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

09/03/2018 -

"It was my desire from childhood that I have to become a Grandmaster.", that's how much ambitious and determined he is. It took him over 13 years to become a Grandmaster after he achieved his International Master title in 2004. 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 did not become a Grandmaster to prove it to the world. 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. Here is a closer look at the life of Saptarshi Roy in a candid interview.

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FIDE Trainers' Seminar in Mohali: Creating quality chess teachers

09/03/2018 -

It is clear that chess in India is booming. The number of players taking up the sport is growing each and every day. In such a scenario, it is important that quality trainers are created in the country. With an aim to ensure that coaches get the right guidance AICF along with Sports Authority of India have put in place the FIDE Trainers' Seminar to be held at different parts of the country from time to time. From 4th-6th March, GM R.B.Ramesh and IM Vishal Sareen interacted with the coaches in Mohali. There were also 30 talented kids who received training from these excellent coaches. All in all a great initiative by AICF, SAI, Ramesh and Vishal Sareen.  

The Magnus Carlsen - Anish Giri twitter exchange

09/03/2018 -

The Twitter is becoming a battlefield of exchanges between top players these days. The Candidates 2018 is beginning in a couple of days from now and Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri have already had quite some serious battle of words on Twitter. While Magnus attacked Anish with all his might, the Dutch GM has been able to maintain his cool. A lot of this happened after it was made public that Anish Giri is working with Vladimir Kramnik in Berlin. We bring you chronologically all of what happened along with some background behind the tweets!

Reykjavik Open 02:Top seeds have a tough time

08/03/2018 -

Rounds 2 and 3 of the Reykjavik Open were incredibly exciting. First up, GM Vaibhav Suri from Delhi was able to carve out a win out of a dead drawn position in his round 2 game against GM Midoux Sebastian. He also managed to win the second game of the day and is now leading the tournament with Mustafa Yilmaz and Elshan Moradiabadi. In another unbelievable game, Erwin L'ami missed a simple back rank trick in his game against English IM Ravi Haria and ended up losing. The two little geniuses Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin also scored their share of upsets on day 2. While Praggnanandhaa held the eighth-seeded Mathieu Cornett to a draw, Nihal signed truce with none other than the top seed of the tournament, Richard Rapport!

The Tigress of Madras: Aruna Anand (1/3)

08/03/2018 -

When 26-year-old Vishy Anand got married to Aruna, his career was at a very delicate juncture. He was one of the top chess players in the world, but had not yet become a world champion. If the marriage didn't suit him well, he would have bled a lot of rating points. However, the marriage worked like a charm. Within a few years Vishy not only reached the number one ranking in the world, but also became multiple time World Champion. If there was one person who would get the major credit for all of Vishy's successes, it has to be his wife and manager Aruna Anand. Today being the Women's day, there could be no better time to acquaint you with the Iron lady of Indian chess, the Tigress of Madras - Aruna Anand.

Reykjavik Open Rd 1: Adhiban suffers an early upset

07/03/2018 -

The Reykjavik Open kicked off at the Icelandic capital city last night. At the end of round one, nearly every rating favourite on the top board came out unscathed. However, the day wasn't as merry for Adhiban Baskaran who had to sweat it out for 78 long moves against the 2275 rated Soham Das and still settle for a draw. Slightly lower down the pairing chart, wunderkinds, R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin both won their games while Erwin L'ami demolished Nisha Mohota with a monstrous kingside attack on board 6. Round 1 report. 

Psychological tips for chess players

07/03/2018 -

Chess is a mind game. When you sit at the board, it is just you, your thoughts and your emotions. In such a scenario having the right psychology is of utmost importance to serious tournament players. You may polish your opening knowledge, endgame skills, combinational abilities endlessly, but if you are not able to get in the right frame of mind then improving at the game is very difficult. With this in mind, Dr. Shrirang Joshi, a well-known psychiatrist and counsellor gives us three tips which can help us before, during and after the game. These are simple directives which are easy to understand, but quite difficult to implement.

Tal Memorial Blitz: Karjakin dominates the field

06/03/2018 -

After his emphatic win in the Rapid leg of the Tal Memorial, Vishy Anand had a relatively disappointing finish in the Blitz. With a score of 6.0/13, Anand finished ninth on the leaderboard after losing in the final round to Vladimir Kramnik. The eventual winner of the tournament, Sergey Karjakin had also lost to Kramnik in the second round but after that, he took the tournament by storm. Raking 10.0/13, he was 1.5 points ahead of his nearest rival, Hikaru Nakamura who had scored 8.5 points. Besides, Karjakin was the only player in the fray to make a podium finish in both the Rapid and the Blitz event.

