2/22/2025 – On 15 February, Sportstar premiered the Sportstar Aces Awards 2025 on their YouTube channel. Divya Deshmukh received the award for sportswoman of the year (non-Olympic). She won the World Junior Girls Championship 2024 and achieved a double gold (individual and team) at the Chess Olympiad. The Indian Men and Women's teams received the National Team of the Year award for winning historic gold medals at the Chess Olympiad held in Budapest, Hungary. | Photos: Sportstar

2/4/2025 – Indian FM Vedant Panesar scored an unbeaten 6/9 to win the Tata Steel Chess Qualifiers 2025. This triumph earned him a place in the Challengers section of the 2026 edition. He finished a half point ahead of the field. FM Leandro Slagboom and FM Tim Grutter, both from the Netherlands, scored 5½/9 each. They secured second and third place respectively. The top three prizes were New in Chess book vouchers worth €90, €60 and €40 each respectively. More than the prize fund, advancing to the Challengers is a big deal for the champion. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

1/13/2025 – Johor Chess Association invites you to 9th Johor International Open 2025. The tournament has two categories - Open and Challengers (Below 2000). The top three prizes in Open are RM 10000, 6000 and 4000. For Challengers, the top three prizes are RM 1300, 1000 and 800. A total of 3 GMs, 11 IMs and a WIM have registered from eight countries across the world. Entry is Free for GM, IM and players rated above 2300 in the Open section. Last date is extended to 16th January without any penalty in entry fees. There are few conditions offered for GMs rated above 2400 and IMs rated above 2300. IM Nitin S and Venkatesh M R are the only two Indians to have won this tournament in 2014 and 2017 respectively. The next one can be you. Check out the article to find out all details about the tournament. Photo: Tournament circular

1/11/2025 – A month ago, "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" was released worldwide. Being a massive fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, this game was obviously a must-play. You must be wondering, why are we talking about a video game on a chess website? Well, the game had plenty of chess positions which were carefully curated. Unlike in "Watch Dogs", you cannot solve the positions by moving pieces, but you can certainly use your mind to solve them, or perhaps recollect where you might have probably seen it. | Game cover: Indiana Jones fandom

1/5/2025 – GM S L Narayanan scored an unbeaten 7/9 to win the main section of the Groningen Chess Festival 2024. The top seed finished a half point ahead of the competition. Four players collected 6½ points: GM Thomas Beerdsen, IM Nick Maatman, IM Manish Anto Cristiano and IM Theo Stijve. The 9-round Swiss open was organised in Gronigen, Netherlands from 21 to 30 December 2024. | Photo: Harry Gielen

12/2/2024 – Nihal Sarin drew with elite GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the final round to claim outright victory at the third edition of the President Cup in Uzbekistan. Nihal had a sensational run in Tashkent, ending the event with a 7½/9 score and a 2809 performance (TPR). Javokhir Sindarov, Parham Maghsoodloo and Shamsiddin Vokhidov scored 7/9 points each. They secured second, third and fourth places respectively according to tiebreaks. | Photos: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

