Batumi Chess Olympiad: India's chances of a podium finish diminish after a catastrophic ninth round

04/10/2018 -

Round 9 of the Batumi Chess Olympiad turned out to be a disastrous one for India. In the open segment, India lost to the eighth-seeded Armenian team after Sasikiran's loss against Haik Matirosyan on board 4. In the women's group, Tania Sachdev lost her second straight game, this time against the much lower rated Marina Brunello. Harika Dronavalli helped even out the scores with her win over Elena Sedina but this draw meant that the Indian team is out of contention for a podium finish. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Live Games and Updates of Team india from Batumi Olympiad 2018

04/10/2018 -

The Batumi Chess Olympiad is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the world. Team India begins as the fourth seeds in the open section and as the fifth seeds in the women' section. With Vishy Anand and Koneru Humpy back in the team, India has a realistic chance of winning a medal. On this page, you can follow the entire journey of the Indian team from the start until the end of the event. First of all, you can see the live games and commentary here, but apart from that, you will find all the relevant links required of previous reports, chess-results and other important sources. This page will be updated every day several times to give you live updates as well. We suggest that you bookmark this page on your browser to follow team India's journey at the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018.

Batumi Chess Olympiad: Sasikiran helps India edge out Czech Republic, women suffer their first loss

03/10/2018 -

The eighth round encounter between India and the Czech Republic had gone neck to neck until the conclusion of the first two games. On the top board, Vishy Anand was held to a draw by David Navara. Adhiban was the first to finish his game against Zbynek Hracek. The two signed peace in merely 17 moves. Meanwhile, Krishnan Sasikiran showed some fantastic middle game play to bring down Jiri Stocek on board 4 and put his country in the lead. Vidit had the better position but was held to a draw in the end. In the women's group, losses on the first and the third board led to a disastrous loss for India against a lower rated Hungarian team. Round 8 report. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Batumi Chess Olympiad Round 7: Indian men beat Egypt, Indian women draw against Georgia 1

02/10/2018 -

It was an easy round for the Indians against the Egyptians, but it turned out to be extremely dangerous. Vishy Anand was held to a quick draw by Bassem Amin and Vidit Gujrathi who was pressing throughout the game suddenly landed in a bad position. The onus was now on Harikrishna and Sasikiran to deliver. And they did! India managed to win with the narrowest of margins, but as coach R.B. Ramesh said after the match, "A win is a win!" In the women's section Georgia 1 is one of the strongest teams in women's chess out there. The Indian girls fought bravely and managed to hold their own against the Georgian women players. Full report with analysis by GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and videos of coaches of Indian teams.

Batumi Olympiad 2018 Round 6: The peaceful men, violent women

01/10/2018 -

The sixth round of the Batumi Olympiad 2018 saw some extremely exciting chess from both the men and women's team of India. While in the men's section we were able to hold Russia to a draw, in the women's section USA managed to survive after we had a 2-0 lead. Anand was struggling against Nepomniachtchi, but he drew the game, Adhiban was pressing against Jakovenko, but couldn't breakthrough. Tania and Humpy played excellent games, while Harika and Eesha got outplayed by their opponents. We have Harika's loss annotated by GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly who explains how Harika could have maintained the equality and given India a win.

Batumi Olympiad 2018 Round 5: Indian victory over South America

30/09/2018 -

Indian teams were up against two teams from South America. The men took on Paraguay and the women's team was up against Argentina. Both the matches were one sided and India managed to score 3.5-0.5 victories in both of them. Anand led from the front as he beat Neruis Delgado with the white pieces, Humpy had no difficulty in overpowering Carolina Lujan. In this report you can find four interviews with Adhiban, Harikrishna, Jacob Aagaard and R.B. Ramesh. Also you will be able to enjoy the excellent annotations of GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and his take on the game Anand - Delgado. In the sixth round India takes on Russia and the women's team is up against USA!

Silchar Open 2018: Barua held and Sayantan stunned in round 4

29/09/2018 -

With every passing round, the Silchar Open 2018 is becoming more and more intense. Round 4 witnessed some major upsets of the event so far. Top seed GM Dibyendu Barua was held by Shankar Majumdar, IM Suvrajit Saha was also held by current Assam Champion Rahul Singh, local boy Rajdip Das won his game against WIM Saheli Dhar-Barua. The biggest upset came in board 2 where 2nd seeded IM Sayantan Das was outplayed by RK Bhogen Singh of Manipur. In this report we bring you games and photos from day 3 of the event.

Batumi Olympiad round 4: USA too strong for team India, women beat Poland

28/09/2018 -

The fifth round of the 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiad witnessed India lose its first match of the event by the slimmest possible margin. Playing against the top-seeded United States, the team fell short by a point, losing the game by a score of 2½ - 1½. While three games finished peacefully, Vishy Anand made an unfortunate blunder on the top board against Fabiano Caruana and lost in merely 26 moves. In the Women's segment, the team scored an emphatic 3-1 victory with wins by Harika Dronavalli and Tania Sachdev. Round 4 report.

