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No-Castling Chess - Vladimir Kramnik proposes an exciting variant!

05/12/2019 -

From lay fans to top Grandmasters, more or less everyone in the world of chess feel upset today about the huge number of draws that take place in virtually every classical elite tournament. Too much of theory reinforced by extensive engine work is seemingly rendering the game of chess sterile and lifeless. One therefore wonders what lies in the future of the royal game. Thankfully, solutions are being proposed and some of them are also being welcomed with open arms. The successful organization and popularity of the first FIDE Fischer Random World Championship is a testament to the same. Very recently the legendary Vladimir Kramnik has also proposed a lucrative solution to the problem which surprisingly appears to be even simpler and more efficient than the Fischer Random. Read on to know more. 

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MVL stops the Magnus juggernaut

05/12/2019 -

Just when it seemed like Magnus is unstoppable and MVL has an outside chance, Maxime made the most out of his opportunity and defeated Carlsen in the Rapid Playoff to advance to the finals. In the final rapid tie-break game, MVL had a decisive advantage, but he missed it and managed to make a draw which was sufficient enough for him to book a berth at the finals against Ding Liren. Levon Aronian's woes continued as he lost both rapid games and then he drew a blitz game, only to lose the next two. He redeemed himself by beating Ding in the last blitz match. The Finals Classical game 1 will take place on 6th and game 2 on 7th December. The Rapid and Blitz part of the Finals will take place on 8th December. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Vishy's December #04 - India having 65 GMs is unthinkable without Anand

05/12/2019 -

He met Anand at the airport when he was just a nine-year-old boy! He played a simul with him and grew up with Vishy as his role model. Today Surya Sekhar Ganguly is one India's strongest GMs. He has not only won innumerable accolades for the country as a chess player, but has helped Anand to become a World Champion for a record three times as his second. In this article Surya relives some of his most precious moments with the Indian legend. This December, ChessBase India is celebrating the month as Vishy's December in honour of the Indian chess legend Vishy Anand turning 50 years old. If you have a story, experience or an anecdote related to Anand which you would like to share with the chess world, you can send it to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com.  

Monaco GP R2: Humpy continues her sole lead

05/12/2019 -

The second round of FIDE Women's Grand Prix at Monaco witnessed four decisive results and four game went for over four hours. Humpy continued her lead by beating Mariya Muzychuk. Harika Dronavalli scored the first victory of the round by defeating Germany no.1 woman IM Elisabeth Paehtz. Lagno won the All-Russian battle and handed Gunina her second consecutive defeat. Newly crowned European Individual Rapid and Blitz champion Alexandra Kosteniuk continued her momentum and broke Goryachkina's mystique by defeating her convincingly. Both Anna Muzychuk and Pia Cramling missed wonderful winning opportunities against Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue respectively. A detailed report of round 2. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Praggnanandhaa becomes the youngest Indian to cross 2600 Elo ever, second youngest in the world

05/12/2019 -

On 4th of May 2019, Nihal Sarin had become the youngest Indian to cross 2600 at the age of 14 years and 10 months. It took only seven months to break this record when Praggnanandhaa, won his seventh round game at the London Chess Classic FIDE Open 2019 against GM Jules Moussard (2600) to move to 2602. Pragg has achieved the feat of crossing 2600 at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 24 days, making him the youngest 2600 ever in Indian chess history and the second youngest in the world. In this report we bring to you the game that helped Pragg cross 2600 with detailed analysis and also quotes from his trainer Ramesh. Truly, a big moment for Indian chess! 

Vishy's December #03 - In India, chess = Anand!

04/12/2019 -

Today Sethuraman is well-known and respected grandmaster in the world of chess. He has won the national title, the asian title and also been a member of the bronze medal winning Indian team at the Tromso Olympiad. But around 15 years ago when he was taking his first few steps in the world of chess, his meetings with Anand changed the way he looked at the sport. In this article Sethuraman recounts his meetings with the legend and how they inspired him to become a stronger player. This December, ChessBase India is celebrating the month as Vishy's December in honour of the Indian chess legend Vishy Anand turning 50 years old. If you have a story, experience or an anecdote related to Anand which you would like to share with the chess world, you can send it to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com. 

Wesley So on becoming the first Fischer Random World Champion

04/12/2019 -

The Fischer random chess or Chess960 is hailed to be a game of pure wits where elements of theory and extensive home preparation are rendered practically useless and the players are demanded to rely more on their intuition and over-the-board creativity. It therefore came as a surprise to many chess fans last month when Magnus Carlsen, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest natural talents that the game of chess has ever seen, was sheerly dominated by Wesley So in the World Fischer Random Championship 2019. The 26-year-old Filipino-American Grandmaster created a sensation by beating the mighty Norwegian in the finals of the tournament with a sweeping score of 13.5-2.5! How did he do it? IM Sagar Shah caught up with the man himself at the Tata Steel Chess India.

Will MVL have the final laugh?