10/13/2024 – Triveni Continental Kings defeated PBG Alaskan Knights in both matches of the Finals to defend their Tech Mahindra Global Chess League title. In the first match, Alireza Firouzja and Alexandra Kosteniuk scored the key wins for TCK. Nodirbek Abdusattorov was the sole victor for PBG AK. In the second match, the 'Icon' of PBG AK, Anish Giri, avenged his loss against Firouzja by playing fast, furious and accurate chess. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was the only other winner for the team. Wei Yi, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina scored the crucial wins which allowed TCK to score a dominating victory. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/12/2024 – Javokhir Sindarov won an exhilarating battle against Daniel Dardha to power his team, Triveni Continental Kings, to the Finals of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. Magnus Carlsen had an exciting finish against Alireza Firouzja. However, his win was not enough for his team, Alpine SG Pipers, to advance to the Finals. The other finalist, PBG Balan Alaskan Knights, scored a dominating victory over American Gambits 5-14. Match 1 of the finals starts tomorrow from 2:15 p.m. local time, 6:45 p.m. IST. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/11/2024 – PBG Alaskan Knights defeated Triveni Continental Kings to become the first finalists of Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2024. They will face the winner of Alpine SG Pipers and TCK, who will face off in the last match of the double round-robin stage - i.e. now a virtual Semifinal. Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Zhongyi Tan and Alina Kashlinskaya scored the victories to ensure their team's place in the finals. Round 10 starts tomorrow with Ganges Grandmasters v. upGrad Mumba Masters from 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/10/2024 – The upGrad Mumba Masters started the seventh day of the Global Chess League with a win over the leaders, PBG Alaskan Knights. It was the closest match of the event so far, as the final score was 10-9. Ganges Grandmasters lost to Triveni Continental Kings later in the day, while R Praggnanandhaa and Daniel Dardha powered the Alpine SG Pipers to a win over the American Gambits. The Alaskan Knights, the Continental Kings and the SG Pipers are the only three teams that will battle it out for the top two spots in the finals. Thursday's action starts with American Gambits v. upGrad Mumba Masters from 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/9/2024 – Hikaru Nakamura ended Alireza Firouzja's unbeaten streak at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2024. Just when everyone thought the game would end in a draw, Firouzja offered his rook up for trade, and the resultant pawn endgame turned out to be completely winning for the Speed King. IM Bibisara Assaubayeva. The PBG Alaskan Knights are now one match win away from securing their spot in the Finals. The seventh day will start with PBG Alaskan Knights vs. upGrad Mumba Masters from 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/7/2024 – Alireza Firouzja is in the form of his life, as he defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave for the second time in consecutive days. Alexandra Kosteniuk scored the only other win for the team, which helped Triveni Continental Kings register their fourth win of the event. Anish Giri made a nice queen sacrifice to build a fortress and draw with Magnus Carlsen. Yifan Hou and Kateryna Lagno scored the wins for SG Alpine Pipers. Nihal Sarin's sole win for Balan Alaskan Knights was not enough to win the match. Ganges Grandmasters scored their second match win of the event. The sixth day will start with Alpine SG Pipers vs upGrad Mumba Masters from 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/6/2024 – Alireza Firouzja continues his phenomenal form at the Global Chess League. He won the French derby against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to power his team, Triveni Continental Kings, to a victory over upGrad Mumba Masters. American Gambits started the day with a win over Ganges Grandmasters, but finished the day with a loss against Alpine SG Pipers. Hikaru Nakamura showed excellent resiliency against Magnus Carlsen, got a winning chance, but missed it and the game ended in a draw. PBG Alaskan Knights registered their fifth consecutive win as they continue to lead. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

10/6/2024 – Alireza Firouzja defeated Hikaru Nakamura and Vishy Anand in consecutive games on day 3 of the Global Chess League, wins that are certain to skyrocket Firouzja's confidence. Triveni Continental Kings lost their second match of the day after Parham Maghsoodloo and Nurgyul Salimova empowered their team, Ganges Grandmasters, to their first victory, despite their 'icon' Anand losing to Firouzja. It was the closest match of the tournament so far in terms of game points, 8-10. PBG Alaskan Knights maintain their sole lead after winning all four of their games so far. Sunday will see four matches taking place, starting at 14.00 CEST (8.00 ET, 17:30 IST). | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/4/2024 – PBG Alaskan Knights made a fantastic start by defeating the defending champions, Triveni Continental Kings, on the first day of Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2024. The inaugural edition's bottom finisher made a roaring start by registering a 3-0 (15-3) win. Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Nihal Sarin ensured the team's success. American Gambits and Alpine SG Pipers also won their first matches. The league CEO, Sameer Pathak, made the inaugural move. Tomorrow is the first of three days when four matches will be played, starting with upGrad Mumba Masters vs Ganges Grandmasters from 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

10/2/2024 – Would you like to be Chess Champion 2025? An exciting new competitive format show for the BBC is looking for players to battle it out on TV. If you're interested in being on the show, please get in touch with us at chessmasters@curvemedia.com

8/28/2024 – Karthik Venkataraman won the 61st edition of the Indian National Championship after scoring 9/11 points at the event organised by the Haryana Chess Association. This is the second victory in a national championship for Karthik, who had also won the tournament in 2022. Surya Ganguly and Neelash Saha scored as many points as the champion, but finished in second and third place on tiebreaks. | Photos: Himank Ghosh

6/19/2024 – Nihal Sarin won the Cluj Grand Prix Rapid 2024 after beating Hungarian GM Imre Balog in Armageddon with the white pieces. This was the second leg of the Romania GP 2024. The talented Indian teenager scored 8½/10 and so did Balog. Their seventh-round battle ended in a draw, and thus they had to play an Armageddon decider. Spanish GM Jaime Santos scored 8/10 to finish third. Vishy Anand’s presence as a VIP guest added more to the prestige of the event. | Photo: Federația Română de Șah