Was it just another game of chess?

05/10/2017 -

Ever wondered what just one game of chess could do to you? In the third round of the Isle of Man Open, James Tarjan scored what was perhaps the biggest upset of the year.  He had managed to pull out a win against former World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik. Of all the things he might have expected, this was the last. Needless to say, he was elated. In essence, this was just one game of chess. But for Tarjan, this was different. He had played a game that he would remember until the end of time; a game that would bring a smile on his face whenever he thought about it. Below is a passionate account of what happened in Douglas that day from the eyes of a spectator who was enchanted watching how delighted the veteran Grandmaster was.

Aditya Basu and Sudipa Haldar triumph

05/10/2017 -

Aditya Basu and Sudipa Haldar win 40th West Bengal State Sub Junior Chess Championship 2017 held at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata from 18th - 20th September 2017. This was the biggest state sub junior chess championship in the history of West Bengal Chess as 235 boys and 86 girls participated. This report contains pictures, a huge video gallery and self-annotations by both the champions of their best game. A report by Shahid Ahmed who was present at the venue.

Isle of Man Rd 8+9: Anand finishes joint second!

05/10/2017 -

With two rounds to go, Magnus Carlsen put the pedal to the metal in round 8 and sensationally won his game against Fabiano Caruana. This meant that he was beyond the reach of Anand even if the Indian won both his games. On the other hand, Vidit Gujrathi also drew his game against Pavel Eljanov and was also out of contention for the title. Nevertheless, the Indians fought hard and did the best they could before the tournament came to a close. Winning both of his last two games, Anand joined Nakamura in the second place; Vidit Gujrathi reached Elo 2721 in live ratings and climbed up to the 34th place in world rankings while Arjun Kalyan and Harsha Bharathakoti made an IM and a GM norm respectively. A report on the final two rounds.

Love for children and respect for veterans in Malaysia

02/10/2017 -

If there was one tournament that players from all over the world, especially Asia, look forward to with great enthusiasm, it is surely the Malaysian Chess Festival. This year the 14th edition was held in Kuala Lumpur from 25th August to 4th September 2017. The main attraction of the festival are the sheer number of different events that are held ranging from team, children and veterans' tournament. ChessBase India author Atul Dahale visited the festival and sent us a colourful report. Here's the part I of the festivities.

Isle of Man Rd 07: Tournament remains wide open after Vidit holds Carlsen to a draw

02/10/2017 -

In the seventh round of the Isle of Man Chess Open, the Indian number three, Vidit Gujrathi was pitted against the world champion, Magnus Carlsen on the top board. Showing excellent nerves and play, the rising star from Nashik held the world champ to a draw. This not only put him on the 35th spot in the world rankings but also flung the tournament open. A horde of five players that includes the likes of Nakamura and Caruana are only half-a-point Carlsen. It will be interesting to see if any of them could catch up with the mighty Magnus. 

Isle of Man Rd 06: Vidit moves up to clear second spot

02/10/2017 -

Some tough matchups were lined up for the sixth round of the Isle of Man Chess Open. All of the four Indians on the top boards were pitted against their countrymen: Vishy Anand was playing Sethuraman while Vidit was playing Harsha Bharathakoti. As the storm of round 6 calmed, Vidit had won his game and taken the sole second spot while Anand, with his win was back at the top in the joint-third place. What's even more exciting is that Vidit will be playing his first ever classical game against Magnus Carlsen in round 7! A report by Aditya Pai.

India No.3 takes on World No.1! Live at 6 p.m. IST

02/10/2017 -

When Vidit got knocked out of the World Cup 2017, he was depressed. He had excellent chances of beating Ding Liren, but was unable to do so. In the end things seemed to have turned out well for the Nashik lad, as he was able to make it to the Isle of Man and is now in sole second position with 5.0/6. With three rounds to go he meets the leader of the tournament Magnus Carlsen (5.5/6) in the seventh round. Vidit is black. It's going to be a mouth watering encounter and you can watch the game live at 6 p.m. IST over here.

