4/3/2024 – GM Aravindh Chithambaram (India), IM Siddharth Jagadeesh (Singapore) and GM Carlos Albornoz (Cuba) scored an unbeaten 7/9 each at the 50th La Roda Open. Aravindh won the tournament thanks to his better tiebreak score. Albornoz drew against Aravindh in the final round in an exciting game. This was the first rating tournament that Aravindh played this year in any format, and he won it emphatically. | Photo: Official website

3/23/2024 – Saving the best for the last is a popular saying. The sixth edition of the Prague International Chess Festival awarded best-game prizes for each round. There was also a prize for the most spectacular game of the tournament named Lubomír Kaválek Prize. Nodirbek Abdusattorov won it for his round-8 victory over Parham Maghsoodloo. In this article, we share with you the games which won the prize each round, with commentary by ChessBase India’s Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah | Photo: Petr Vrabec

3/22/2024 – 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh became the first user of Neuralink. He mentioned in the livestream that about eight years ago he had a freak diving accident. It dislocated his C4 and C5 vertebrae, which made him quadriplegic. He is paralysed and has no sensation of movement below the shoulders. Noland controlled a computer cursor with his brain using Brain Computer Interface. Check out this fascinating piece of technology. | Photo: Neuralink

3/17/2024 – The reigning World Rapid Women’s champion, IM Anastasia Bodnaruk scored an unbeaten 7½/9 to win te 2nd International Women’s Chess Championship 2024. She finished a half point ahead of two players: IM Soumya Swaminathan and WIM Mariam Mkrtchyan scored 7/9 points each. They secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. | Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

2/22/2024 – Unichess and Emmedi Sport ASD invite you to Sardinia World Chess Festival 2024. The inaugural edition of this festival is offering a total prize fund of €50100. The top three prizes are €10000, €6000 and €4000 each. There are three categories - Open A (>1999), Open B (<2000) and Open C (<1600). There are 15 main prizes in Open A and ten each in Open B and C. That's not all. Total 78 prizes are up for grabs. Entry is FREE for players rated above 2450. For everyone else, entry fee is €100 by 31st March €130 till 15th April after organizing committee agrees. Eleven players have 2600, 19 players above 2500, 17 GMs and 9 IMs have already confirmed participation from 15 countries across the world. The tournament is organized by UniChess (FIDE Academy tier 1-2) along with Emmedi Sport ASD. Check out the article for all information. All tournament info photos are from tournament circular.

2/9/2024 – A new super tournament starts in Weissenhaus, near Hamburg, Germany, today. But it is not just any other super tournament. This event is introduced by none other than the World no.1 Magnus Carlsen himself and it will be in Fischer-Random format or as Carlsen likes to say, Freestyle. Hence, the name WEISSENHAUS Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge. Carlsen's handpicked opponents for this eight-player tournament are: Fabiano Caruana (USA), Ding Liren (CHN), Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), D Gukesh, Vincent Keymer (GER) and Levon Aronian (USA). There will be four rounds of Rapid games played today in Playoffs. Round 1 starts today at 1 p.m. CET, 5:30 p.m. IST, 7 a.m. EST. | Photos: Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

