1/19/2020 – All the rules of chess remain the same, just that both the players cannot castle. How does removing this one rule alter the game? Well, we decided to put this idea to test by getting 13 of the strongest Indian youngsters (average Elo: 2457) and holding the first ever No-Castling chess tournament at the Microsense Kramnik Gelfand Training camp in Chennai. Check out all the games, videos, analysis by IM SAGAR SHAH and some brilliant photos by Amruta Mokal.

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.

1/2/2020 – Viswanathan Anand has not only achieved the highest honours in the game of chess but has also led India to become one of the chess superpowers in the world. But how was he when he was young? FREDERIC FRIEDEL (pictured), co-founder of ChessBase, has been a very close friend of his for decades. He has seen him grow from a prodigiously talented teenager into a mature and highly accomplished man. In a recent interview with IM Sagar Shah, Frederic related many of his interesting experiences with a young Vishy when he was still climbing to the upper echelons of the chess world. He winds back the clock and take you on a journey which is as nostalgic as it is insightful.

1/1/2020 – Magnus Carlsen is now the reigning World Champion in classical, rapid and blitz chess. But there's one official World Championship that eluded him in 2019: the newly codified Fischer Random World Championship. Wesley So, the 26-year-old Filipino-American Grandmaster created a sensation by beating the mighty Norwegian in the finals of a knockout tournament with a sweeping score of 13½-2½! How did he do it? IM SAGAR SHAH spent some time with So at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament.

12/31/2019 – What an exciting final day we had at the World Blitz 2019. A controversy between the World Champion and one of the brightest young talents of the game, a blitz playoff to determine the winner, a retired player making a comeback, and winning the bronze and the defending women's world champion defending her title! The World Blitz 2019 was filled with exciting moments, and we bring you a detailed report with information of all the things that happened at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

12/30/2019 – Magnus Carlsen won the World Rapid Championship title with a score of 11½/15, a full point ahead of the rest of the field. He picked up from where he left off and scored 10/12 to become the sole leader of the World Blitz Championships after day one. Magnus is closely pursued by Maxim Matlakov on 9½ points. In the women's section, Kateryna Lagno is the sole leader. In this article, we tell you about the blitz event and also present to you six points about why we think Magnus Carlsen is so good at the shorter format of the game. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

12/29/2019 – Magnus Carlsen is now not just the Classical World Champion, but also the Rapid World Champion! He played sublime chess, gaining 14 Elo points, reaching 2900 on the Elo scale to win the title one point ahead of his nearest rivals. Silver medal was won unexpectedly by Alireza Firouzja who scored 4½/5 on the last day. Nakamura settled for the bronze. In the women's section we witnessed a blitz playoff to determine the winner. It was finally Humpy Koneru who won the gold. Silver went to Chinese Lei Tingjie and bronze to Ekaterina Atalik. A detailed report and interviews with the World Champion.

12/28/2019 – It's an exhausting format and just about everyone is feeling the heat at the World Rapid Championships 2019. Except one man! Superman in fact! Magnus Carlsen played three fighting games of chess in round eight, nine and ten; won all three of them; and captured the lead at the end of day two. He is now the sole leader, with Wang Hao, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Duda following him. In the women's section, we have Irina Bulmaga, Tan Zhongyi, Lei Tingjie and Mariya Muzychuk in joint lead with 6½/8. A detailed report from Moscow. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

12/27/2019 – The World Rapid Championships 2019 kicked off with some exciting chess on day one. In the open section we have five leaders — Smirin, Mamedyarov, Duda, Dominguez and Wang Hao on 4½/5. They are followed by a group of seven players on 4 points, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. In the women's section, we have three leaders — Olga Girya, Meri Arabidze and Irina Bulmaga. We bring you a detailed report from Moscow with interviews, photos, game analyses and more.

12/26/2019 – The "King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championship" 2019 is here! It is one of the most exciting events of the year with the participation of almost all the top players in the world including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen will be looking to win the title in both rapid and blitz and become triple crown champion again. The opening ceremony was held on December 25th at the Russian Chess Museum on the Gogolevsky Boulevard in Moscow. IM SAGAR SHAH and AMRUTA MOKAL were present at the venue and bring you first-hand impressions from the place. We also have some very interesting interviews with Carlsen, Wang Hao, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, Anton Korobov and Peter Leko.

