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The eighth round saw GM Vishnu Prasanna and IM Crg Krishna take a hit as they lost their games to players rated higher than them. V. Ap Karthik and IM Tania Sachdev continue to remain undefeated in the tournament. While the Indians are performing on par with their ratings, there is nothing remarkable to talk about. In the Classic, Vishy blundered and lost his second game of the tournament, this time to Grischuk.
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Anand has been playing chess for four decades now, out of which, he has stayed at the absolute top of the world for more than two decades. Vishy learnt the rules of our game at the age of six, and today he turns forty-six. For Anand, it has been a journey from being labeled with adjectives to himself becoming one. Countless articles, interviews and shows have documented his story. ChessBase India brings you a selection of pictures from Anand’s early career and his recent resurgence, with games and more. A heartfelt tribute to the man who put India on the world chess map.
The sixth round witnessed an Indian derby when IM Swayams Mishra took on IM Tania Sachdev, and it turned out to be a rather strange game. Tania won a pawn early and gained a tangible advantage, only to mess up in the rook ending and land on a draw. Crg Krishna had a fairly uneventful draw with US’s GM Alex Lenderman. IM Sagar Shah and V. Ap Karthik also drew their games. GM Vishnu Prasanna played a delightful attacking game against IM Alexandre Vuilleumier. Indian maestro Vishy Anand won a beauty.
Indians had a bad day at the office as International Masters Swayams Mishra and Sagar Shah both lost their games to higher rated grandmasters. The greatest damage came in the Classic when Anand lost to Nakamura with the black pieces. Nevertheless, the star of the day for Indians was undoubtedly IM Crg Krishna, who defeated GM Jahongir Vakhidov with the black pieces to move into the joint lead. An illustrated report with video interviews with Crg Krishna, Vishnu Prasanna and Tania Sachdev!
The Berlin Defense, which has made an appearance in so many of the previous Anand-Carlsen clashes, was summoned once again by the champion players. Anand gained a small edge, then he misplayed it to land in a worse position, but then Magnus returned the favour and both players went home fuming, with only a draw. Among the Indians competing in the FIDE Open being held simultaneously, GM Vishnu Prasanna (2514) was the sole winner in the fourth round as he removed IM Sopiko Guramishvili (2368) out of his way. An illustrated report.
Chennai witnessed a natural-manmade disaster of an unprecedented scale when the wrath of nature descended upon the unsuspecting city. You and I know that Chennai, since its Madras days, has been the capital of the Indian chess scene and home to the best of Indian talents right from kids taking their baby steps to the former world champion himself. Our dear reader Muthu Alagappan, a Chennai resident, sent us his first-hand account of what he witnessed in his city. In addition, we have comments from some of India's best players who reside in Chennai and ended up missing their tournaments.
While Anand was under pressure against the wily Aronian, he managed to hang on to a draw, as did all others in the Classic -- it was a draw day. In the FIDE Open, the day's play witnessed double rounds, and all Indians performed well. While Tania Sachdev stumbled to a draw in the second round and Vishnu Prasanna was forced to repeat positions in the third round, V. Ap Karthik posted an upset victory over French GM Roman Edouard who is rated more than 300 points above him. Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal report.
The London Chess Classic is a cornucopia of events held at one single place. The elite tournament, the British Knockout and the FIDE Open are all taking place at the same venue. It’s every chess lover’s paradise. In the elite section, Anish Giri tricked Veselin Topalov to score the lone victory of the day. Seven Indians are competing in the FIDE Open that runs alongside the Classic. An illustrated report with games, pictures and Vishy's message to Chennai.
In the first part of our interview with India's 40th grandmaster, GM Swapnil Dhopade talked about his journey to the coveted title. In this second part, Swapnil talks about his approach to chess, how he works on his game and the importance of not thinking about rating. The interview also has a special video-lesson on positional play for our dear readers! Packed with useful tips and insightful comments, this interview is a must-read for every chessplayer and fan.
The main elite event with an average rating of 2784.2 begins on the 4th of December 2015. Meanwhile the World Champion Magnus Carlsen has arrived in London and appeared on the BBC One show at prime time. He managed to checkmate his opponent using 17 seconds!Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal visited the playing venue and have some exclusive pictures of the preparation of the event.
Swapnil Dhopade became India's 40th GM on 9th of October 2015. His story is one of immense hard work and determination. After achieving his final GM norm in the year 2012, he played nearly 350 more games in the next three years to reach an Elo of 2500! No wonder we can learn so much from this dedicated and disciplined, yet at the same time a genial grandmaster!
Most titled players in India agree that Nihal Sarin is a super-talent. Last year, he was crowned the World U-10 champion at Durban, South Africa. This year, aged eleven, he started the World U-12 at Halkidiki, Greece, as the twenty-eighth seed and yet was silver, missing the gold on tiebreak due to an O'Henry twist. Those who have seen him know that he is heavily underrated, bringing forward his A-game when he plays those rated above him. Welcome to the amazing world of Nihal Sarin.
The SBI All Maharashtra rating tournament was held from 18th-22nd November in Mumbai. The tournament held by Praful Zaveri and Indian Chess School was won by the strong IM from Mumbai Vikramaditya Kulkarni. We have some very nice pictures from the venue as well as some game analysis.
India sent fifty young and talented kids to participate in the World Youth Championships 2015 in Greece. They returned with a massive tally of eleven medals – five gold, three silver and three bronze. This made it by far the most successful country at the event. We got in touch with these young kids and asked them many questions. The winners sent us annotated games, and we also have opinions of five-time World Champion Vishy Anand and the super coach GM R.B.Ramesh.
Murali Karthikeyan is India's new National Champion! He began the tournament with a terrible 0.0/2 and then scaled up the peak with one win after another to end up with 8.5/13. He is the winner despite suffering three losses, including one in the final round today, while Vidit had to be content with the second spot on tiebreak despite losing only one game, to M. Karthikeyan himself. An illustrated report.
