11/27/2022 – Magnus Carlsen was in scintillating form in San Francisco, where he won the Champions Chess Tour Finals. In round 6 he played an excellent match against Praggnanandhaa. After the match ended, we were able to get Magnus on the livestream to discuss some of the critical moments from the match. It was a special interview that ended with Magnus praising the work that ChessBase India is doing and giving a big shout-out to the Indian talents and fans! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

5/12/2022 – The All India Chess Federation has announced the biggest squad of Indian teams for the upcoming FIDE Olympiad. Vishy Anand has been named as the mentor for all four Indian teams, while the country’s third GM in history, Pravin Thipsay, will be the Head of the Delegation. | Photo: AICF

2/14/2022 – Over-the-board chess tournament is resuming in India, starting with National Senior Open and Women 2022 later this month. There will be three consecutive GM Open tournaments at Guwahati, Delhi and Ahmedabad. It starts from 13th March. You can make plans for the three strong events which has a very good prize fund too. Check out the excellent conditions which are being offered for foreign GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs at three GM Open events. Photo: Various tournament circulars

5/9/2021 – Reading seems to have become a dying habit. With the advent of gadgets, distraction lurks around every corner and resisting the temptations has become increasingly difficult. A true bibliophile knows the essence of reading from a physical book — the smell of a newly printed one cannot be replaced by a digital version. Four-time Indian women’s champion, Asian continental champion and Olympic individual gold medallist IM Padmini Rout reflects on Daniel King’s book about Sultan Khan. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

3/2/2021 – The main problem that blind players face when preparing for chess games is the lack of tools and technical resources. They struggle with technology because they cannot access all the available content. For big organizations who produce chess tools, tweaking the features for visually-impaired players is often financially unviable. This is the reason why Soundarya Pradhan, who is 100% visually impaired, decided to take things in his own hands. He has built up his own website, which solves a very specific problem for blind chess players. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/5/2020 – Mint, one of India’s premium business news publications, just published an article written by Omkar Khandekar focused on the rating gap between the top men and women chess players. The author wonders whether it has to do with conventional gender roles or unequal access. | Pictured: Harika Dronavalli observes her compatriot Humpy Koneru in action against Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: FIDE

1/6/2020 – Fourteen of the brightest talents of Indian chess will train with two of the legends in the world of chess: Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand. The Microsense Kramnik Gelfand chess program runs from January 8th to the 17th, 2020, in Chennai. This is the second training camp, after the successful completion of the first one in August 2019. Joining the original six students are eight more, all hand picked by Kramnik and Gelfand to receive intensive training over the next ten days. Microsense Private Limited is the sponsor of the program, while ChessBase India founders Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal manage the camp.

12/22/2019 – The Chess Train tournament launched in 2013 in various years covers the Czech Republic, parts of Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia. Now a similar idea is launching in India from January 26th to February 2nd, 2020, in the state of Kerala: A Chess Houseboat tournament! Every day double-rounds will be played, each round consisting of 20 minutes per player, inside a houseboat in various scenic locations. A total of €5000 prize fund is up for grabs and only first 100 registered players will be able to participate. This is your unique chance to combine chess with sight seeing in one of the most beautiful destinations in India. | Photo: Official site

11/23/2019 – The strongest ever tournament on Indian, in fact Asian soil, kicked off on the 22nd of November 2019. Three rounds of rapid chess were played on day one. Six years ago, on this very day Magnus Carlsen had become the World Champion by beating Anand in Chennai. Carlsen continued from where he left and now leads the tournament with 5.0/6. He is followed by Nakamura on 4.0/6. We bring to you the game analysis of all six decisive games of day one and also pictorial impressions and videos from the venue. Not to be missed is Anand's win against Wesley So, Vidit's Houdini like escape against Ding Liren and Nakamura's positional squeeze against Giri.