12/20/2019 – Have you ever heard the advice, "while solving positions in your practice sessions, don't think for more than 20 minutes!"? The logic is that usually in practical games we do not spend more than 20 minutes for any move or decision, so we shouldn't be spending too much time when training either. But now and then comes a moment when, in a tournament game, an elite GM digs down deep and thinks for over 30 minutes! In Wei Yi vs Sergey Karjakin at the Jerusalem Grand Prix 2019, we saw the young Chinese GM 'in the tank' for 35 minutes! IM SAGAR SHAH tries to decode his thought process!

12/11/2019 – Viswanathan Anand, who turns 50 years old today, is a legend who has played many masterpieces throughout his illustrious career spanning decades. At the end of Tata Steel Chess India 2019, IM SAGAR SHAH caught up with the chess virtuoso to discuss nine of his career-best games. In this interview Anand talks about old times, untold behind-the-scenes stories of the pre-computer chess era and much more. Chess fans are in for a nostalgic treat!

12/9/2019 – From lay fans to top grandmasters, more or less everyone in the world of chess feels upset today about the significant number of draws that take place in virtually every classical elite tournament. Too much theory reinforced by extensive engine work is seemingly rendering the game of chess sterile and lifeless. One alternative is Chess960 and FIDE sanctioned the first Fischer Random World Championship this year. Recently the legendary Vladimir Kramnik has also proposed a solution to the problem that is simpler and more efficient than the Fischer Random, and which he believes will ensure more than 50% decisive games in top-level play.

12/2/2019 – The Tata Steel Chess India 2019 was held from November 22nd to the 26th, 2019 in Kolkata, India. It was truly a trailblazing event being the strongest tournament ever to be organized on not just Indian but Asian soil. IM SAGAR SHAH reflects on the ten things that according to him made the Tata Steel Chess India special. A photo / video retrospective.

11/27/2019 – Tata Steel Chess India, the penultimate event of the Grand Chess Tour 2019, came to an end with Magnus Carlsen showing his best ever GCT performance, scoring 27 points out of a total 36. He will be joined by Ding Liren, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the tour's final event the London Chess Classic starting next week. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you the detailed report of the action on the final day from Kolkata.

11/26/2019 – The blitz event is much more intense than the rapid. You have to play nine games in four and a half hours. It was fairly obvious that the players were quite tired, thus they made a lot of errors. However, you could also see a lot of brilliant moves being played. Magnus Carlsen once again set the tone with a 6½/9 performance. He is now the overall leader by a gap of five points over the nearest contender. For Indian fans the main goal would be to see Vishy Anand qualifying for the Grand Chess Tour Finals to be held from November 28th in London. In this report we bring you some of the best and most interesting games, selected tactical positions and mating attacks!

11/25/2019 – Magnus Carlsen performed at an astronomical Elo of 3027 at the Tata Steel Chess India 2019 Rapid. He scored 15.0/18, with six wins and three draws. According to Magnus, this was his best performance ever in rapid format. He gained 36.8 Elo points, taking his rapid rating to 2885. He also overtook MVL and thus became World no.1 in rapid. Hikaru Nakamura took the second spot with 11.0/18 and Wesley So was third. The tournament has not yet ended of course — we've moved to the blitz section with 18 more rounds to be played. The cumulative score of both the formats will determine the winner. A detailed day three report from the National Library in Kolkata.

11/24/2019 – Magnus Carlsen does not cease to impress. This time it was not just on the chess board! He was called as the guest of honour along with Vishy Anand to open the day two of the cricket test match between India and Bangladesh. In between rounds four and five, he entertained one and all with his football skills. Last but not the least, he was an absolute monster on the board as he completely outplayed Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri. His last game for the day was a draw against Vidit Gujrathi. Magnus now has a lead of three points with 10.0/12. He is followed by Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. In this report we bring to you detailed analysis, pictures, videos from the National Library in Kolkata.