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Ian Nepomniachtchi wins FIDE Candidates 2020 with a round to spare

27/04/2021 -

Reigning and two-time Russian Superfinal champion, Ian Nepomniachtchi sets up a clash for the World Championship against Magnus Carlsen later this year as he won the FIDE Candidates 2020 with a round to spare. Nepomniachtchi made a draw with Vachier-Lagrave once he realized that Giri has no chance to beat Grischuk. Thus Nepomniachtchi took a full point lead 8.5/13 heading into the final round, making it immaterial for Giri's victory in the last round as the Russian has already beaten the Dutch no.1 in the first round of the tournament, last year. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

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New in Chess Classic Day 2: Carlsen takes sole lead 7.0/10

26/04/2021 -

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour New in Chess Classic Day 2 witnessed the World Champion Carlsen climb to the top of the table. Currently he solely leads the Prelims with 7.0/10. Firouzja and Nakamura share the second spot with 6.5/10 each respectively. Both Vidit and Praggnanandhaa had a difficult day as Vidit missed two winning opportunities and Pragg lost three games. Vidit and Pragg must finish in top eight of the Prelims stage to advance to the Quarter-Finals. A win against Radjabov is the highlight of the day for Pragg. Catch Day 3 action tonight on ChessBase India youtube channel from 10:30 p.m. IST. with live commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal. Photo: Champions Chess Tour

New in Chess Classic Day 1: Praggnanandhaa makes a brilliant start 3.0/5

25/04/2021 -

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour New in Chess Classic Day 1 undoubtedly goes to Praggnanandhaa. He made most of the opportunity and scored an impressive 3.0/5. He beat Duda and Karjakin convincingly, made solid draws with Jones and Mamedyarov. Vidit also had a fantastic day as held the world champion Carlsen to a brilliantly fought draw in a near flawless game. Radjabov is the sole leader at the end of Day 1 with 4.0/5 followed by Firouzja and Carlsen at 3.5/5. Catch Day 2 action tonight on ChessBase India youtube channel from 10:30 p.m. IST. with live commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal. Photo: Amruta Mokal

Candidates 2020-21 R12: Giri beats Caruana with the black pieces

25/04/2021 -

It would be an understatement to say Anish Giri is absolutely impressive in the second half of FIDE Candidates 2020. He continued his momentum and scored his third victory in the last five games. Only Nepomniachtchi has scored two wins since the tournament resumed. The reigning Russia champion Nepomniachtchi maintained his sole lead with a victory over Hao Wang and moves to 8.0/12. Giri is at 7.5/12. Giri must win the last two games and hope Nepomniachtchi scores less than 1.5/2 to win the event as the latter has the better tie-breaks over the Dutch no.1. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

Candidates 2020-21 R11: Giri scores a thumping win over Ding Liren

24/04/2021 -

Anish Giri continues his impressive run at the second half of FIDE Candidates 2020 with a brilliant win over Ding Liren in Round 11. He now moves to a sole second spot with 6.5/11 and breathes down the neck of the tournament leader Nepomniachtchi 7.0/11 who made a draw with Caruana. The former World Championship challenger is now at sole third spot with 6.0/11. Grischuk scored the only other victory of the round against Vachier-Lagrave. Both are now at 5.5/11. Game of the day definitely goes to Giri whose win was applauded by the chess universe. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

Candidates 2020-21 Round 10: Why did Alexander Grischuk think for 72 minutes for a move?

23/04/2021 -

From a competitive perspective things are heating up at the Candidates 2020-21. Ian Nepomniachtchi has a full point lead over the field. With his win against Alekseenko, the Russian top GM has moved to 6.5/10. He is being followed by Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana and MVL on 5.5/10. One of the highlights of the round was Alexander Grischuk's game against Wang Hao. The Chinese GM sacrificed a queen, but what was even more interesting is the fact that Grischuk thought for 72 minutes in one position. What was he thinking and what was his analysis? We bring you all of that in this report, along with all the news that took place in the 10th round.

Candidates Round 9: A position that is tough even for the Grandmasters to solve!

21/04/2021 -

With just five rounds to go for the Candidates, it seems as if only four players are capable of winning the tournament and becoming the Challenger. Ian Nepomniachtchi leads the tournament with 5.5/9 after his uneventful draw against Grischuk. Caruana, MVL and Giri are half a point behind Nepo with 5.0/9. While Fabiano and Maxime drew their games, it was Anish who scored the only decisive win of the round by beating Wang Hao. MVL escaped from a completely lost position against Ding Liren to keep his chances in the tournament alive. We bring you the entire round 9 report of the Candidates 2020-21 along with seven extremely tough positions which even GMs will find it difficult to crack.

