Tegernsee Masters 2020 R5: Leon holds Germany no.3 Donchenko to a draw

05/11/2020 -

Leon Mendonca continues his fantastic form as he held Germany no.3 Alexander Donchenko to a draw. He made his intentions clear early in the game playing aggressively. Despite having a difficult endgame, Leon fought till the end to salvage a half point. He is now at 2.0/5 and his opponent Donchenko has taken a sole lead with 3.5/5. Leon was supposed to face Keymer in Round 6, since he is in quarantine, Leon will resume his tournament in Round 7 against IM Ashot Parvanyan. Nisipeanu and Thai scored victories over Parvanyan and Fier respectively in Round 5. Photo: GM Sebastian Siebrecht

ChessBase India YouTube family is now 500,000 big!

04/11/2020 -

The ChessBase India YouTube channel began in the years 2015. In the last five years we have published 3928 videos and the channel has over 237 million views! The most popular videos in the world of chess with over 35 million views are on the ChessBase India channel. On the 3rd of November 2020 ChessBase India reached a total subscriber count of 500,000. In this article we take you down the memory lane and tell you all about how the channel began, the challenges faced and the what the future awaits. We also have a 500,000 subscribers giveaway with five winners getting a customized ChessBase India t-shirt with their name.

Tegernsee Masters 2020 R4: Leon draws with Dardha

04/11/2020 -

Leon Mendonca made his third draw of the event, this time against IM Daniel Dardha in Round 4 of Tegernsee Masters 2020. Once again Leon played very solid, handled complex position nicely and didn't commit any mistake which is definitely a good sign. Luigi had a prolonged draw with Fier and Bluebaum had an uneventful draw against Donchenko. They both lead the tournament with 3.0/4 each respectively. The lone victor of the round was Thai Dai Van as he beat Ashot Parvanyan. The tournament continues with Round 5 tonight from 7:30 p.m. IST when Leon will have a tough challenge against Germany no.3. Stock photo: Niklesh Jain

The Queen's Gambit - Episode 4 review

03/11/2020 -

The Queen's Gambit Episode 4 is titled 'Middle game'. Well if you are on this site, it is highly likely that you are quite well versed with this term. This episode shows how Beth deals with a lot of things she is yet to discover, starting with learning Russian language, relaxing a day before the tournament to dealing with young boy as well as old men playing mind games with her assuming the worst of her. We also see Troitsky's study, Fischer, Capablanca, Stein and a couple of Kasparov's game including one against Anand replayed in this episode. Were you able to spot them all? Check out the review of Episode 4 and find out. Photo: Netflix stream

Tegernsee Masters 2020 R3: Leon holds Luigi to a draw

03/11/2020 -

Leon bounced back strong and played solid to hold GM Pier Luigi Basso to a draw in Round 3 of Tegernsee Masters 2020. Donchenko won the All-German battle and beat Nisipeanu comfortably. Bluebaum struck his opponent Dardha after the latter made an inaccuracy and allowed tactical advantage. Fier misjudged his opponent's threat and an incorrect defence allowed Parvanyan to walk away with the full point. Leon will face 15-year-old IM Daniel Dardha in the next round. The tournament continues with Round 4 tonight from 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: GM Sebastian Siebrecht

Tegernsee Masters 2020 R2: Leon goes down against Bluebaum, Keymer quarantined

02/11/2020 -

Leon had a tough day at the office as he was up against Germany's best Matthias Bluebaum in Round 2 of Tegernsee Masters 2020. Bluebaum is at the peak of his career, so naturally when Leon made a slight inaccuracy, he punished it immediately and turned things in his favor, eventually winning the game. German prodigy Vincent Keymer had to be quarantined according to the protocol by the health authority. Now the tournament will be a nine-player Round-Robin event as Keymer will be missing the rest of the event. The tournament continues with Round 3 tonight from 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: GM Sebastian Siebrecht

New: ChessBase Magazine #198

02/11/2020 -

ChessBase Magazine is the most comprehensive and most sophisticated chess magazine there is. World class players analyze their brilliancies and explain the ideas behind the moves to you, opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and offer exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in the fields of tactics, strategy, and the endgame show you the tricks and techniques a successful tournament player needs! DVD with several hours of video, training material, annotations by top players like So, Duda, Giri, Humpy, Nihal, Paehtz and more. Giri on the surprise weapon in the Scandinavian and more. Photo: ChessBase

Tegernsee Masters 2020 R1: Leon holds Nisipeanu to a draw

01/11/2020 -

The number of over-the-board events taking place in the world are very few at the moment. 14-year-old boy from Goa IM Leon Luke Mendonca is still playing otb events and his quest to become India's next GM is in progress. A few days after making his maiden GM-norm, Leon has been invited to play in the Tegernsee Masters. He made a strong start as he held Germany no.2 Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu to a solid draw. In Round 2, he will face Germany no.1 Matthias Bluebaum. It is definitely time for Leon to shine. How will he fare against Germany's best? Catch all the action of Round 2 tonight from 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: GM Sebastian Siebrecht

