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Luis Ernesto dominates Prague Open 2020, Laxman finishes strong

30/01/2020 -

Top seed GM Luis Ernesto Quesada Perez scored an emphatic 8.5/9 and finished 1.5 points ahead of the field to win Prague Open 2020. He also won the Rapid event with a score of 6.0/7. Both IM Zhen Yu Cyrus Low and untitled Oled Budnikov scored 7.0/9 each and they shared the second position. Among the Indians, GM Laxman R R was the highest placed Indian as he scored 6.5/9 and finished at shared fourth position. In the Blitz event Laxman scored 8.5/11 to secure third position. Total 434 players participated from 36 countries across the world combining four different events in Prague Open 2020. Photo: Amruta Mokal

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My experience of training for 54 hours with Kramnik and Gelfand

30/01/2020 -

After the success of the first Kramnik Microsense chess program in August 2019, a second camp was held. This time in Chennai, with more than twice the number of kids - 14 in all and two trainers - Kramnik and Gelfand. Each day would be filled with six hours of learning from the chess greats. In all the 13 students were in Chennai and got to spend 54 hours of training with Vladimir and Boris. There was one boy, who couldn't make it to Chennai because of an accident. He lay on his bed in Mumbai with a plaster on his leg. Health-wise, Aditya Mittal was not in the best possible shape for the camp. But because of his enthusiasm and willingness to learn, he absorbed everything like a sponge through remote live sessions. How was his experience and what did he learn? In this article Aditya shares it with our readers.

Can Indians make a strong finish in the last two rounds of the Gibraltar Masters 2020

29/01/2020 -

Praggnanandhaa has the best chances of making a top finish at the Gibraltar Masters as he is on 6.0/8 after his opponent Mamedyarov didn't turn up for the 8th round. Behind Pragg, are five Indians who are on 5.5/8 - they are Adhiban, S.L. Narayanan, Karthikeyan Murali, D. Gukesh and Aryan Chopra. The game between Gukesh and Adhiban in round 8 ended in a draw and now the second youngest GM ever has a stiff challenge in the form of S.L. Narayanan in round 9. Leon Mendonca, the 13-year-old youngster from Goa has shown amazing stability at the event and now needs a win against Kotronias in the ninth round to make his maiden GM norm. An illustrated round 8 report from the Gibraltar Masters 2020.

CRG Krishna wins Delhi Open ChessBase India Blitz 2020

29/01/2020 -

The third edition of ChessBase India Blitz open took place on 14th January 2020 during 18th Delhi Open 2020. IM C R G Krishna scored an unbeaten 8.0/9, finished a half point ahead of the competition to win Delhi Open ChessBase India Blitz tournament. Three players finished at 7.5/9. IM Neelash Saha and FM Aaryan Varshney were placed second and third according to their tie-break score. Total 163 players from five countries across the world participated, making it the biggest ChessBase India blitz event. ChessBase 15 was given as the first prize, Fritz 17 as second and Komodo 13 as the third prize. ChessBase Premium account and various books were also given as prizes. Photo: Angela FJ

Ilmars Starostits dominates 15th International Open GEMA63

28/01/2020 -

GM Ilmars Starostits scored an unbeaten 8.0/9 to win International Open GEMA63. IM Diego Espineira Gonzalez secured second position with a score of 7.0/9. GM Arian Gonzalez Perez scored 6.5/9 to be placed third. Starostits also scored an unbeaten 9.5/11 to win 3rd International Open Blitz GEMA63. Both IM Jose Luis Gonzalez Trigal and FM Luis Marcos Medarde Santiago finished with 9.0/11 each and they were placed second and third respectively. Total 33 players participated in the open event from four federations including Spain comprising of two GMs, three IMs and a FM. The tournament was held from 2nd to 7th January 2020 at Mondariz Balneario, Spain. Photo: Manuel Enrique Outerelo Ucha

Raghubar and Kanchan win Old Monk's Pune District Veterans Open and Women's Rapid

28/01/2020 -

Raghubar Dayal Tyagi scored 6.5/7, remained undefeated, finished a full point ahead of the competition to win Old Monk's Pune District Veterans Open Rapid. Both Chandrakant Dongre and Uday Sahasrabudhe finished at 5.5/7. They were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-breaks. Among the women, four players finished at 4.0/5. Kanchan Lunaway clinched the championship due to her better tie-break score. Jyotsna Hapse and Lalita Newaskar were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-break score. Total 58 players, 46 in open section of above 60 years and 12 in women's of above 50 years participated in this one-day rapid event held at Joseph D'souza Chess Academy on 7th January 2020. Photo: PDCA chess

The Badshah turns 30!

28/01/2020 -

The CEO of ChessBase India IM Sagar Shah turns 30 today! Well, what's the fuss about that? Avathanshu Bhat pens down what makes Sagar special for him and the entire chess community. The man who had a dream, and set out to make that dream a reality. There were decisions that were taken, milestones that were overcome and old plans that were improvised. It was never easy, and he could never have done it without the backing from those lovely people. Don't forget to read the wishes of all his close friends and family! Yes, this is quite a long article, but we feel that it definitely couldn't have been any shorter without losing the personal touch of so many different people. Enjoy!