Vishy repeats his Riyadh magic in Moscow!

05/03/2018 -

At the start of the rapid leg of the Tal Memorial, we discussed how Viswanathan Anand, with his ongoing form in the rapid time control, would be able to bring back the Riyadh magic in Moscow. Well, guess what? The Tiger from Madras has done it again! Going into the final day, the race was mainly between Mamedyarov and Anand who were both co-leading the tournament. After quick draws in round 7, it was the penultimate round which decided the fate of the event. While Anand defeated Grischuk, Mamedyarov was defeated by Dubov, leaving him virtually no chance at the title. An illustrated report.

Tal Memorial Day 2: Anand beats Nakamura to join Mamedyarov in tournament lead

04/03/2018 -

Day two of the Tal Memorial brought some great news for Indian fans. Viswanathan Anand, who was half-a-point behind the tournament leader, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, was able to catch up for the first place after beating Hikaru Nakamura in the sixth round. In his first two games of the day, Anand was only able to draw. In fact, Anand had to walk on tightropes against Svidler in the fourth round to split the point while in round 5, while the sixth round draw against Kramnik was a mere 16 move affair. Mamedyarov, on the other hand, was held to a draw in all the three games he played yesterday. Six rounds down, the two players share the tournament lead with 4.0/6

Tal Memorial: Vishy Anand shares second at the end of day 1

03/03/2018 -

The Tal Memorial has begun witnessing some fascinating chess on its very first day. On day one, Vishy Anand was the first one to rise to the top. Winning both of his first two games, he was the sole leader. But the 3rd round had a sad shocker awaiting him as he went down making almost unbelievable mistakes against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Daniil Dubov who had lost to Anand in round 1, made a strong comeback outpreparing and eventually outplaying Hikaru Nakamura. Another curious game of the round was the one between Kramnik and Grischuk wherein the former went on a sacrificial spree on the grounds of a miscalculation. It didn't take too long for the game to end after the end of the tactical sequence. We have an illustrated report with annotated games by IM Sagar Shah

Can Vishy Anand repeat his Riyadh magic in Moscow?

02/03/2018 -

If there is a time when Vishy Anand would be a favourite to win a rapid tournament, it is now! The Indian champion performed unbelievably at the Rapid World Championship a couple of months ago to become the World Rapid Champion 2017. From 2nd of March 2018, he will take part in the Tal Memorial 2018 where he will take on nine other super grandmasters in nine rounds of rapid chess followed by thirteen rounds of blitz. Candidates 2018 is just a week away but four players are taking part - Kramnik, Karjakin, Grischuk and Mamedyarov. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top. 

Srijit Paul wins 26th The Telegraph Schools' Chess 2018

01/03/2018 -

Srijit Paul of DPS North won the 26th edition of The Telegraph Schools' Chess 2018 held at Gorky Sadan from 27th January to 1st February 2018. Double IM norm holder, 17-year old Srijit remained undefeated, scored 8.5/9 and became champion in a convincing manner. The tournament witnessed 278 players participating across various districts of West Bengal and our neighboring country, Bangladesh. We bring you photos, annotated games of the tournament by champion himself and interview from the tournament by Shahid Ahmed who was present at the venue.

Aeroflot Open Rd 09: Sethuraman finishes joint second!

01/03/2018 -

In the final round of the Aeroflot Open, Indian GM SP Sethuraman managed to defeat GM Victor Bologan from Moldova to clinch second place in the tournament with a score of 6.5/9. This was quite a welcome result for Indian fans especially after Sasikiran and Aravindh's final round losses and draws by Vidit Gujrathi and Murali Karthikeyan. On the top board, tournament leader, Vladislav Kovalev secured a comfortable draw against Gabriel Sargissian and bagged the champion's trophy with a score of 7.0/9. Russian GM Dmitry Gordievsky also scored 6.5/9 and finished third on the tiebreak. Among other Indian players, Sasikiran and Aravindh Chithambaram took the 25th and the 26th spots respectively while Karthikeyan and Vidit Gujrathi finished 29th and 35th on the leaderboard.

Vidit Gujrathi scores first win; Sethu, Sasi and Aravindh retain good chances of a top 10 finish

28/02/2018 -

Right before the final round, wins by Sasikiran, Sethuraman and Aravindh Chithambaram brought some good news for the Indian fans. Besides, there was one more important result: Vidit Gujrathi, who had drawn all his games so far, was finally able to win a game. With his win today, Sethuraman has made it back into the top boards of the event. If he wins his final round game against Bologan, he will make it into the top three! Another game that piqued the attention of chess fans from around the globe was the encounter between the two Indian child prodigies, R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin. Round 8 report.

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