1st ever FIDE rated tournament in Silchar begins!

27/09/2018 -

The Cachar District Chess Association (CDCA) is hosting its first international chess tournament in Silchar. The event kicked off on 26th September 2018. GM Dibyendu Barua is the top seed of the tournament followed by IM Sayantan Das of West Bengal and Australian IM Rishi Sardana. The event is a 10 round Swiss League and has attracted the participation of players from four countries. Moreover, the 209-player-field includes one Grandmaster, four International Masters and one Woman International Master. Below is a detailed report of Day 1 and 2 with a game annotated by Ravi Kant Tiwari.

Batumi Olympiad 2018: India too strong for Canada, Serbia hold Indian girls

27/09/2018 -

The third round at the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018 was a mixed day for India. In the open section we played nearly flawless chess to beat Canada with a score of 3.5-0.5 but in the women's section team India was stopped by Serbia with a score of 2-2. In this article we bring you all the photos of the round, videos of Vishy Anand's victory over Eric Hansen, coaches Ramesh and Jacob Aagaard speaking about their respective teams and also of the happenings in the initial minutes of the round. Apart from this we have extremely and instructive analysis sent to us by GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly talking about Harikrishna's game. Do not miss it.

Ilamparthi A R and Sneha Halder win 32nd National under-9

26/09/2018 -

Ilamparthi suffered his first and only loss in the last round against Kush Bhagat of Maharashtra. However, that did not change anything for him, as Ilamparthi had already become champion after the conclusion of 10th round. Sneha drew her final round game against Indira. She needed Suhaani to win for her to become champion and that is what exactly happened. Mayank Chakraborty, Yash Bharadia and Kush Bhagat all three of them scored 9.0/11 and they secured 2nd, 3rd and 4th position respectively. In the girls section, Suhaan Lohia scored 9.0/11 and finished 2nd, while Indira Priyadharshini Subbu scored 8.5/11 and secured 3rd position. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Olympiad round 2: The Madras Tiger roars after 12 years!

26/09/2018 -

Round two was an excellent one for India at the Batumi Olympiad 2018. In the open section our boys were able to demolish the decently strong Austrian team 3.5-0.5 and in the women's section the girls were extremely clinical to beat Venezuela 4-0. The news of the day was Vishy Anand making a comeback to Olympiad and making his first move after a gap of 12 years! Anand played a nearly flawless game to beat the very strong Markus Ragger with the white pieces. In this report Surya Sekhar Ganguly analyzes that game in depth. Coach Jacob Aagaard provides us with an overview of the Indian women's team performance. We also have post game video interviews with Vishy Anand and Vidit Gujrathi. Don't miss this power packed report from Batumi, Georgia.

Olympiad round 1: Did Humpy ever take a break from chess?!

25/09/2018 -

Koneru Humpy played her first tournament game after a break of nearly two years. How would she play was the question on everyone's mind. Well it seems as if she picked up from where she had left and played some excellent chess to beat New Zealand's Helen Milligan. The Indian women's team blanked the Kiwis 4-0. Tania was in trouble but managed to survive. Anand took rest for the first round against El Salvador in the open section. India scored 3.5-0.5 with just Sasikiran drawing his game. It has been a good start for Team India, but we are just beginning here. It will be interesting to see as the rounds progress as to how we hold up. Check out this detailed report with pictures from Amruta Mokal and Niklesh Jain and in-depth analysis of Humpy's game by GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly.

I may take risk in chess, but it is completely unacceptable in finance - Vishy Anand

23/09/2018 -

A very interesting article has been published earlier this week by the Livemint, an Indian financial daily newspaper. In this article Anand shares with us how managing money is similar to handling chessboard, the key is to study past dealings and apply knowledge to new transactions. It gives you interesting insights into the mind of one of the best chess players and how he thinks about finances. Anand has won five World Championships, done various advertisements and endorsements, has a permanent sponsor in NIIT. Naturally he makes good amount of money and needs to manage it well. Read the full article to learn money managing tips from the Tiger of Madras.

Ilamparthi wins 32nd National under 9 with a round to spare and Sneha in the sole lead among girls

22/09/2018 -

Ilamparthi A R of Tamil Nadu wins 32nd National under 9 Chess Championship 2018 in open category with a round to spare. Ilamparthi won all 10 games he has played so far and he shows no sign of stopping. In the girls section, Sneha Halder of West Bengal defeated Hiya Panchal of Gujarat to gain sole lead heading into the final round. There are three players trailing behind her by half-a-point at 8.0/10, they are Indira, Hiya and Suhaani. With the open section champion already decided, all eyes will be on the girls section tomorrow to see who wins the proverbial crown. This report contains photos, games and important positions from round 10. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

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