Savitha Shri's journey from 1968 to 2261 in two months

27/01/2020 -

Savitha Shri B is just 13 years old but already has a rating of 2261. She gained about 300 Elo points in the past two months itself just by playing several strong independent tournaments in Spain. Her father Baskar, who used to be an electrician in Singapore, left his job to accompany his daughter in different events and ensured that she evolves into a world-class chess player. Savitha's quest for excellence has been and still is a path ridden with hurdles but the girl from Tamil Nadu is as resolute as ever. In this article we explore some of her recent successes and tell you how in two months she gained 300 Elo points to move from 1968 on the Elo scale to 2261.

Pavel Ponkratov wins 12th Chennai GM Open 2020

27/01/2020 -

Top seed of the tournament Pavel Ponkratov scored an unbeaten 8.0/10 to clinch the championship. He won the Dr. N Mahalingam Trophy and ₹300000 cash prize for his efforts. Seven other players also finished at the same score. They were placed according to their tie-break score. Jose Eduardo Martinez and Sergei Yudin secured the first and second runner-up positions respectively. Among the Vishnu Prasanna was the only player to finish shared first, eighth according to tie-breaks. Total 284 players participated from 21 countries including 29 GMs, 23 IMs and 3 WGMs. The tournament was organized by Tamil Nadu Chess Association at Novotel and IBIS Omar at Chennai from 18th to 25th January 2020. Photo: IA R Anantharam

Fabiano's fabulous finale

27/01/2020 -

"I am sure I will have to play a tough game tomorrow but there won't be any pressure in terms of tournament results", predicted the World no.2 Fabiano Caruana just after winning his twelfth round and becoming the champion of Tata Steel Masters with one round to spare. And he indeed gave it his all in the last round to register his fourth consecutive victory in the tournament by defeating Vladislav Artemiev. Fabi wasn't well physically during the last few rounds of the event but he showed tremendous fighting spirit and let nothing lessen the quality of his games. In this illustrated article we give you the step by step breakdown of his final encounter. Photo: Alina l'Ami

Praggnanandhaa beats the highest rated player of his career - Veselin Topalov (2738)

26/01/2020 -

He was the strongest chess player on the planet at one point of time and in 2005 he showed his true power when he won the San Luis World Championship ahead of all the top players to become the FIDE World Champion. Veselin Topalov is now nowhere close to what he was as a player some years ago, but with a rating of 2738, he is still quite a potent as a competitor. Pragg faced him in the 6th round of the Gibraltar Masters 2020. Playing with the white pieces, the youngster gave his opponent absolutely no chances and won the game with some powerful moves. This is the highest rated player that Pragg has ever beaten in his classical chess career. We bring you the detailed analysis of the game with PGN, video analysis and Pragg's interview after the win. 

How not following top level games can make you lose out on important points

26/01/2020 -

The life of a professional chess player is not easy. He has to be updated with all the latest wrinkles in opening theory. If he misses one of the important games that has happened in his line, then that same variation can be sprung upon him as a surprise. This is what happened with D. Gukesh, who played against Gawain Jones at the fifth round of the Gibraltar Masters 2020. The English GM played the Rossolimo against Gukesh following the line Carlsen had played against Dubov. Gukesh was unprepared and took a lot of time for his moves. Very soon he succumbed to a defeat. Praggnanandhaa played some fantastic chess to score his fourth consecutive win and move to 4.0/5. Check out both the games analyzed in great detail. 

Ju Wenjun retains her FIDE Women's World Championship

26/01/2020 -

Aleksandra Goryachkina was a massive threat to Ju Wenjun's World title reign, but if anyone had an advantage then that was Ju Wenjun. The reason is simple, she has done it all when she beat Tan Zhongyi in 2018 to become the champion in a similar 10-game FIDE Women's World Championship Match. However, Goryachkina tested Ju's limit by pushing her to the max and forcing a tie-break. Ju Wenjun is a former Women's World Rapid champion which means rapid is also her forte and having four rapid games as tie-breaks was just enough to beat Goryachkina 2.5-1.5 and continue her reign as Women's World Champion for at least another year. Photo: FIDE

Caruana conquers the Wimbledon of Chess

26/01/2020 -

Fabiano Caruana defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda and registered his third victory in a row to win the Tata Steel Masters with one round to spare. Magnus Carlsen could only draw Vladislav Artemiev despite gaining a copious initiative at one point of the game and thus Fabi pulled ahead of his nearest rival by a massive 1.5 points. "This is certainly one of the best tournaments I have ever played in terms of results", said the World no.2 after the game, he also concluded that there were some rocky moments as well where he did need a bit of luck to get through. In this article we we look into Fabiano's performance from rounds eleven and twelve of the event. 

Anand’s Rocky Road to World Title Triumph 2010

26/01/2020 -

Vishy Anand's will to fight back and be resourceful in even the most adverse of situations have enabled him to maintain his position at the top for so long. If there is any instance where his unparalleled suppleness was pushed to its very limits then it has to be his 2010 World Championship match against Veselin Topalov. The Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers had the good privilege to witness this legendary bout up-close. He was present in the venue in Sofia as a reporter for the Australian news site Crikey.com.au and wrote a piece on the night Vishy registered the decisive final round victory. We bring you this article with relevant pictures from the match and let you relive those rare moments of intense pressure and thrill.

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