12/21/2023 – D Gukesh drew his final-round game against Pentala Harikrishna. Arjun Erigaisi defeated Sanan Sjugirov. Both Gukesh and Arjun ended up with the same 4½/7 score. Gukesh won the Chennai Masters on tie-breaks, Arjun was placed second. Pavel Eljanov drew against Levon Aronian. Thus, Harikrishna and Eljanov finished with 4/7 each. Harikrishna secured third place. The objective of organizing this event was certainly a huge success. The top three places were claimed by Indian players. This triumph has moved Gukesh ahead of Anish Giri in the FIDE Circuit leaderboard. Sai Akhil Anand designed and helped with the 'Draw of Lots' in the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony was graced by the one and only Vishy Anand. It goes without saying that the tournament brought a lot of Anand (meaning joy) to all. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/20/2023 – Arjun Erigaisi scored the sole victory in the penultimate round of the Chennai Grand Masters. It started a little wild compared to other games. His opponent, Parham Maghsoodloo, decided to sacrifice his bishop to get a couple of pawns and exploit Arjun's weakened king. However, there was not enough compensation and White could not generate a substantial attack. The other games had a relatively calm draw between Gukesh and Eljanov, Aronian and Predke, and Sjugirov and Harikrishna. Harikrishna can spoil Gukesh's tournament if he manages to beat the teenager. The final round stars one and a half hour earlier than usual. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/19/2023 – D Gukesh scored his second win in-a-row, against Sanan Sjugirov, in the fifth round of the Chennai Grand Masters. Gukesh seized his advantage and synthesized an attack on the kingside. Sjugirov had no proper answer to it and succumbed. The Arjun Erigaisi-Levon Aronian saga continues. Arjun had a great opportunity to beat Aronian for the first time in a rated game in over two years. Unfortunately, he pushed a pawn incorrectly in the rook endgame and eventually lost his advantage. The two-time World Cup winner managed to salvage a draw. Pavel Eljanov handed Alexandr Predke his third consecutive loss. Gukesh is in the sole lead with 3½/5, followed by Pentala Harikrishna and Eljanov at 3/5 each. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/18/2023 – D Gukesh scored his first win of the event against Alexandr Predke in the fourth round of the Chennai Grand Masters. Gukesh joined Pentala Harikrishna in the lead with 2.5/4 points each. Harikrishna had a well contested draw against Levon Aronian. Parham Maghsoodloo also scored his first win of the event, against Sanan Sjugirov. Arjun Erigaisi had a well contested draw against Pavel Eljanov. Five players are trailing the leaders at 2/4 each. They are Aronian, Eljanov, Maghsoodloo, Sjugirov and Arjun. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/17/2023 – Arjun Erigaisi scored his first win of the event against Alexandr Predke in the third round of the Chennai Grand Masters 2023. After losing the first round against Harikrishna, Arjun was virtually in a must-win situation to stay in the championship hunt and keep his chances in the FIDE Circuit. Predke made a positional mistake which allowed his opponent to force the queen exchange. Arjun made the most out of his opportunity to trail the leaders — Sanan Sjugirov and Harikrishna — by a half point at 1.5/3 along with Levon Aronian, Pavel Eljanov and D Gukesh. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/16/2023 – Vishy Anand inaugurated the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 by making the first move on D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi's board. They had a relatively calm draw. Alexandr Predke (SRB) had good chances against Pentala Harikrishna. However, he blundered away his advantage. The endgame expert, Harikrishna, does not miss these chances to secure a half point. Pavel Eljanov (UKR) made an incorrect offer of queen trades, which resulted in him losing an exchange. The already difficult endgame turned worse for him and his opponent Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) scored his first-ever classical win over his opponent. Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) was determined to push for a win, but a draw was the maximum result he could get. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/15/2023 – The Chennai Grand Masters 2023 got off to a splendid start. Just when it seemed like the first round would end up being victorless, Pentala Harikrishna and Pavel Eljanov proved those predictions wrong. Arjun Erigaisi (Harikrishna’s opponent) made a significant mistake early in the game. It made him defend the better part of the battle. Eventually he missed his final opportunity to salvage a half point, which cost him the game. Parham Maghsoodloo (Eljanov’s opponent) made a huge blunder in a rook and two pawns endgame which was seemingly heading towards a draw. | All photos are by Shahid Ahmed unless specified otherwise.

12/14/2023 – The Chennai Grand Masters is the strongest ever classical super tournament to take place in India. The average rating of the tournament is 2711. Arjun Erigaisi and D Gukesh will be battling against Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) for an improvement in the FIDE Circuit. They will also face Levon Aronian (USA), Sanan Sjugirov (HUN), Pentala Harikrishna, Pavel Eljanov (UKR) and Alexandr Predke (SRB). The total prize fund is ₹5000000 (US$ 60000). The top three prizes are ₹1500000 (US$ 18000), ₹1000000 (US$ 12000) and ₹800000 (US$ 12000). Round 1 starts tomorrow at 14.45 IST (10.15 CET, 4.15 ET). | Photo: Amruta Mokal

12/3/2023 – Vaishali Rameshbabu became the third Indian woman player (after Humpy Koneru and Harika Dronavalli) to earn the grandmaster title. Vaishali obtained the title by scoring a win against FM Tamer Tarik Selbes at the 2023 El Llobregat Open. Since her brother Pragganandhaa is also a grandmaster, Vaishali and Pragg became the world’s first-ever brother-sister grandmaster duo! | Photo: ChessBase India

8/28/2023 – After arriving from Baku and resting the first day, R Praggnanandhaa continued where he left off at the FIDE World Cup 2023. The sensational teenager scored four wins in-a-row for WR Chess at FIDE World Rapid Teams 2023. Meanwhile GM D Gukesh (Kompetenzakademie Allstars, 2629) faced the 14th world champion, GM Vladimir Kramnik (Chess Pensioners, 2739) for the first time in an over-the-board rated game. He made the most out of his opportunity and won comfortably. Impressions from Düsseldorf with videos by Sagar Shah.

8/18/2023 – The FIDE World Cup is taking place in Baku. We decided to do a short tour of the Azerbaijani capital before the important event commenced. After reading a lot about must-see places in Baku and getting info from the locals, Icherisheher (Old City) seemed to be the perfect place to venture. In a little over three hours, I visited The Palace of Shirvanshahs, the award-winning Miniature Book Museum, Maiden Tower and Nizami Street. Let us have a look at what piqued my interest on a day when I walked 16230 steps — my longest walk of the year! | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

8/16/2023 – Hans Niemann scored 7½/9 points to win the Uralsk Open 2023 in Kazakhstan. He finished a full point ahead of a five-player chasing pack consisting of GM Sethuraman S P, GM Manuel Petrosyan, GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, GM Boris Savchenko and Valery Sviridov. Niemann entered the tournament as the rating favourite. The US youngster lost his round-2 game and bounced back in style, scoring 6½/7 from that point on, with five consecutive wins in rounds 5 to 9. | Photos: Kazakh Chess Federation