1/15/2019 – 12 years, 7 months and 17 days — that's the age of the new second youngest ever, GM-elect D. Gukesh. He's also the 60th grandmaster from India! How did this youngster achieve it? On the surface, it looks like an extremely smooth journey where Gukesh achieved one milestone after another. "But when you delve deeper", writes SAGAR SHAH, "you see tremendous amount of sacrifices, grit, determination and much more from not just the youngster and his entire family". | Photo: David Llada

1/7/2019 – He will always greet you with a smile, he is always high on energy and, in almost any conversation, you will see him adding some of the famous quotes of great personalities! The natural question to ask is: how does Adhiban Baskaran remain so positive all the time? What is the secret of his positivity, huge ambitions and a pleasant personality? Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal visited Adhiban's home in Chennai, immediately after Adhiban had won the tournament of Peace in Croatia in November 2018. Apart from discussing highlights from the tournament, you'll learn about Adhiban's workspace, his parents and his support system — all the secretes to what motivates him to do well!

12/23/2018 – Two Indians pre-teeners came very close to breaking Sergey Karjakin's record of the youngest GM in history. Sergey made his final norm back in 2002 at the age of 12 years and 7 months. Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh were the boys that were within a hair of bettering that. Pragg missed the target by three months, and yesterday Gukesh, who had a realistic chance to complete his third GM norm at the Sunway Sitges International 2018, narrowly missed it. In the meantime 11-year-old Bharath Subramaniyam made his first IM norm. | All photos: Rupali Mullick

12/11/2018 – V. Saravanan is a strong chess player, an eloquent speaker and also a fine chess coach. He was also the commentator at the World Junior Championship 2014 and a journalist for many eminent tournaments like the World Championship 2012 and the Sinquefield Cup 2017 and 2018. However, there is one video which made the world see a completely different side of him. Last January, we released a video of Saravanan entitled "Must read books to become a better chess player". It was a one-hour video where the Chennai IM spoke about some of his favourite books of chess. The video became very popular and had over 32,000 views on our YouTube Channel. Now Saravanan is back, this time with part II of his "Must read books to become a better chess player" and this will be premiered LIVE on 11th of December 2018 at 15:00 UTC.

12/11/2018 – YAICP — Yet Another Indian Chess Prodigy! His name is D. Gukesh and he stems from — where else — Tamil Nadu, the home state of Vishy Anand. Gukesh was born on May 29, 2006, which means he is currently twelve and a half years old. On Saturday the lad scored his second GM norm in a closed round-robin in Paraćin, Serbia. Gukesh has a live rating of 2490 and from Thursday onwards will be playing in the next GM Open. Will he be able to break Sergey Karjakin's record? This will be his last chance. | Photo: Nebojsa Radosavljevic

12/8/2018 – Ten days on from the end of the World Championship and the match is still very much in the news. In a previous report, we presented a 31-minute interview with five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand and his take on the games played in London. Sagar Shah of ChessBase India transcribed the highlights of his commentary which we’ve converted to a ChessBase interactive game viewer, so you could easily replay and analyse while listening to Vishy. Today we continue with games 7–12. Learn and enjoy.

12/6/2018 – The World Championship Match 2018 ended recently, to mixed reviews: Many thought the match was dull and boring, while other called it one of the best World Championships in terms of quality of play. When it comes to opinions, there can be no one better than five-time World Champion Vishy Anand. The legend has played innumerable matches for the highest title — he has been there and done that! Anand did a 31-minute video interview, in his house in Chennai, with IM SAGAR SHAH, who transcribes the key passages with live diagrams.

11/23/2018 – Today is the birthday of ChessBase's endgame expert, Grandmaster Karsten Mueller. Recently he was interviewed by Sagar Shah of ChessBase India, who writes, "the interview is amazing, packed with great stories, analysis and your thoughts on different topics of great importance."

11/16/2018 – The strongest chess event on Indian soil was held from November 9th to the 14th, 2018 with three days of rapid chess and two days of blitz. Hikaru Nakamura had already won the rapid section with a dominating performance. In the blitz event, the American GM was racing ahead on the first day with 6½/9. It seemed as if Nakamura would take home both the titles, but Vishy Anand had other plans. The 48-year-old former World Champion showed his class as he notched up one win after another. By scoring 7½/9 on day two he tied with Nakamura for the top spot. We then had a blitz playoff in which Anand triumphed and won the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2018. IM SAGAR SHAH and AMRUTA MOKAL provide pictures, videos, game analysis from Kolkata.

