Fide Arbiters' Seminar in Manali: Creating Arbiters in every part of the Nation

29/03/2018 - Chess in India is growing at a great pace. We currently have over 50 grandmasters and 95+ International Masters. There are local tournaments organized regularly and the number is increasing day by day. We need quality arbiters in order to take care of the growing number of tournaments. For this reason The All India Chess Federation and FIDE Arbiters’ Commission with the support of Government of India's Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports organized a FIDE Arbiter's Seminar which was held at Hotel Royal Park Resort, Manali, from 9th to 11th March 2018. Gopakumar Sudhakaran was the chief lecturer and he sends us this report with a very interesting case.

Caruana will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World title in November 2018

27/03/2018 -

Nobody deserved it more than Fabiano Caruana. He led right from the start at the Candidates 2018. He did have his hiccup in the twelfth round, losing to Karjakin, but he showed his mental toughness by beating Aronian in round 13 and Grischuk in the final round. With this he becomes the World Championship Challenger, the first American after Bobby Fischer in 1972. The match will be held in November 2018 in London. In this report we bring you all the updates that you need from Berlin with some excellent video reporting by Daniel King and team ChessBase.

From 2015 Elo to an IM + one GM norm in ten tournaments

27/03/2018 -

The last time we reported about Vardaan Nagpal he had reached a rating of 2501 from 2015 in just two months. This time within a month, he played three closed Round Robin events in Serbia in the month of January, scored all three of his IM norms and also his maiden GM norm. He thus becomes an IM. From a rating of 2015 crossing the 2500 Elo mark, gaining three IM norms and one GM norm takes a lifetime for many. Vardaan has done it in ten tournaments. We have the report with all the details of Vardaan's last five events.

The Tigress of Madras: Aruna Anand (3/3)

26/03/2018 -

The final part of the interview with the Tigress of Madras Aruna Anand! While in the first two parts we got to know Aruna better, in the third part we turn up the heat with rapid fire questions! For each question Aruna has very less to time decide on her answer and this gives us some great insights into the mind of one of the greatest managers in the world of chess. India is lucky to have an icon like Vishy Anand and Vishy Anand is lucky to have a pillar like Aruna in his life!  

Delhi Chess Association (DCA) felicitates its youngest IM

26/03/2018 -

When compared to the major states of India, Delhi is a small territory. Yet, it is able to churn out one chess talent after another at an alarming rate. The latest one being 14-year-old Prithu Gupta who made his IM title and maiden GM norm at the Gibraltar Masters 2018. There is definitely something right that the state association is doing. We realized that the most important thing is that the officials care for the players. On 19th of March Prithu was felicitated by AICF and DCA secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan and A.K. Verma respectively. "The boy has a bright future ahead of him", says Ankit Dalal who was present at the ceremony. 

Candidates 2018 Round 12: It's a complete mess!

25/03/2018 -

What a brilliant round we have had! All the predictions went out of the window when two of the players who have been consistently leading the Candidates 2018 were beaten in the twelfth round. Karjakin beat Caruana and joined him at the top with 7.0/12. Ding Liren scored his first win of the event to join Mamedyarov on the second spot with 6.5/12. Ding and Shakh are joined by Grischuk who also has a chance to win this tournament. With two rounds to go and five players in with a chance to become a Candidate, this is going to be highly interesting. Don't miss out on the round 12 analyses.

ChessBase India Open online blitz on 25th March at 6 p.m.

24/03/2018 -

ChessBase India has conducted many online events until now and they have been quite successful. Everyone has enjoyed playing on the Playchess server and to win exciting prizes. On 25th of March 2018 we are holding a test event where all the participants can play from any platform - be it their mobile phones, tablets, computers. And you do not need to download any software. Just log into the link that is provided in the article and be ready at 6 p.m. for the tournament to begin. Mind you, it is open to all the players of the world!

Candidates 2018 Round 11: Why can't Ding win a single game!

24/03/2018 -

We are nearing the fag end of the Candidates 2018 and it seems to be poised in an extremely interesting fashion. Caruana still sits pretty at the top (7.0/11) with his half point lead followed by Mamedyarov on 6.5/11. Karjakin seems to have been rejuvenated in the second half and is quickly notching up one victory after another. He is on 6.0/11 along with Grischuk and Ding Liren. The Chinese is doing really well for his first candidates, but is somehow just not able to win his games. Against Grischuk he missed a simple mating pattern. We have all the news, along with Kramnik's exciting novelty annotated by 14-year-old Prithu Gupta.

