Sagar Shah

Sagar Shah is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views.

ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia) and the prices are tailored to the spending capacity of these countries. All ChessBase products including ChessBase software, Mega-database, Fritz, different engines and DVDs by world famous authors are available for 60% discount as compared to International prices.             

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Recent news

Leon and Sagar discuss the Keymer

9/22/2023 – Recently we announced a very special FritzTrainer by GM Leon Mendonca, one of India's most promising young talents. It is on the Keymer Variation. In this follow-up video IM Sagar Shah invites Leon to speak more about this opening and share his ideas with us. The result is a lesson that can help you build an opening repertoire with 1.Nf3 and 2.e3. Do not miss the chance!
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Gukesh Fritztrainer: first reviews

8/3/2023 – Gukesh is one of the most promising youngsters in the world of chess. He is no longer just a talent, but has confidently marched to the very top of the chess world, where he is currently ranked no. 11, with an Elo of 2751. In March 2023, Gukesh visited the ChessBase India studio in Mumbai and together with IM Sagar Shah they recorded a video course on how to attack like a super GM. The video course was well received – here are some reviews, from a strong IM to an unrated player.
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The next big thing in Sri Lankan Chess: Thehas Rithmitha

7/27/2023 – The junior chess championships of various age categories serve a very important purpose. The talented medal winners get the limelight they need — with the adequate amount of support, these kids can go on to do great things in the chess world! One such example is 2014-born Thehas Rithmitha Kiringoda, gold medallist in the Under-9 World Schools Championships 2023. Starting off as the 21st seed among 61 players, Thehas went on to score a dominating 7½/9 and win the event! In this article, we ask Thehas a few questions about his chess journey so far, his performance in the World Schools, future goals and much more. Get to know the mindset of a young chess talent.
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Arjun visits his mega-sponsor

7/16/2023 – What happens after a company sponsors a chess player? How does it find value in the sponsorship? This article puts down the story of Arjun Erigaisi and QuantBox. QuantBox is a High Frequency Trading company, which has made one of the biggest sponsorship deals in the history of Indian chess with Arjun. Recently Arjun met the members of QuantBox at their Bangalore office, and what happened is portrayed in the article below.
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World class matches in Mahashtra

6/1/2023 – From the 1st to the 6th of June 2023, as a part of the Maharashtra Chess Festival, two matches between world class players will take place in Nagpur, India. The first is between India's no.3 GM Vidit Gujrathi, who will take on the eight-time Russian Champion Peter Svidler. The second is between the top rated junior from the state Raunak Sadhwani and former World Championship Challenger Nigel Short. We have done extensive video interviews with the players.
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Experiment: Chess Camp in a mall

5/21/2023 – Our Summer Camp has completed five days, with many hundreds of new players being trained. The camp is being held at the Phoenix Marketcity Mall in Mumbai and is open to all. There are no charges and people can learn chess in a fun and engaging way, at their own pace. Trainers and volunteers help to educate the public and guide them in the right direction. Is this a model that can be emulated in countries all over the world? Full video impressions at the end of the article.

Kramnik analyses the World Championship match between Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren

5/10/2023 – After Sagar Shah, founder and driving force behind Chessbase India, spoke to former World Champion Vishy Anand about the dramatic World Championship match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, Sagar also interviewed former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik on the same subject. As a supporter of "Team Nepo" Kramnik was directly involved in the World Championship match. In the interview, Kramnik talked about his work with Nepomniachtchi, the critical moments of the match, opening preparation, nervousness in World Championship matches and much more.
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What is happening in New Delhi at the Women’s Grand Prix?

3/27/2023 – The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022-23 is into its third leg, and it is a huge moment for Indian chess. The start to the event has been rocky. One of the participants, Zhansaya Abdumalik, has withdrawn from the tournament after reaching New Delhi and spending a day at the venue. The players wrote an official letter to the FIDE President, and FIDE responded back with an official statement. Meanwhile, Zhansaya’s compatriot Bibisara Assaubayeva, who is present at the venue, wrote a post on social media voicing her opinions. We try to put it all together in this article. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
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Look within yourself

3/15/2023 – Sagar Shah has been a chess player, coach, journalist, YouTuber, entrepreneur and more. In his journey through different countries and tournaments, he has collected plenty of valuable experience to share. In his new series ‘From the CEO’s Desk’, he shares his musings and thoughts about various things — sometimes related to chess, and sometimes just life. Today, Sagar takes a closer look at the deep-rooted emotions and fears of a chess player, drawing parallels with his own life.
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Ilamparthi tests Gukesh!