11/14/2018 – The Tata Steel Chess India 2018 Rapid came to an end on November 11th with American GM Hikaru Nakamura taking home the first prize with 6.0/9. Nakamura played the event as per the demands of the situation — calm on first and third days and three victories on day two! It was excellent news for Indian fans that Harikrishna managed to fight back with two wins against Levon Aronian and Vidit Gujrathi in last two rounds to finish second. Levon Aronian had to settle for the third spot. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you six things that happened on the last day of the rapid and reflections on the first super tournament held in his native India! Of course, one mustn't forget the small sensation — Vishy Anand was beaten by his former second Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the final round.

11/10/2018 – The first day of the first super tournament in India was fascinating. Of course, having ten great chess players fighting it out always feels great, but what was even more heartening was the jam-packed crowd. The ICCR auditorium which had a capacity of 200 people was filled to the brim with people waiting outside the auditorium to go inside and view the games. The players held nothing back to entertain the crowd and in the first round itself, Vishy Anand had everyone on the edge of their seats as he fought for 145 moves against Wesley So. At the end of three rounds of rapid chess at the Tata Steel Chess India we have three players in joint lead with 2.0/3 — Harikrishna, Mamedyarov and Aronian. A detailed report from Kolkata.

10/8/2018 – The closing ceremony of the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018 was a power-packed one. Prizes were not only given to the top three performing teams and their players, but there were so many other medals, including individual board medals and also gold medals for teams in Groups A to E. We bring you videos, photos and descriptions to give you a feel for how wonderfully this closing ceremony was conducted. | Pictured: The Chinese men and women's team took the front two rows in the auditorium | Photos: Amruta Mokal

10/6/2018 – The excitement levels had gone off the charts for the final round of the Batumi Olympiad 2018. The strongest teams were fighting against each other to decide who would take gold. USA and China were pitted against each other in the open section and China and Russia faced off against each other in the women's. The matches ended in 2-2 draws with a lot of drama surrounding them. The tiebreaks favoured China in both the sections and they went home with a double gold! In the Open, the USA took the silver and Russia the bronze while in the Women's Ukraine had to be content with silver, and bronze went to Georgia's first team. Full report from Batumi by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

10/5/2018 – It's the finale of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad 2018 and we couldn't have asked for a better match-up. It's USA versus China in the open section to decide who takes home the gold and China against USA in the women's section on the top board! The strongest of teams have been paired against each other and it is extremely difficult to predict who will take home the three medals at stake. It's final rounds like these that make a tournament like Olympiad exciting! Round 10 report from Batumi, Georgia.

10/4/2018 – Being the sole leader at the Olympiad is not an easy task. USA was the sole leader with 15.0/16 going into the ninth round. They were the clear favourites facing the Polish team. But the inspired Poles played out of their skins and beat the US with three draws and the decisive result being Piorun beating Nakamura. In the women's section China has taken the sole lead by beating Kazakhstan 3-1. We have round 9 report from Batumi by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal with GM analysis by Surya Sekhar Ganguly.

10/3/2018 – It was perhaps the most hard-fought round of the tournament. Nine out of the first ten matches ended decisively in the open section. We now have a sole leader — USA in the open section. The US team managed to beat Azerbaijan in a thrilling match. In the women's section, Ukraine managed to beat overnight leaders Armenia to take the top spot. They are joined by the Chinese girls. With three rounds to go this Olympiad is excitingly placed with the biggest match today being USA taking on Poland in the open section. Report from Batumi by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

10/2/2018 – With just four rounds to go, we are now closing in on the last lap of the 43rd Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018. The seventh round of the women's event saw the lead change hands. Armenia beat the USA and are now the sole leaders. In the men's section, Poland and Azerbaijan drew their games to stay at the top but are now joined by the USA. Armenia is standing solely on the second position with 12.0/14 in the open section. Read on for some instructive positions, exciting pictures and videos that tell you more details about the matches. | Pictured: It was the first time that all the three Polgar sisters (L-R: Judit, Sofia and Susan) were commentating together | Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/1/2018 – Watch Round 7 LIVE! After six rounds we are still trying to find a sole leader in the open section. We now have Poland and Azerbaijan, both the teams on 12.0/12 facing off against each other. The Polish team beat Ukraine, while Azerbaijan were just too strong for Czech Republic. In the women's section, USA maintained its lead but were joined by Armenia who got the better of Russia. In this report you will find analysis of the key encounters and also a lot of videos and excellent pictures.