India wins five bronze medals at the Asian Indoors 2017

02/10/2017 -

Team India wons more bronze medals at the 5th Asian Indoor Games 2017 at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Diptayan and Karthikeyan won Bronze in men's under-23 team and Padmini and Tania won bronze in women's team in the rapid format of the game. Also in blitz we were able to come up with two bronze medals as the duo of Diptayan Ghosh and Vaibhav Suri won in under-23 and Ganguly and Sasikiran in the open blitz section. We have pictures, games and analysis in this report.

Isle of Man Rd 05: Indian young guns shine

29/09/2017 -

Indian youngsters shined bright in the fifth round of the Isle of Man Chess Open in Douglas yesterday. IM Harsha Bharathkoti stunned everyone by making it into the 11-way-tie for second by defeating Bhaskaran Adhiban! His performance rating so far is a whopping 2894!! On the other hand, the world youngest IM R Pragnanandhaa got the better of the English number two, GM David Howell, while SP Sethuraman beat the 2012 World Championship Challenger, Boris Gelfand. A report by Aditya Pai.

Live Games from World Cup 2017

29/09/2017 -

It's the final day of World Cup 2017. Ding Liren and Levon Aronian are tied at 2-2 after four games of Classical chess. The finals now goes into tiebreaks. We will witness some edge of the seat action and we have set up the live games page over here for you to follow the games along with grandmaster commentary by Evgeny Miroschnichenko and Keti Tsatsalashvili. Who do you think will win the World Cup 2017? We have a poll within the article. Action begins at 16.30 hours IST

When chess and Amitabh Bachchan met at KBC

29/09/2017 -

Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) is the show with the highest Television Rating Points (TRP) in India. Millions of people watch the show which is hosted by the legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan. The 18th of September episode was very unique for chess players as Shweta Rathore, an internationally rated FIDE chess player qualified to the show and discussed chess at length with Amitabh. In fact the entire Rathore family is in love with the game of chess and this was shown in ample measure on the show! And how much prize money did Shweta win? Check it out in the report below. 

Isle of Man Rd 04: Vidit joins Carlsen and company in the lead

28/09/2017 -

After conceding a draw in round 1, Vidit Gujrathi has come back with a bang. With three back to back victories, he is now one of the co-leaders along with Magnus Carlsen and five other players. Just half a point behind is a 28-player pack which includes Vishy Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura etc. But the real surprise in the pack is IM Harsha Bharathakoti. This 2394 rated has stunningly outperformed his rating. His current score is an undefeated 3.0/4 with a performance rating of 2843!! Here's a report with pictures, games and analysis.

India's huge open 3rd RWF International is here!

28/09/2017 - 3rd Rail Wheel Factory International FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament 2017 will take place from 29th September to 3rd October 2017. Total Prize Money is ₹5   Lacs, consisting of 108 Cash Prizes and 152 Trophies. In 2016 we had 800 participants at the event. P. Shyaamnikhil won the tournament. This year also we have huge number of participants with some new innovations like Parents' tournament, demolisher prize and much more. ChessBase India supports this tournament by offering attractive prizes. A curtain raiser.

Isle of Man Rd 03: Kramnik suffers a shocking loss

27/09/2017 -

The third round at the Isle of Man Chess witnessed a major upset: Vladimir Kramnik lost on board 28 to the 65-year-old American GM James Tarjan! This is serious not only because of the rating difference between the two players but also because this might just ruin Kramnik's chances of qualifying for the Candidates by rating. On the top board, Magnus Carlsen demolished Jeffery Xiong, while the Indian star, Viswanathan Anand, won in fine style against the German IM Nikolas Lubbe in a Sicilian Najdorf. Five Indians are now trailing half a point behind the leaders who've scored a perfect 3.0/3. We have a report with games, pictures and analysis.

Isle of Man Chess Rd 02: Top seeds feel the heat

27/09/2017 -

Day two in Douglas was full of shockers. The creme de la creme of the chess world, who've stepped down from their pedestal and are playing at the Isle of Man Open with regular GMs and other norm hungry aspirants, are having a tough time playing up to their reputation.While Magnus Carlsen managed to pull out a win despite being outplayed in the opening, Caruana wasn't as fortunate and ended up conceding a draw. Vishy Anand went for the super solid Caro-Kann with the black pieces but that turned out to be a bit too solid to squeeze a win out. A report with games, pictures and analysis.