04/12/2019 -

The second classical game between MVL-Carlsen and Ding-Aronian also ended up in a draw which means there is no clear favorite going into the faster time control matches. Today each player will play two rapid and four blitz games against the same semi-final opponents. A win in rapid is worth four points and in blitz it's two points. The two players to score 15 points will advance to the finals. At this point MVL and Carlsen seem to be evenly matched, while Aronian is still trying to recover from his ailment. It will be interesting to see who grabs the final two spots in the GCT Finals. It starts tonight at 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Chess Gurukul domination in London!

04/12/2019 -

The London Chess Classic FIDE Open 2019 is being dominated by two Indians R. Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh Chithambaram. Both of them hail from Chennai and go to the Chess Gurukul academy of GM R.B. Ramesh. It is quite heartening to see that both the youngsters have performed above an Elo of 2750 and gained close to 10 Elo points. While this takes Aravindh to 2615, Pragg is inching close to breaking the 2600 Elo mark and is currently 2596. The other two Indian top performers Sahaj Grover and R. Vaishali are also playing well with 4.5/6. With three rounds to go, it will be interesting to see if Pragg or Aravindh can win the title. Currently they are in the joint lead on 5.5/6 along with Anton Smirnov.

Monaco GP R1: Humpy starts with a gritty win

04/12/2019 -

FIDE Monaco Women's Grand Prix starts with a solitary win by Skolkovo GP winner Humpy Koneru. She had to fight for over five hours against Valentina Gunina from an inferior position to score a victory after enduring the longest grind of the day. Legendary Pia Cramling made a good start against Alexandra Kosteniuk but she missed capitalizing on good opportunities and eventually ended up making a draw. The World Championship Challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina held World Blitz champion Kateryna Lagno, Harika Dronavalli met her match in the form of Nana Dzagnidze, FIDE GP 2019-20 debutant Zhao Xue held Elisabeth Paehtz and the Muzychuk sisters made a peaceful draw in round 1. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

#AskSwapnil - Live interaction with GM Swapnil Dhopade

03/12/2019 -

It often happens that we have questions in our mind about chess improvement, the way to study chess systematically, tournament preparation, physical fitness and more. In such situations it would feel so nice to have a person, who has already walked this path, answer the questions, guide us on our journey. A chess grandmaster is someone who has gone through the grind and has been able to come out of it successfully. Hence, on 3rd of December 2019, GM Swapnil Dhopade will be present in the ChessBase India studio for an hour long interactive session with the viewers of ChessBase India and answer your questions on how to get better at chess. The session is open for all and free of cost and the instructions on how to attend are given in the article below.

MVL tackles Carlsen's experiment

03/12/2019 -

The Grand Chess Tour finals started on 2nd December 2019 in Hammersmith London. Magnus Carlsen faces Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren faces Levon Aronian in the semi-finals in a series of classical, rapid and blitz matches to determine the finalists. The semi-final matches were made according GCT standings before the finals at London. On the first day both matches ended up in a draw, however Carlsen-MVL match did not lack fireworks as Carlsen tested the Najdorf expert MVL with an experiment of his own, to which MVL responded well and the game ended up in a very exciting draw. Meanwhile Aronian settled for a quiet draw with Ding as he was still recuperating from jet-lag. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Monaco hosts the best women chess players in the world

03/12/2019 -

The second event of FIDE Women's Grand Prix is officially launched at the Yacht Club de Monaco on 2nd December 2019. The Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun gives this event a miss. World Championship Challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina returns to action before facing the World Champion next month in the FIDE Women's World Championship match. After winning Skolkovo GP, Humpy Koneru would be looking forward to increase her lead at the GP points table. The super strong strong Muzychuk sisters - Anna and Mariya, Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue play their first FIDE Women's Grand Prix event of the 2019-20 season. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Vishy's December #02 - Inspiration, teammate, second!

02/12/2019 -

Sandipan Chanda, the ninth GM of Indian chess, recounts his journey from being a youngster who was amazed by Anand's play to being his team mate at the 2004 Chess Olympiad, to being his second and helping him in various tournaments. Sandipan is one of those few people who know Vishy Anand from close quarters and have spent a lot of time with him. This December, ChessBase India is celebrating the month as Vishy's December in honour of the Indian chess legend Vishy Anand turning 50 years old. If you have a story, experience or an anecdote related to Anand which you would like to share with the chess world, you can send it to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com.

Final words of the two chess greats before they bade adieu to the city of joy

02/12/2019 -

Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen were found in pleasantly candid mood on the last day of Tata Steel Chess India 2019. The event ended with an excellent final press conference where both players gave some really generous and compelling answers to the questions they were asked. We published a video of the same on our channel earlier but sadly, owing to unfortunate noise disturbances, many of the interesting responses were hard to understand in it. In this article we therefore try to mitigate this problem by bringing you the transcript along with the video. Hopefully, you will be able to appreciate the revealing press conference with the two chess greats better after going through this write-up.

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