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Lausanne GP R6: Harika loses, Kashlinskaya joins the lead

08/03/2020 -

Harika suffered her first loss of the tournament against Alexandra Kosteniuk who scored her first win of the event. Harika steered herself out of trouble in the endgame by making the correct exchange sacrifice, however she missed the correct continuation and landed herself in an unstoppable checkmate threat. Kashlinskaya scored a fine win over Sebag to join the lead with Goryachkina. The former Women's World Championship Challenger was held to a draw by Anna Muzychuk. The only other win was scored by Zhansaya Abdumalik who defeated another former Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova. Goryachkina and Kashlinskaya lead with 4.0/6 heading into the only rest day of the tournament. Photo: FIDE

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The lightning kid in Lindores Abbey

07/03/2020 -

Vishy Anand gave a simultaneous exhibition in the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019 where he defeated eight youngsters rated between 1400 to 1800 Elo. IM Sagar Shah, who was present at the venue, recorded the whole electrifying episode on his mobile. Roland Kensdale, a regular follower of our YouTube channel decided to score all of the games painstakingly from this video we uploaded. Today in this article we revisit some of the most exciting moments from that simul - thanks of course to Roland's loving efforts - and see how Vishy was really able to outwit each of his opponents despite being both physically and mentally exhausted at the time. 

Invitation to 1st Time2Chess Rapid Rating and Tamil Nadu State Blitz Open

07/03/2020 -

Time2Chess is running their academy in nine different branches across Chennai, Tamil Nadu. However they do not want to restrict themselves only in inculcating knowledge through teaching. They want to expand their horizon by organizing the first edition of Time2Chess Rapid Rating Open on 21st and 22nd March 2020 and Tamil Nadu State Blitz Open on 22nd. Reigning National Triple Crown Champion Aravindh Chithambaram, Karthikeyan Murali among GMs, Nitin S and Shyam Nikhil P among IMs have confirmed their participation within a day after circular was published. Total Prize fund will be ₹190000 for Rapid and ₹25000 for Blitz. Photo: Tournament circular

Praggnanandhaa wins the TOISA 2019 for best chess player of the year

07/03/2020 -

On 5th of March, the Times of India Sports Award were held in New Delhi to felicitate the best achievers in Indian sports. Some of the big names who won the awards were P.V. Sindhu, Rohit Sharma, Saurav Ghoshal. Deepika Kumari, Manika Batra and several others. The chess fans had to lot to cheer about as the best chess player for the year 2019 was won by none other than 14-year-old R. Praggnanandhaa. There were two nominations for the chess award - Vishy Anand and Pragg. The jury went for the young blood, who has performed admirably in the year 2019 winning three major events - Xtracon, World Youth and London Chess and also pumping his rating past the 2600 mark. We bring you a snapshot of Pragg's performances in 2019 and also glimpses of the award night. 

Lausanne GP R5: Harika and Goryachkina are still in the lead

07/03/2020 -

Tournament leaders Harika and Goryachkina faced each other in Round 5 of Lausanne GP. They made a short draw in just 31 moves. Harika decided to go for a solid line again, but neither side made any mistake. Nana Dzagnidze scored the only win of the round against Anna Muzychuk. Mariya Muzychuk had quite a few opportunities to beat the reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun, however she missed them all and the game ended up in a draw. Kashlinskaya got a small opportunity to stir up trouble for Abdumalik, the former missed it and the game ended up in a draw. Kosteniuk ended her losing streak by making a draw against Stefanova. Photo: FIDE

Vladimir Kramnik to train the Indian team for the Olympiad 2020

06/03/2020 -

Good news for Indian fans! Vishy Anand has confirmed his participation in the Indian team at the Olympiad 2020 that will be held in Moscow later this year. Humpy too has made herself available for the women's team. The other big development is former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik agreeing to train the Indian men's team at least for a couple of camps before the Olympiad. For now the Indian men's team consists of Anand, Vidit and Harikrishna with a battle for the remaining two spots between Adhiban, Sasikiran, Surya Ganguly, Sethuraman and Aravindh Chithambaram. While in the women's section Humpy and Harika will be present in the team. The forerunners for the remaining three spots are Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni and R. Vaishali.

Why has Radjabov pulled himself out of the Candidates 2020?

06/03/2020 -

With just 10 days to go for the Candidates 2020, Teimour Radjabov has withdrawn his name from the Candidates 2020. For now he has furnished no specifics, citing the reasons are personal. It could well be due to the Coronavirus, but we cannot be sure about it. Teimour's withdrawal meant a last-minute entry for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman and his manager had even written to the Russian Chess Federation in December 2019 to consider him for the wild card spot. While it seemed MVL had missed his opportunity this year as well, the fortunes have smiled upon him and he is now getting ready to take part in his first Candidates. Will there be any more twists in the plot before the tournament begins? We'll have to wait and watch!

