaminathan | travellingknight | 2351 | F |
| 59 | WIM Ning Kaiyu | Meng Zhixi | 2327 | M |
| 60 | FM Ajay Karthikeyan | skkeyan | 2315 | M |
| 61 | IM Rathnakaran K | RATHNAKARAN | 2314 | M |
| 62 | FM Om Kharola | BASSU1 | 2314 | M |
| 63 | IM P Saravana Krishnan | mbachez90 | 2312 | M |
| 64 | IM Somak Palit | Toton11 | 2300 | M |
| 65 | FM Aditya Samant | adityass | 2297 | M |
| 66 | WIM Vantika Agrawal | shadow_master | 2286 | F |
| 67 | WIM Priyanka Nutakki | Priyanka Nutakki | 2263 | F |
| 68 | WFM Savithashri | shavithashri | 2261 | M |
| 69 | Raahul VS | raahul vs | 2259 | M |
| 70 | WIM Mrudul Dehankar | shiv01 | 2256 | M |
| 71 | Shiv Shome | kingofall | 2237 | M |
| 72 | Soham Kamotra | Hickey | 2229 | M |
| 73 | IM Suvrajit Saha | Suvrajit Saha | 2198 | M |
| 74 | WIM Michelle Catherina | Zanta | 2176 | F |
| 75 | Joy Pankaj Shah | JOYSHAH | 2144 | M |
| 76 | FM Ram Aravind L N | lnram | 2127 | M |
| 77 | FM C J Arvind | Junosource | 2124 | M |
| 78 | IM Nisha Mohota | Nisha Mohota | 2195 | F |
| 79 | Soham Datar | Sohamchess64 | 2115 | M |
| 80 | CM Amithpal Singh | amithpal15 | 2102 | M |
| 81 | Laishram Imocha | Athoibi | 2049 | M |
| 82 | Potluri Saye Srreezza | Staroftheyear | 2044 | F |
| 83 | Atul Dahale | incredible | 2037 | M |
| 84 | Sandeep Sethuraman | bouncyegg | 2037 | M |
| 85 | Alan Diviya Raj | michaelraj_98 | 2033 | M |
| 86 | Siddhant Gaikwad | spiderman17 | 2033 | M |
| 87 | Pruthu Deshpande | gr8knight2001 | 2000 | M |
| 88 | Vikas R Sharma | vikas2200 | 1989 | M |
| 89 | Arhan Chethan Anand | Legacyplayer | 1979 | M |
| 90 | WFM Mitali Patil | chessfan94 | 1952 | F |
| 91 | Vansh Aggarwal | twobrothers | 1922 | M |
| 92 | WIM Anahita Gholami Ormi | gholami_orimi_a | 1915 | F |
| 93 | Kiran Panditrao | Kiran Panditrao | 1898 | M |
| 94 | Ishaar Perumal Ganesan | perseus226 | 1895 | M |
| 95 | Karthikeyan Jeyaprakasam | Position | 1860 | M |
| 96 | Arunava Bhattacharjee | Arunava | 1857 | M |
| 97 | Anand Sivasankar | anandfan | 1853 | M |
| 98 | Abhijith Pran | kaspy2011 | 1847 | M |
| 99 | Anmol Kollegal | Archi-ak | 1795 | M |
| 100 | Chetan Sharma | chetansharma | 1761 | M |
| 101 | Rajesh Vasanthakumar | RVK | 1736 | M |
| 102 | Jaiveer Mahendru | Diamond06 | 1695 | M |
| 103 | Prakhar Bajaj | gaurav306 | 1663 | M |
| 104 | Vishvesh Kochrekar | Vishveshk | 1663 | M |
| 105 | Nanal Arnav | Tactic_Master | 1631 | M |
| 106 | Arvind Ramnath | arvind0899 | 1602 | M |
| 107 | Cera Dagaria | MaggiQueen | 1597 | M |
| 108 | Pratham Lohakare | PRATHAMLOHAKARE | 1573 | M |
| 109 | Negi Augustiya | August1223 | 1555 | M |
| 110 | Rakesh Kulkarni | rakeshkul | 1409 | M |
| 111 | Abhiraj Singh Tawar | Playtheboard | 1339 | M |
| 112 | Padmaesh M K | Mangakadu | 1293 | M |
| 113 | Sujit Varghese | James_knight | 1227 | M |
| 114 | Atharva Bakhare | Atharvabakhare | 1185 | M |
| 115 | Adharsh | ADHARSH_R | 1179 | M |
| 116 | Glen Tribhuwan | Ggt1101 | 1176 | M |
| 117 | Harsh Pandit | harshpandit | 1171 | M |
| 118 | Vasanthakumar N | NVK | 1138 | M |
| 119 | Monideep Banerjee | monideepbanerjee | 1134 | M |
| 120 | Archit Saigal | architsaigal | 1093 | M |
