7/2/2023 – The recently turned 19-year-old Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre was the hero of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 Finals. After three draws in the sudden-death matches, he checkmated Javokhir Sindarov (uMM) to etch Triveni Continental Kings as the winners of the inaugural edition. Before this game, Jonas had lost four times against Sindarov. It was not that he was playing bad. Even in the qualifier stage, he had many great positions, but he simply could not convert them. What's important is that the teenager won when it mattered the most. IM Sara Khadem (TCK) was applauded as well. She defended an inferior position against GM Harika Dronavalli (uMM) in the first sudden-death encounter. Triveni Continental Kings made a fantastic comeback from the bottom of the table to win the title. Did you enjoy the tournament and want a second edition? | Photo: Maria Emelianova

7/1/2023 – The final day of the double round-robin stage started with SG Alpine Warrior's loss against Chingari Gulf Titans 0-3 (7-8). Magnus Carlsen won the sole game for his team as he beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda. However, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's win over Gukesh gave CGT a crucial victory as all the remaining games ended in draws. Then, Triveni Continental Kings eliminated Ganges Grandmasters by beating them 3-0 (11-6). Wei Yi, Sara Khadem and Jonas Buhl Bjerre scored key wins, which helped the team (TCK) secure a spot in the Finals. SG Alpine Warriors suffered a shockingly huge defeat by 0-3 (2-18) against upGrad Mumba Masters. Alexander Grischuk, Vidit Gujrathi, Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli's wins prompted the top seed and tournament favourite SGAW's elimination. In the last match of the stage, Chingari Gulf Titans went down in flames against Balan Alaskan Knights 0-3 (4-12). Thus, TCK will face uMM tomorrow in Sunday's finals, from 5:30 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST. | Photo: Maria Emelianova

6/27/2023 – Vishy Anand has defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda twice in five days. The legend continues to make it look easy. The Poland no.1 sacrificed an exchange and things did not work out for him. Anand's win did not help the team though, as he scored the sole victory for Ganges Grandmasters. Yifan Hou had a great chance to win against Alexandra Kosteniuk. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't find a way in time trouble. Harika Dronavalli and Jonas Buhl Bjerre scored crucial victories for upGrad Mumba Masters to beat Triveni Continetal Kings. Both rematches had the inverse overall match result of their first encounter at this event. There will be two matches tomorrow, starting at 5:30 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

4/29/2021 – No Rapid Interview? That's right. Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas said that he doesn't play online chess any more. In our "normal" interview, we talked about how Grivas went to eight Olympiads, published over 110 books, and became a Grandmaster despite starting with chess at the rather late age of 13. Furthermore, we talk about the largest chess club in the world, the Sharjah Cultural & Chess Club in Dubai, which launches a "real" over the board rapid tournament today, and of course, the reason behind Grivas not playing online chess - he doesn't mince his words! | Photos: Efstratios Grivas

2/3/2021 – The International Chess Federation recently announced the new dates for the next World Championship match, in which Magnus Carlsen will face the winner of the Candidates Tournament. It was confirmed, as well, that the match will be held at Expo 2020 in Dubai. What is this event all about? Let us recap how we got to this point.

4/14/2019 – The 21st Dubai Open witnessed one of the closest finishes that you would see at an open tournament. After nine rounds we had eight players on the same score of 7.0/9. Buchholz was the tiebreak and based on it Maxim Matlakov from Russia finished first and took home USD $13,000 along with the glittering Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup. Other players on 7.0/9 were 14-year-old prodigy Abdusattorov Nodirbek, Le Quang Liem, Yuriy Kuzubov, Eduardo Iturrizaga, Sanal Vahap, Aleksandar Indjic and P. Iniyan. A detailed report from Dubai by NIKLESH JAIN.

4/6/2019 – The Dubai Open has been a source of excellent opportunities for players all across the world to play in a strong open event for 21 years now. Some of the readers may remember Magnus Carlsen getting his final GM norm at one of the earlier editions of this event in 2004. This year we have 163 players with some exciting talents. After four rounds we have two leaders with a perfect 4.0/4: IM Raghunandan KS (2370) and GM Aleksandar Indjic. NIKLESH JAIN, who is present at the venue, brings you detailed report.