Lausanne GP R4: Harika maintains her lead along with Goryachkina

06/03/2020 -

Harika maintained her lead by winning her second consecutive game at FIDE Lausanne GP 2020 by defeating Georgia no.1 woman Nana Dzagnidze. The Georgian made a huge blunder which forced her to resign after the 27th move. Goryachkina capitalized on her opponent Stefanova's tactical error in the endgame and grabbed a pawn. The former Women's World Champion from Bulgaria lost one pawn too many and eventually the game. IM Zhansaya Abdumalik made the most of her opportunity and beat Kosteniuk. Anna Muzychuk showed staunch defence against reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun to hold a draw. Pia Cramling missed a win against IM Alina Kashlinskaya. Photo: FIDE

Apply for the "Pursue your chess" scholarship of Rs.75,000

06/03/2020 -

At ChessBase India we have always wanted to Power Chess in India. We recognized that one of the main difficulties that chess players face is the lack of financial resources. Hence, in 2018 the ChessBase India Foundation was created. One of the scholarships that was instituted in the second half of 2018 was the Pursue Your Chess scholarship. A kind-hearted person from Bangalore, who wishes to remain anonymous donated Rs.50,000 for this scholarship. Sammed Shete from Kolhapur won the scholarship and within a year managed to score his 2 remaining IM norms and become an IM. The 2nd Pursue Your Scholarship 2020-21 has been instituted once again and this time the amount is Rs.75,000. Players who have achieved something substantial in their chess career till date and are suffering from financial burden should fill out the form given in this article before 20th of March. ChessBase India and the donor will select the most eligible candidate for the scholarship.

Lausanne GP R3: Harika outplays Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun

05/03/2020 -

Harika Dronavalli outplayed the reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun in Round 3 of FIDE Lausanne GP. After an incorrect Queen exchange offer by Ju, Harika seized her opportunity and correctly played the Same Color Bishop ending to be one of the five leaders. Anna Muzychuk crushed Marie Sebag with a beautiful attacking game to take the shared lead. Alina Kashlinskaya survived an early attack and turned things around to beat her compatriot Alexandra Kosteniuk. Nana Dzagnidze had an exciting draw with Antoaneta Stefanova in Modern Benoni. Goryachkina made a quick draw to maintain her lead. Anna, Harika, Nana, Kashlinskaya and Goryachkina lead with 2.0/3. Photo: FIDE

Pranav Anand and Rucha Pujari make norms at Aeroflot Open B

04/03/2020 -

The category A Open of the recently concluded Aeroflot Chess Festival was mainly restricted to players rated 2550 or more, but the organizers encouragingly exempted a select group of talented youngsters from this requirement and welcomed them to contest on equal terms with the strongest Grandmasters in the event. The result of this well-intentioned concession proved a huge success as not only did the tournament see a spurt of promising juniors come to the fore but also a 14-year-old ended up clinching the championship ahead of many an experienced player in the field. However, perhaps not too surprisingly, the competition in B and C Opens as well were dominated by young players. In today's article we bring you the exploits of two young Indians, namely Pranav Anand and Rucha Pujari, who performed commendably well in the open B category and managed to return home with an IM norm and a WGM norm respectively.

And that's how a star is welcomed! WGM Pratyusha Bodda in Tuni

04/03/2020 -

Getting your WGM or GM titles is not at all an easy feat. It takes years of hard work, investment, training and single minded dedication to achieve these titles. When the player reaches the milestone, of course, there is huge sense of achievement and relief, but in terms of recognition very little has been forthcoming from the government or the region where they live in. But things are surely changing in this direction. When Pratyusha Bodda returned home from her European tour after becoming a WGM, she was invited to her home-town in Tuni, Andhra Pradesh. What followed next was akin to what Vishy Anand witnessed when he returned after winning the World Championship title. The people were ecstatic that their daughter had become a WGM and they didn't hold back their celebrations!

Lausanne GP R2: Goryachkina and Dzagnidze take early lead

04/03/2020 -

Georgia no.1 woman Nana Dzagnidze defeated GP debutant IM Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan in an emphatic manner to take the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina who defeated the former Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Kosteniuk misplayed in the endgame and landed herself in difficult situation. Anna Muzychuk had the longest game of the day against Pia Cramling which lasted for almost five hours but Anna's advantage was not enough to score a full point. The remaining three games ended in draws in exactly 30 moves. Harika got herself out of difficult situation and managed to salvage a draw. Photo: FIDE

Fat Fritz and the 1200 - Chess Improvement made Easy!

03/03/2020 -

2019 was a landmark year for Chess. World Triple Crown Champion Magnus Carlsen shrugged off his abysmal 2018 to become a Terminator of top class players, Vishy Anand continued to remain relevant at 50, Radjabov banishing the ghosts of London 2013 with a World Cup in his hands- the list goes on. The one development however that shook up the chess world was Fat Fritz, an AI which learnt from self play as well as the very best of human games. The pertinent question however remained unanswered - how does an ordinary club player, or ambitious lower rated players make use of this technology to improve their games. In this comprehensive article, Tanmay Srinath tells us why having a more 'Human' Engine makes all the difference in the world regarding Chess Improvement.

Lausanne GP R1: Zhansaya Abdumalik holds Ju Wenjun to a draw

03/03/2020 -

The Olympic Capital - Lausanne, Switzerland hosts the third leg of FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2019-20. The GP leader Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno, Elisabeth Paehtz and Valentina Gunina skip this event as all GP participants are allowed to choose only three out of four events. 20-year old young Kazakh IM Zhansaya Abdumalik was a last minute replacement for Chinese GM Zhao Xue, she made the most out of her opportunity by holding the reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun to a draw in the very first round of the event. All other games also ended up in draw in round 1. The tournament will have a total of eleven rounds in a Round-Robin format. Photo: FIDE

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