10/28/2019 – Wrapping up our coverage of the World Junior Championship, we bring you all the pictures from the closing ceremony as well as photos of the 17 norm makers. Reporting from one last time are the intrepid team of Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal. | Pictured: Volodar Murzin and Praggnanandhaa — future world title contenders? | Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/27/2019 – The World Junior Championships officially came to an end on October 26th 2019 when players from over 50 countries left for home. Two new World Champions were crowned: Evgeny Shtembuliak in the Open section and Polina Shuvalova in the Girls' section. The silver and the bronze medal in the Open section went to the Armenians, Shant Sargsyan and Aram Hakobyan respectively. In the Girls' section it was Mobina Alinasab from Iran who won the silver and Elizaveta Solozhenkina who won the bronze. We take you to the moments of the final rounds where the six medals were decided in a huge report from New Delhi by Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal, Niklesh Jain and Angela Franco. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/24/2019 – He read the Zurich Interzonal 1953 book written by Bronstein and Gelfand's Positional Decision Making to improve his positional understanding. He goes to the gym and swims every day to stay fit. He is the sole leader in the open section with a score of 7½/9 and has a performance rating of 2783. She won the under-18 world championship 2019. She's sure to go the gym every morning, and she enjoys each and every moment she spends on the chess board. She has an Elo performance of 2585 and is leading the girls section at the World Junior with 8.0/9. That's Evgeny Shtembuliak and Polina Shuvalova for you! These two youngsters are looking unstoppable at the World Juniors 2019.

10/23/2019 – Polina Shuvalova is on fire at the World Junior 2019. After her pretty queen sacrifice at the World Youth 2019 that went viral, the Russian youngster yet again sacrificed her queen, this time at the World Junior. This one wasn't as deep or beautiful as what we saw in Mumbai in her game against Afonasieva, but to beat a player like Assaubayeva with a queen sacrifice is never easy! In the open section we have two leaders: Shtembuliak drew his game against Shant Sargsyan. This let Miguel Santos Ruiz catch up. The Spaniard beat Praggnanandhaa in pretty fashion to join Shtembuliak at the top. IM SAGAR SHAH brings a detailed report from New Delhi.

10/22/2019 – In 2018 we had Parham Maghsoodloo who made a dash towards the finish line at the World Junior Championships. He won the event with one round to spare. In 2019 it seems like Evgeny Shtembuliak is going to take the honours. Although there are still four rounds left to be played, the Ukrainian GM has beaten some of the strongest opposition in the tournament. In round seven he got the better of GM Aram Hakobyan in a tense encounter. Shtembuliak leads with 6.0/7. He is followed on 5½/7 by Miguel Santos Ruiz alone. In the girls section Mobina Alinasab remained in the lead after her draw against Stavroula Tsolakidou, but she was joined at the top by Polina Shuvalova as well. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you detailed round seven report from New Delhi. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/20/2019 – Going into the rest day we are now past the half way mark at the World Junior Championships 2019. In the open section we have two leaders: Evgeny Shtembuliak of Ukraine and Aram Hakobyan of Armenia. They are on 5.0/6 and are followed by a pack of seven players on 4½/6. In the girls section we have Mobina Alinasab who has taken the sole lead with 5½/6 beating Altantuya on top board. Polina Shuvalova is in the sole second spot with 5.0/6. As many as ten girls are on 4½/6. In this report we bring you the most interesting games of round six and interviews. We also tell you about the Iran-Israel controversy which has been going on at the event. Two Iranians (pictured) were paired against Israeli opponents in this tournament and forfeited. A power-packed report by IM SAGAR SHAH from New Delhi.