Simple Chess in a profound way

31/10/2020 -

Altibox Norway Chess was the last major over-the-board chess event to conclude this month. At this point, it is highly unlikely for us to witness another otb super tournament before the year ends because the second wave of Covid-19 is hitting and many countries have already gone into lockdown. Anyway, Chennai resident Srikanth Govindaseshan explains a simple game of chess between two Norwegians, the world champion Carlsen and Norway no.2 Aryan Tari. He also draws simile from various poems and elaborates on the art form of chess. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

The Queen's Gambit - Episode 3 review

30/10/2020 -

The Queen's Gambit Episode 3 is titled 'Doubled pawns'. If you see an episode named by a specific term, chances are it will be difficult to get it right. Turns out that they did get it correctly. This episode is about Beth expanding her horizons - from being a state champion to winning tournaments all over the country and finally playing the National championship. Of course this is not a typical underdog sports movie where the protagonist battles against all odds and triumphs in the end. Nope that's not a spoiler, you have to see the episode to understand how minute things were explained in detail quite beautifully. Check out the detailed spoiler-free review of Episode 3 covering the chess aspect in great detail. Photo: Netflix stream

Nihal Sarin clinches Capechecs Online Trophy

29/10/2020 -

Just days after winning Junior Speed Chess Championship, Nihal Sarin was competing for both team India at the Asian Nations Cup as well as Capechecs Online Trophy. He helped team India get into the Knockout stage and then eventually win Silver at the Finals. That's not all, at the same time, he dominated the Capechecs Online Trophy by remaining unbeaten in the Knockout stage of the tournament. The 16-year-old wunderkind from Kerala scored 8.5/14 in the group stage, beat Bacrot and Cheparinov 2-0 each in the Quarter-finals and Semi-finals respectively. He almost beat Sarana 2-0 also in the Finals but settled for a draw in the second game as it was sufficient for him to win the event. Photo: FIDE

New: Mihail Marin - The English Opening - Tactic and Strategy Toolbox

28/10/2020 -

The English Opening (1.c4) might not be as popular as 1.e4 or 1.d4, but if White knows what he is doing the opening is powerful and dangerous. This DVD is a good way to refresh your repertoire or to start with the English and get an idea of how to play this fascinating opening without learning tons of theory. If you wish to increase your knowledge of the English Opening then you must get Marin's English Love - A complete repertoire for White after 1.c4 - Vol.1 and Vol.2. With the combined knowledge of all of them, you can definitely make sure that English Opening is your strong suit at all the tournaments you play. Photo: ChessBase

Leon wins Budapest Rigochess and makes his his maiden GM-norm

27/10/2020 -

Leon was supposed to return home in March but due to the travel restrictions caused by pandemic, he got stuck in Budapest. However that did not deter Leon from working towards his goals. He kept playing tournaments. He won a tournament in Serbia in August. Eight months after winning Budapest Rigochess International Chess Festival GM tournament, he won it for the second time in as many times and this time it was sweeter because he also scored his maiden GM-norm. He has already crossed 2500 in live rating list few months ago. So all that the Goan lad needs now is the remaining two GM-norms to become India's next GM. Photo: Niki Riga

The Queen's Gambit - Episode 2 review

26/10/2020 -

The Queen's Gambit continue its momentum in the second episode. It shows the journey of a chess player from the beginner to a tournament player in episode 2. Due to involvement of Kasparov and Pandolfini, you can be rest assured that chess part in this mini-series will be absolutely authentic. Will we see some trash talk and blitzing out moves? Sure from dramatization, it has to be done for the general audience. The series showcases various nuances of the game as well as what a player has to endure to make a name and get into the big leagues. The journey in chess is not at all easy until you reach at the very top. Check out the detailed spoiler-free review of Episode 2 covering the chess aspect in great detail. Photo: Netflix stream

Asian Online Nations: Indian Women clinch Gold, Men win Silver

25/10/2020 -

Indian Women looked strong from the beginning of the tournament and they finished strong by beating Indonesia emphatically 6-2 to clinch the Gold. Both Padmini and Nandhiddaa were absolutely fantastic in the knockout stage as they scored 6.0/6 each respectively, Bhakti contributed an important 3.5/4 and Vaishali scored 4.5/6. Captain Mary Ann made two important draws and made all the right decisions. Indian Men's team couldn't overcome the Australia challenge throughout the event as they lost the first Duel by minimum margin 2.5-1.5 and drew the second 2-2, resulting in settling for the Silver. Catch all the action of the final day in this report. Photo: Various sources

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