| 121 | Mandar Koranne | mandy18 | 1014 | M |
| 122 | Anjan Ganguli | g_anjan11 | 0 | M |
| 123 | Ankith K L | Ankith KL | 0 | M |
| 124 | Archit Nikhil Deshpande | Archit_Deshpande | 0 | M |
| 125 | Arindam Sharma | Translifer | 0 | M |
| 126 | Arjun C | Arjuncnilambur | 0 | M |
| 127 | Ashwin Trimal | 0 | M | |
| 128 | Deeptesh Kumar Sahu | Dr_Deep_Chesh | 0 | M |
| 129 | Ishwar Lal Patel | Ishwar Lal Patel | 0 | M |
| 130 | K Ravi Teja | Krt25 | 0 | M |
| 131 | Mayur Gondhalekar | gonda | 0 | M |
| 132 | Mohit Chandwani | Mohit chandwani | 0 | M |
| 133 | Pranav | pranav104 | 0 | M |
| 134 | Prasanth K Prabha | prasanthkp1 | 0 | M |
| 135 | P Benny Joseph | bennyjoseph | 0 | M |
| 136 | Rahul Anil Bhagwat | MRAA | 0 | M |
| 137 | Satyajit | the_satya | 0 | M |
| 138 | Thejus Joseph | 0 | M |
7. Highly original chess in the Chess960 format
Fischer Random also known as Chess960 is the format in which the tournament is going to be held. You do not need to know any opening theory and you can just play you heart out!
Make sure you know the castling rules, which are very well explained in this article.
8. Time control of 3+1
Usually tournaments held on Playchess are without any increment. As this is a chess960 event, it has an increment of 1 second. This can make sure that if you land up in a winning position with extra material with very less time on the clock, you can still take the game to its logical conclusion.
Contact and registration queries:
Mr. Shahid Ahmed (Tournament director) - 9038139510 (Entry confirmations will be done via site only, no whatsapp/phone call confirmation of entries)
Email - teamchessbaseindia@gmail.com
• We request all players to check their internet connection before the tournament. Minimum requirement is at least 2 mbps wired broadband. No phone calls/messages will be entertained once the tournament starts from 8 p.m. IST onwards. All queries must be resolved before the tournament. Each player is responsible for their own connection, organizers are not responsible for a player's disconnection.
How to play tournament?
Please ensure that you have a valid Playchess id. You can create one here and then buy the premium membership from the product embeds given above.
1. Download the free Windows software of Playchess
Next you have to download the free native Windows software from here. If you have Mac OS or Mac Computer, then you have to use some VMWare to run it as Playchess Desktop Client has native support on Windows OS only. The tournament cannot be played via mobile or tablet device.
Login or Create account
After you have installed the Client. You must login.
Enter your Playchess/ChessBase Account username and password. Locate Thematic Chess Room under Rooms on the bottom right of the screen.
Click on Thematic Chess to get the Chess960 Tournaments option and then select it.
The tournament will take place in the Chess960 Tournaments in the Thematic Chess room. Registered players should be online and logged into Playchess at least 45 minutes before the start of the tournament to confirm your entries on 18th of July 2020. 7:15 p.m. IST would be a good time.