10/19/2019 – Praggnanandhaa had an unbeaten streak of quite some games having won the under-18 gold at World Youth and playing some inspired chess in the first four rounds of the World Juniors. However, this came to an end at the hands of Ukrainian GM Evgeny Shtembuliak. Pragg sacrificed yet another exchange in the game, but it was not enough. Shtembuliak is now the sole leader with 4½/5, with three players following him on 4.0/5. In the girls section Mobina Alinasab (pictured, left) joined the leader Boldbaatar Altantuya at the top. Something from Iran to cheer amidst their player Aryan Gholami withdrawing from the event and Amin Tabatabaei facing Or Bronstein. In this report IM SAGAR SHAH brings you detailed analysis, photos and videos from New Delhi. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/18/2019 – On October 17th, the World Junior Championships 2019 had two rounds. After the final game ended we already had clarity on who has the early lead in the event. In the open section we have three players who are sharing the lead with 3½/4 — Miguel Ruiz from Spain, Evgeny Shtembuliak from Ukraine and the local favourite Praggnanandhaa. In this article IM SAGAR SHAH analyses one game of Praggnanandhaa and one game of Shtembuliak in great depth. While Pragg teaches you the art of exchange sacrifices, Shtembuliak shows you how to play positions in which you are winning. In the girls section we have Boldbaatar Altantuya from Mongolia who is on 4.0/4 and is the sole leader. A detailed report from New Delhi. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/17/2019 – The World Junior Championships 2019 is so rich with chess content, it is becoming extremely difficult to write a report that would cover everything! In spite of having just 94 boards (47 in open and 47 in girls) there is high quality chess taking place on almost 70% of these games. After two rounds we have nine boys in the lead with 2.0/2 in the open section and eleven girls in the lead with 2.0/2 in the girls section. In this article we bring some of the most interesting and instructive moments of the second round. We not only have the pictures, analysis, and interviews but also a special section called highlights of the day which gives you the glimpse of what happened in just 12 minutes! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/16/2019 – The World Junior Championships 2019 began with great excitement on Tuesday in New Delhi, India. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich visited the event and boosted the spirit of the participants. This is the second big event happening in India in the month of October after the successful completion of the World Youth Championships. It is perhaps for the first time in the history that the number of male participants in the open section is exactly equal to the number of female participants in the girls section — 94 each! In the first round both the top seeds — Amin Tabatabaei (2642) and Zhu Jiner (2507) — were held to a draw. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you detailed coverage from the venue in New Delhi. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/13/2019 – Six new World Youth Champions were crowned on October 12th 2019: Aydin Suleymanli and Meruert Kamalidenova won the under-14 open and girls section respectively, under-16 was won by Rudik Makarian and Leya Garifullina and under-18 titles went to Praggnanandhaa and Polina Shuvalova. How tense was the last round? In four sections things went as per plan, however in the under-14 girls and under-16 girls everything changed completely in the final round. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you a detailed report of how things panned out on the final day of the World Youth Championships 2019. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/12/2019 – From Mumbai, AMRUTA MOKAL updates on the penultimate round of the World Youth Championship, where Praggnanandhaa is poised to take the prestigious Under-18 Open section and Polina Shuvalova continues to lead the Under-18 Girls. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

10/11/2019 – Aydin Suleymanli is the sole leader in the under-14 open with 7½/9, while Eline Roebers has been the surprise of the tournament as she leads the under-14 girls section. The under-16 open section saw a huge upset on board one when the top-seeded Hans Niemann lost his game to Aronyak Ghosh. In the girls section, the deadlock between Nurgali and Garifullina hasn't been resolved. Under-18 open saw Praggnanandhaa pick up the sole lead by beating Zarubitski. He is closely pursued by Shant Sargsyan. Polina Shuvalova mantains her lead in the girls under-18. IM SAGAR SHAH reports from Mumbai. Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/10/2019 – In Mumbai, Praggnanandhaa beat Iniyan to join Aryan Gholami in the lead in under-18 open section. Hans Niemann is unstoppable in the under-16 open. The American chalked up yet another victory. Shuvalova maintains her lead in under-18 girls, while there is very little to choose between Nurgali and Garifullina who are both winning their games in girls under-16. IM SAGAR SHAH reports. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/9/2019 – Russia came to the under-14 open section with two medal hopefuls Volodar Murzin (2433) and Andrey Tsvetkov (2382), but both were beaten by the same Indian player — Abinandhan R. His rating? Just 1830! IM SAGAR SHAH shows you how in this report from Mumbai, plus Hans Neimann's fine win over Rudik Makarian in under-16 open and Aryan Gholami's victory to snatch sole lead in under-18 open. But that's not all — the game of the day was definitely Polina Shuvalova's rook and queen sacrifice! | Photo: Amruta Mokal