Anirudh Daga

Anirudh was was born in Delhi, India, and now lives in Singapore. He is one of the world's most promising young problem composers, specializing in positions that are fascinating and unconventional. He became interested in chess composition after winning the Christmastide Solving Contest, at the age of twelve. Anirudh grew from strength to strength, competed at the World Chess Solving Championships, and composed numerous problems that have all found their due place in reputable problem magazines. It is his goal to spread the joy of chess composition and solving!

Recent news

Puzzle Challenge 2 – Solutions

3/31/2024 – In our second ChessBase Challenge instalment we gave you a set of puzzles that were meant to challenge your mind. Were you able to solve the positions, each with a mind-boggling idea required to reach the goal? You had two weeks to do so. Today we provide the solutions.

Five Freestyle Opening Tips!

3/20/2024 – We just witnessed beautiful chess in Weissenhaus, Germany, played by the top players, which may have led you to start believing you can do the same! But openings can be a great challenge when dealing with Chess960, since one may not know where to start. Thus, we share five tips which may help in battling through the hazy storm of displaced pieces.
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ChessBase Puzzle Challenge – 02

3/18/2024 – Chess is a really fun game to play, but equally enjoyable is solving artificial positions – problems and studies – many that defy the imagination. In this ChessBase Challenge instalment, we have a set of puzzles that can challenge your brain. Can you solve the position? Can you find the mind-boggling strategy that is required to reach the goal? You have a week to do so. Then we will provide the full solution.

How to handle Freestyle chess

3/8/2024 – Freestyle Chess, formerly known as Chess960 or Fischer-Random, has recently shot into spotlight after eight of the world’s top grandmasters played in a recent tournament conducted in Weissenhaus, Germany. But what made this so intriguing, and what parallels can be drawn between regular chess and Freestyle? And: how can I train Freestyle using my current ChessBase software?

ChessBase Puzzle Competition winners

2/12/2024 – In the concluding article for the Christmas Composition Contest, we see the final prize-winning compositions, which were a touch ahead of the others! Like always, all compositions were evaluated on the basis of economy, harmony and aesthetics! We also included a special prize for the best story behind the composition, and the cook-stopping that took place! Hope you enjoyed reading the article and playing through the excellent compositions.

Christmas Puzzle Contest (2)

2/1/2024 – In the second instalment, we see some more compositions submitted to the Christmas Contest that are worthy of a mention but missed out on the prizes by a whisker! Though some are by beginners, others are by well-seasoned experts. But all problems were evaluated through economy, harmony and aesthetics. Hope you have fun reading these!

Watch them solving (3) – Vera

1/30/2024 – In the final instalment of the problem-solving experiment, we invited Prof. Dr Vera Spillner to solve the unorthodox chess puzzles, present in the Dec. 31 article! We have already seen a grandmaster, and a former world problem champion solving the problems, so how about a chess amateur and enthusiast? Read on more to find out!

Christmas Puzzle Contest 1 + solutions

1/26/2024 – In the recently concluded ChessBase Christmas Composition Contest, we received many entries, and thus the decision-making was much harder! The problems submitted were tested upon the criterion of economy, harmony and aesthetics. We decided to make three articles on it, with the final one being about the prize-winners! Hope you have fun replalying these very nice little puzzles!

Watch them solving (2)

1/22/2024 – In the second segment of our problem-solving experiment, we invited a former world champion of chess solving (!) to answer the unorthodox chess puzzles, featured in our Dec. 31st article. This strong grandmaster breezed past the first two problems, and so we gave a final composition which proved to be slightly more challenging for the mathematician!

Watch them solving!

1/11/2024 – It's an experiment. We wanted to know how a number of different personalities reacted to some unusual problems we presented in our Christmas Puzzle week. So we gave them two positions and let them wrestle with them online. For starters, we bring you video of a super-talent, Leon Luke Mendonca, and his first-time encounter with anything like this. Did you react in similar fashion to the problems?

Anirudh: In Boden’s Den

12/26/2023 – Playing chess is an immensely popular activity. Solving chess problems is also very enjoyable. But how about composing problems? During our revived Christmas Puzzle week, we want to discuss different methods of how to compose your very own chess problem! We ask you to give it a try yourself. Submit your own composition and win some great prizes!
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