Click on the ‘Players’ Tab and then click on ‘Join Event’. If 'Join Event' button does not show and 'Unregistered' shows instead, it means you have been registered in the tournament. The Tournament Director will accept your entry. Only those who have registered for the event will be allowed to play.
Note: The Playchess id, while registering and playing the tournament should be the same.
About online tournaments on Playchess by ChessBase India:
ChessBase India has organized innumerable online events successfully. Here is some feedback about the quality of the events:
GM D Gukesh, youngest GM of India
I am extremely happy to have participated in my first online blitz tmt conducted by ChessBase India and loved the experience and thrill. from the start to the finish its professionally conducted and got the rare opportunity to play several high-class players in a single event and looking forward for its next event
GM Vaibhav Suri, winner of 2nd ChessBase Online Blitz tournament and Letsup MCA Grand Prix
The tournament was conducted quite smoothly and a quite "fun Sunday" event. The participation of Adhiban & Sethuraman definitely added the spark to the event. I guess an Online Blitz Festival would be the next way to go (with different formats - Chess960, Bughouse, Bullet etc). Overall really happy with such events. Way to go!!
GM Shyam Sundar M, 31st GM of India
It was such a interesting and a unique event. I hope these events happen quite often so that people cannot cheat with computer assistance and are forced to play genuinely. I thank the organising team for making this event happen smoothly :)
GM R R Laxman, former National Blitz Champion
I thank the Chessbase India team once more for their strenous and tireless endeavour to popularise blitz events in India. Considering the fact that the present day time control even in classical format ( unlike the yesteryears) demands quick reflexes and blitz skills , I feel that the entire Chessbase India team is doing an exemplary and praiseworthy job. A boon for Indian chess !!!. Though my performance this time was not satisfactory ,I hope to excel and cherish more pleasant memories from my side in the forthcoming editions of Chessbase India blitz events.
GM Andrey Devyatkin, Russia
What I do find strange is that the share of chess960 tournaments in the great many online chess events held during the Corona crisis has been extremely small. FIDE seems to have lost all the enthusiasm it has demonstrated last year with regard to chess960, whereas other organisers have been either following suit or being habitually conservative, traditional and cautious -- which is quite characteristic for the chess world in general, and sometimes counterproductive at that. But wait... how on Earth can one remember the different rules for castling? Even though it might create great opportunities for our game yet unknown, wouldn't that be too challenging for the modest memory of an ordinary chess player? One has to leave some room for 25-moves analyses in the Najdorf and the Grunfeld, after all...
Meanwhile, whenever a rare prize chess960 event does take place online, it usually brings together many decent players -- which could be seen from this tournament as well -- and gets a very good feedback. So, thank you Chessbase India and Buddhibal Kreeda Trust for breaking the spell of cautiousness and hosting this event!
The tournament was smoothly organised and fun to play. To me it looked no weaker than some open Indian Championship. That said, I think chess960 in general requires longer time controls so its real depth could be revealed, but when it comes to online play and its specificity 3+1 or 3+2 is OK. Also it was nice to know afterwards that the organizers were providing a live commentary.
Let me finish this by quoting Robert Fischer, the great inventor of chess960 (which he himself preferred to call 'Fischerandom'). During his only meeting with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in 1995, Fischer asked the newly-elected FIDE president: 'Why do you offer people a black and white television set, when there is a set in color?'
Amardeep Bartakke
Very strong tournament and very well orgnized, very happy to play among the strong Grandmasters, looking forward to many more such events
Amit Mahajan
A heartly Thanks to CHESSBASE INDIA Team for organizing this event. It was a great event with exciting chess format. I will adore to play more chessbase India events in the future. Great Initiative, Good luck.
Priti Mahendru, mother of Jaiveer Mahendru
This was our second chessbase online blitz event. My son is 8 years and it was an absolute thrill for him to be playing against titled players ! Thanks a lot for organizing this. We look forward to more such events !
CM Kushagra Mohan
I was happy the way the tournament was conducted. No problems at all. You just keep increasing the prize money and that is a big improvement. Cannot hope for more.