Nihal Sarin beats Magnus Carlsen clean

21/04/2021 -

On Monday 19th April, Magnus Carlsen took on the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour participants and three coaches after doing live commentary for over five hours in FIDE Candidates 2020 Round 8. Almost a year ago Nihal Sarin managed to beat the world champion Magnus Carlsen in blitz for the very first time. He repeated the feat and once again showed why he is one of the best in the blitz format even without any increment. Praggnanandhaa and one of the Team Polgar coach Surya Sekhar Ganguly got themselves very close to a win against the world no.1 but ran out of time. Photo: Niki Riga and Lennart Ootes

Candidates Round 8: Don Fabi's poisonous new idea in the Najdorf

20/04/2021 -

The resumption of the Candidates 2020-21 was filled with great drama and luckily it was all on the chess board! The tournament has restarted from the halfway mark and the 8th round witnessed two decisive games! Caruana vs MVL and Alekseenko vs Grischuk, both of them bordered very closely on the edge of a draw but in the end it was Caruana and Alekseenko who came out on top. The remaining two games ended in draws. The game of the day, and perhaps of the event was Fabiano Caruana's amazing preparation from the white side of the poisoned pawn variation in the Sicilian Najdorf. We have detailed breakdown of the game along with analysis, images, videos and more!

Master Class with Boris Gelfand

20/04/2021 -

Chess can be learned from anywhere, any time and from anyone. When the FIDE World Cup 2009 winner and multi-time world championship candidate can be your teacher, you do not want to pass on that opportunity. The legend of the game and critically acclaimed author will be doing a webinar with World Chess on Thursday 22nd of April 2021 at 8:30 p.m. IST. The topic of the session is "Switching to counter-attack". You will be able to ask questions to Gelfand and also get your doubts answered. Check out the article to find out how you can learn from one of the greats in the world. Photo: Amruta Mokal

Hanumantha Rajanna (1959-2021): The man who resurrected Karnataka Chess

19/04/2021 -

Every once in a while a person comes who brings people together, elevates talent and makes sure that the overall chess level of a region is uplifted. He does it all selflessly because his goal is not materialistic, he just wants to see people happy by working towards what makes him happy. Hanumantha Rajanna was one of those persons who gave his all for chess. From merely 40 rated players in 2006, the state of Karnataka now boasts over 2000 players. A major reason for this happening was Hanumatha. On 15th of April 2021, Hanumantha passed away due to Covid-19 virus. We have collected eulogies from Karnataka's top players as well as people who shared his memories on social media. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

New: The Flexible Open Spanish by Sipke Ernst

18/04/2021 -

The Open Spanish is considered to be one of the soundest systems in modern opening theory. It remains a popular choice among superstars such as Mamedyarov, Caruana, So and Giri and was used in World Championship matches by Korchnoi and Anand. In this opening Black opts for active piece play and is not afraid to fight for the initiative from an early stage. One of the many good features of this opening is that Black is often the side which controls the pace of the game. Black can go for long forced variations that lead to sharp endgames or choose a slower game with more pieces on the board. Therefore, the Open Spanish is not only an excellent weapon against stronger players, but also gives plenty of scope for the outplaying of “lesser rated’’ opponents. Photo: ChessBase

Vidit and Praggnanandhaa set for Meltwater Champions Chess Tour New in Chess Classic

17/04/2021 -

The next event in Meltwater Champions Chess Tour is New in Chess Classic which will start on Saturday 24th April. The third Regular event has a total prize fund of US$ 100,000 with the first prize being US$ 30,000. Praggnanandhaa will debut in this tour in the upcoming New in Chess Classic event as he earned himself a spot by winning Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour Polgar Challenge. Duda, Vidit, Mamedyarov, Liem, Karjakin and Leinier are the six Wild Card entrants. Top eight finishers will get a guaranteed spot in the next Major event which will start from 22nd May 2021. Photo: ChessBase India

Off the Board Tales #02 - Devin Anand

16/04/2021 -

Off the Board Tales is a series by ChessBase India, where the premise revolves around people who are passionate about chess despite it not being their career. An emotional and short story is what you're up for, so read on for tales of joy, tales of aspirations, tales of sorrows, and tales of success. Devin Anand is a song composer and writer, and produces music with his brother Derayne. Being a fan of Indian music and a chess enthusiast led to making a single titled 'Bewafa Samay' that went viral among the Indian Chess community.

Japan Chess Championship Qualifiers - Part II

16/04/2021 -

The months of February and March are quite busy with excitement in Japan's Chess calendar. Qualifying tournaments are held by various regional chess clubs, to select candidates for the strongest event of the year, held in May – the Japan Chess Championship (FIDE rated). Mayur Gondhalekar brings you all the news and updates from Japan in this two-part series. Part II covers events from Tokyo, Hokkaido and Hyogo (Kobe). Check out this report containing few games and beautiful photos from the events along with an annotated game by Japan no.3 IM Shinya Kojima. Photo: Mayur Gondhalekar

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