Aronian and Anand split point in a theoretical battle

12/03/2016 -

After a resounding victory in the first round, Vishy Anand faced Levon Aronian in round two. It was a highly theoretical and modern variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, in which both the players were armed to the teeth with excellent home-preparation. Until move twenty they played moves that were already known by them and with some careful manoeuvring Anand was able to easily hold the draw with the black pieces. A fairly successful result for the Indian champion. We have in-depth game analysis from Moscow by IM Sagar Shah.

Candidates R01: Anand beats Topalov!

12/03/2016 -

Just like the Khanty Mansiysk Candidates in 2014, Vishy Anand began his campaign with a win in the Moscow Candidates 2016. He won a topsy turvy battle over Veselin Topalov. With this win Anand is the sole leader of the event as all the other three encounters ended in draws. We have the entire game between Anand and Topalov annotated in great detail by IM Sagar Shah.

Back to back IM norms for Praggnanandhaa!

11/03/2016 -

He is one of the best rising talents of India. After scoring his maiden IM norm at the Cannes festival just a few days ago, Praggnanandhaa followed it up with another brilliant performance at the Aeroflot Open 2016. He is just ten years old and already has two IM norms and a live rating of 2376! Little Praggu annotated two of his best games for our dear readers and also granted us a short video interview following his memorable performance.

Opening ceremony at the Candidates 2016 -- Go Vishy!

11/03/2016 -

The biggest chess extravaganza of 2016, the World Championship Candidates Tournament, is just hours away. The first round will be played at 3 p.m. local time on the 11th of March in the Central Telegraph building in Moscow. After playing the Aeroflot Blitz yesterday, Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal made their way to the opening ceremony and sent us some exclusive material from the Russian capital. A report from Moscow.

Hari wins Bronze at the 2016 IMSA Mind Games Blitz

10/03/2016 -

The IMSA Mindgames, is a bit of an in-between for FIDE, as far as chess is concerned, and the Olympics (the normal one, not the chess specific one). Each year it organizes a series of chess events, with a number of top players, offering medals as well as prizes. In this year's event were rapid, blitz and basque chess and India was represented by our two leading lights -- Harika and Harikrishna. We bring you an illustrated report depicting the Indian performance.

Aeroflot 03-08: Indians stay solid

08/03/2016 -

With an average rating of 2585 in the A-category, higher than even Qatar Masters's 2529, Aeroflot Open 2016 is right there among the handful of chess events to look forward to. A platoon of Indians has made its way through the freezing cold of Moscow to play in this tournament. We bring you an update on India's best performers so far in this illustrated report.

Indians at International des Jeux de Cannes

05/03/2016 -

Have you played a tournament in a perfect setting with excellent conditions and everything that you could have hoped for - with an exception- you just cannot play chess there? Welcome to Cannes! The 30^th Festival International des Jeux de Cannes which was held from 22^nd February to 28^th February. It was a nine round swiss event with 79 titled players out of the total 111 in the A group with 19 Grandmasters. A perfect tournament to play chess one might say! IM Nisha Mohota brings us a richly illustrated report.

Melbourne Chess Club celebrates 150th anniversary

05/03/2016 -

The world knows that we Indians are a world-class force in chess, but what about non-resident Indians abroad? Chess is a young sport and budding down under in Australia from where our dear friend Anandaram Jothibabu reports the Melbourne Chess Club's 150th-anniversary tournament. An illustrated report with games.

Aeroflot 01+02: pilgrimage to Moscow

03/03/2016 -

Aeroflot has been considered as the strongest Open in the world by default for many years now. There are newcomers in the form of Gibraltars and Qatars, but it is unlikely that anybody can really match the heritage of this annual tournament held in the chill of the Russian capital. They say one's chess education is incomplete without a sojourn in Russia and an army of Indians has made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Moscow. An illustrated report.

Vishy in 'Mann ki Baat'

01/03/2016 -

March is the month of examinations in our country and is often a stressful time for many of our friends -- the chess playing students. They have to cope with their usual appetite for our beautiful game and at the same time study hard for that impending examination that scares the living daylights out of some people. India's beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly address to the nation via 'Mann ki Baat', discussed some valuable insights regarding examinations and how to deal with them. The Prime Minister had a special guest in the form of a cerebral olympian who himself was an above average student in his school days -- Vishy!

A visionary's take on Make in India

27/02/2016 -

The IIFLW International tournament was the brainchild of one man - Praful Zaveri. He put his heart and soul into organizing the event and at the end of the day made sure that the highest level of organization was maintained at the tournament. Nagesh Guttula, the CEO of South Mumbai Chess Academy, was thoroughly impressed with the conditions. He sent us this article applauding Praful Zaveri for the humungous efforts taken in organizing this world class event.

Tehran Women GP 2016

27/02/2016 -

India's No. 1 and No. 2 women players -- Humpy and Harika -- had their hands full playing some of the best females at the Tehran Grand Prix 2016 held in Iran. Chinese grandmaster Ju Wenjun won the tournament in a chaotic race to the finish. In this report, however, we shall focus on the Indian performance at the tourney. An illustrated report with games.

Cappelle: Anurag shines for India

24/02/2016 -

Anurag Mhamal of Goa was the best performer among the Indians at the Capelle la Grande Open 2016 held in France. Twelve Indians were participating in this strong French Open that was held from 13-21 February and collectively, we had a reasonable showing. 11-year-old Nihal Sarin scored the first IM-norm of his career. An illustrated report.

The Indian 'Candidate' in Moscow

23/02/2016 -

The Candidates tournament will be held at the Central Telegraph building in Moscow, Russia, from the 11^th to the 30^th of March 2016. The interest of Indian fans is sparked by the qualification of Vishy Anand – the greatest chess player that our country has ever seen. Anand qualified to this year’s Candidates on the basis of being the previous World Championship runner-up. There are seven more players who have qualified to the event through various means (rating, FIDE Grand Prix, World Cup 2015 and Wild Card).A press release.

The fight for India number one!

22/02/2016 -

Ever since Anand's substandard performance at the Gibraltar Masters, analysts have been keeping a keen eye on the live rating list. Reason? There has been a sharp race between Harikrishna and Vishy on who would become India number one on the Elo rating charts. Hari came close on many occasions but was not able to overtake the five-time World Champion. On 21st February 2016, the two met each other across a chess board in the ninth round of the German Bundesliga. Read the article to know what happened in this thrilling game and who is the current numero Uno of Indian chess.

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