2/18/2018 – The 20th Dubai Open 2018 will be held from April 1st to the 12th, 2018. It is one of the strongest open tournaments in the world and an ideal tournament for all ambitious players to gain their rating or score their IM/GM norms. All the details and a look at Dubai attractions. | Pictured: The famous Burj Khalifa with a height of 829.8 m is one of the tallest structures in the world since its topping out in late 2008. | Photo: www.gabisworld.com

4/15/2017 – The annual Dubai Open is a regular affair for many grandmasters and talented youngsters. This time, about 214 players were competing for USD 50,000. Surprisingly, 91 of these players were Indians. We bring you an illustrated report with grandmaster analysis. Tip: Alexander Fier of Brazil who finished eighth in the tournament has annotated his final round game in wonderful depth that you just should not miss—the analysis is a work of grandmaster art.

4/13/2015 – The Dubai Open is in its final stages with just two rounds left, and the event is heating up. Vladimir Fedoseev and Alexander Shabalov are leading jointly with a score of 6.0/7, followed by a pack of seven on 5.5. In round six the tournament was marred when it was discovered that the two-time Georgian Champion Gaioz Nigalidze had been cheating with a smartphone hidden in the toilet.

4/11/2015 – Not the ones in our thumbnail, but David Howell, Nils Grandelius and Yuri Solodovnichenko, all with perfect 4.0/4 scores. Sagar Shah, our reporter in Dubai, tells us what it is like to face a stronger player, equipped with precise calculation and sense of initiative: 'When you lose and you don’t really know where you went wrong it means that there is something to be learnt from that game!'

4/8/2015 – Over the years the Dubai Open has established itself as one of the strongest open tournaments in the world. This year the event witnesses the participation of 150 players from 43 countries, with 39 grandmasters, 22 of whom are rated above 2600. The overall rating average is 2182. We have a reporter in Dubai who has provided a big illustrated report from the tournament venue.

6/16/2014 – The opening day of the 2014 World Rapid Championship saw many exciting games, and unexpected results. The first came in round one as top seed Nakamura fell to Iturrizaga, and after four rounds only Nepomniachtchi had a perfect score. After five rounds, he leads with 4.5/5 together with Karjakin and Caruana, but this is only the start of the 15-round marathon. Report and special pictorial.

6/16/2014 – Held in Dubai, UAE, the World Rapid and Blitz Championship is set to start with the chess equivalent of a Hollywood action blockbuster. The quick fire excitement of rapid games and blitz will reign supreme for the next days as the world's elite all congregate to fight for the top title and top rating. Nakamura, Carlsen, Aronian, Anand, Caruana, Grischuk and more will play. Don't miss it!

4/22/2014 – The 2014 Dubai Open turned oout to be a battle between former Junior World Champion Abhijeet Gupta and the very talented French GM Romain Edouard. Abhijeet was leading 4.0/4 when he was stopped by Romain in round five. Romain went on to with the tournament alone, a full point ahead of his nearest rival. He has kindly sent us some pictures and notes on two key games.

4/16/2014 – He was leading during most of the tournament, clinched it with a victory in the final round: French GM Romain Edouard scored an undefeated 8.0/9 points, a full point ahead of his nearest rival. His performance: a tremendous 2856. Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta, who was in serious contention, collapsed in the final round. Illustrated report with analysis.

4/15/2014 – After eight from nine rounds French GM Romain Edouard is leading, with 7.0/8 points. Half a point behind is his main contender, former Juniour World Champion Abhijeet Gupta of India, and six players still have chances at 6.0/8. Everthing will be decided on the final day (Tuesday). We bring you a big pictorial report with three games annotated by GM Gupta, who has just launched a new web site.

4/14/2014 – This very strong tournament has attracted 148 players from 39 countries, including 38 GMs, in a field that averages 2214 rating points. After six rounds of play the young French GM Romain Edouard is in the sole lead, with 5.5 points. There has been some exciting action, with promises of more to come. We have a big report with pictures and detailed game analysis.

4/16/2013 – This very strong tournament, with close to 200 players (38 GMs) from 34 countries, took place from April 6-16 and was won by Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov. The venue was the Dubai Chess and Culture Club, possibly the biggest than most modern chess club in the world. Our giant closing report contains a wealth of pictures and plenty of videos to watch. Dubai 2013.