The launch of Quality Chess India

24/03/2018 -

Big news for Indian chess fans! Quality Chess India has been launched in India. While ChessBase India brings you the latest chess softwares and technology at an affordable price, India will now have highest quality of chess literature in book format through Quality Chess India! No more waiting for nearly a month after ordering a book, no more spending huge amounts on the books and shipping. Quality Chess India has brought Quality Chess books at Rs.999/- including shipping and all costs! And it is available not just for India. Our neighbouring countries will also reap the benefits. 

Candidates 2018 Round 10: The choice between objectivity and uncompromising play!

23/03/2018 -

Kramnik's play at the Candidates keeps getting more interesting than ever. After losing a lot of games, he bounced back to beat Levon Aronian, once again in beautiful style. There are a lot of people out there who have been attacking Kramnik for his lack of objectivity. However, IM Sagar Shah tries to discuss in this article the very fine line between objective and uncompromising play. Sometimes you have to let things spin out of control in order to win. Look at Ding Liren, he has things under control at this event, but has been able to achieve 10 draws out of 10 games! Whose approach is better?!

The grand wedding of Harikrishna and Nadezda

22/03/2018 -

On the 3rd of March 2018, a lot of hearts of Indian girls were broken as the most eligible bachelor of Indian chess P. Harikrishna tied the knot with his long-time Serbian girlfriend Nadezda Stojanovic. As a chess player Harikrishna has always sought to play original and creative chess. Always looking for new ideas, and relying less on computers and laid out norms. Similarly in life he has taken some brave and out of the box decisions by having a second home in Europe, marrying a Serbian girl and becoming the first Indian GM to marry someone outside India. Just like his chess games, we continue to follow Hari's life and learn from it! A wedding report.  

Lawyer, World Junior Champion, WGM with 3 IM norms and a fearless attacker!

21/03/2018 -

Soumya Swaminathan has one of the rare combinations: she is a both a WGM and an LLB. One of the best achievements of her career: she is a former World Junior Champion. She has won the National Junior Championship twice before that, awarded the best young achiever Female Award in Sahara India Sports Awards 2010, National Women's Premier champion in 2011, Commonwealth Women's Champion in 2012 and many more accolades. She loves to travel and play quality game of chess. She always has a positive vibe about everything and a conversation with her on any topic can be enlightening. Since today is her birthday, we bring you short video dedicated to her about her achievements and Soumya Swaminathan, the person.

Candidates 2018 Round 9: The Minister of Defence prevails

21/03/2018 -

The top spots in the Candidates remained unaffected as Caruana and Mamedyarov drew their respective games against Ding Liren and Aronian. Caruana was pressing throughout the game but could not convert it into a full point. Kramnik continued with his policy of uncompromising chess which backfired once again against Sergey Karjakin. Vladimir sacrificed a rook and it looked quite dangerous, but we mustn't forget that he was playing against the Minister of Defence, who found some only defensive ideas in the position and brought home the full point. Analysis of this critical game.

They opened my eyes!

21/03/2018 -

IM Sagar Shah spent ten days with the 14 best visually challenged players of Indian chess at the Blind National Championship that was held one month ago in Mumbai. The readers of ChessBase India contributed to this event via crowdfunding and with that money the tournament was organized in the best possible manner. We brought to you many reports from the venue, but there were a lot of things that remained behind the scenes. In this article Sagar narrates these expriences. Top five players of Indian blind chess will be representing our country at the World Team Championship in July and for that we will need your help once again. This time not in money, but in kind! 

Saptarshi Roy is India's 51st Grandmaster - Part II

21/03/2018 -

Saptarshi Roy turns 32 today, it took him over 13 years to become a Grandmaster after he became an International Master. Sheer passion and determination made sure he realized his dreams. People wrote him off as someone who had a lot of potential to become a Grandmaster but never will. He had to leave his hometown and focus on coaching to help him fulfill his dreams, however he had to put temporary breaks on them. He had a lot of naysayers and detractors in his life. His father and relatives forced him to take Railways job although it drained him all of his valuable time and positive energy after working with unambitious people. His father denied him the coaching he needed as it was difficult for him to afford. He won tournaments and saved his own money to fund himself and play the tournaments he needed to play abroad. This is the story of Saptarshi Roy who defied all odds to become something which was his childhood dream.