3/2/2023 – Gukesh is just 16 years old, already a full-blown top GM with a live rating of 2730, currently number 20 in the world. Ilamparthi, is a young talent, 13 years old, currently the world under-14 champion, and an IM rated 2423. Both Gukesh and Ilamparthi did really well in Dusseldorf at the WR Masters and Juniors respectively. It was time for some fun on our train journey from Dusseldorf to ChessBase in Hamburg. This article includes ten tough positions posed by Ilamparthi to Gukesh!

WR Chess: interviews with the winners

2/27/2023 – We have reported extensively on the WR Chess Masters 2023, which ended on Sunday in Düsseldorf, Germany. Today we bring you unique impressions of the opinions and mood of the participants on the final days of this wonderful event. They were recorded by IM Sagar Shah, who runs ChessBase India and one of the biggest video chess portals in the world. Just sit back and enjoy.

Table Tennis and joy on the rest day of the WR Chess Masters 2023

2/21/2023 – Different tournaments have different kinds of rest days! At the WR Chess Masters 2023, the players and organizers had a great time with a well organized mini-table tennis event. 7 out of the 10 participants of the main tournament took part in this round robin tournament with Gelfand, Dana Reizneice and Wadim Rosenstein joining them. It was a keenly contested event with Andrey Esipenko edging everyone out and taking the top spot. Sagar Shah who travelled to Dusseldorf brings you a fun report.

Creating a super tournament from scratch - Interview with Wadim Rosenstein

2/9/2023 – The WR Chess Masters is a classical chess tournament which boasts the participation of 10 World-class Grandmasters. With a mix of youth and experience, this dynamic field will battle each other from February 15th-26th in a 9-game Round Robin event. The most special thing about the event is its time control. It has the same time control as the World Championship Match. How difficult is it to organize a super tournament from scratch? In this article, we talk to the man behind the WR Chess Masters - Wadim Rosenstein and get some insights.
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The Anish Giri Interview: Winning Tata Steel Masters 2023

2/3/2023 – Anish Giri won the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2023 ahead of all the top players in the world - Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana. He played some phenomenal chess throughout the event to win it with a rating performance of 2849, scoring 8.5/13 and gaining 16 Elo points. Anish has been very close to winning the tournament multiple times, but this is the first time he has clinched the trophy at Wijk Aan Zee! We invited him for a livestream to get his thoughts on winning this prestigious tournament. Check out his full interview with IM Sagar Shah below.
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A tough nut to crack: Arjun vs. Aronian

2/1/2023 – Arjun Erigaisi reached an extremely difficult endgame against Levon Aronian in the third round of the Tata Steel Masters. Many players would have collapsed, but the 19-year-old is a tough nut to crack. He held his own and managed to draw the game. After the game, you could see Arjun and Levon analysing the game, but it was all just too complex to figure out without an engine. IM Sagar Shah spent a lot of time going to the depth of the position and now shares the findings with you. Do check out the analysis to unlock the secrets of a complex knight versus bishop endgame. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Everything new in ChessBase 17

1/30/2023 – In the latest version of ChessBase, there are some huge changes to the software, modifications which add significant improvements to the software! The two main programmers, Matthias Wüllenweber and Mathias Feist, have implemented a completely new file format, added beauty filters and medals, a fast interactive search, and much more! IM Sagar Shah takes you through all the new features of ChessBase 17 along with relevant screenshots and video instructions on how to make full use of the new features. | Thumbnail: Abhyudaya Ram
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Seven years: ChessBase India (2)

1/26/2023 – It calls for a celebration: ChessBase India turned seven years old on 18th of January 2023. In the second part of his article, the CEO and co-founder of ChessBase India, IM Sagar Shah, writes about the work done by the ChessBase India team in the last 365 days. There is so much to tell – it is a wonderful success story.

Two World Championship titles in five days - an interview with Magnus Carlsen

1/2/2023 – For Magnus Carlsen, 2022 ended well: in the last week of the year he first won the World Rapid and then the World Blitz Championship. In an interview with Sagar Shah Carlsen spoke about the pleasure of winning both titles, explained interesting moments from the games he played in the two tournaments and talked about his plans for 2023. | Photo: Screenshot from the interview
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