5/11/2022 – Gukesh won his third consecutive tournament in Spain as he scored an unbeaten 8/10 to claim first place at the Chessable Sunway Formentera Open. After missing several tournament triumphs on tiebreaks, Gukesh got outright victory in Formentera by finishing a half point ahead of the field. Jaime Santos (Spain) and Shant Sargsyan (Armenia) completed the podium. | Photo: Official site

4/18/2022 – Gukesh won his first classical tournament of the year at the 48th edition of the La Roda International Open. He obtained an unbeaten 8/9 score to finish a half point ahead of the competition. Haik Martirosyan from Armenia secured second place as the only player who got 7½/9 points. Five players scored 7/9, with Praggnanandhaa and Raunak Sadhwani getting third and fourth places respectively on tiebreaks. | Photo: Official site

3/6/2022 – Rating favourite Arjun Erigaisi won the MPL 58th National Senior Chess Championship 2022, which took place from February 25 to March 3 in the city of Kanpur. Arjun edged past D Gukesh and Iniyan P on tiebreaks. All three of them scored 8½/11 points. Only four players younger than Arjun have won the National Senior title in Indian chess history. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

2/14/2022 – Over-the-board chess tournament is resuming in India, starting with National Senior Open and Women 2022 later this month. There will be three consecutive GM Open tournaments at Guwahati, Delhi and Ahmedabad. It starts from 13th March. You can make plans for the three strong events which has a very good prize fund too. Check out the excellent conditions which are being offered for foreign GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs at three GM Open events. Photo: Various tournament circulars

2/9/2022 – There are plenty of openings to choose from and learn. Which one to prepare and where to begin? We are here to solve that dilemma. Austria no.1 and FIDE Trainer Markus Ragger explained the basics of the Grunfeld Defence. He even included his most recent games in this two volume ChessBase DVD. The opening course has been created with thorough research and utmost care because he himself plays it in his career. Check out the 100+ minutes long interactive session with IM Sagar Shah where Markus Ragger shows and explains a lot of lines of the popular opening and answers audience questions too. Photo: ChessBase India

11/22/2021 – Levon Aronian beat Arjun Erigaisi in the Armageddon Playoffs to win Tata Steel Chess India 2021 Blitz. The second day of the Blitz event saw several players at the top throughout the day, including Nihal, Gukesh, Levon, Parham and Arjun. However, in the end it was Aronian and Arjun who tied for the first place at 11½/18 each. Arjun was completely winning in both Playoff games, and Aronian admitted that he should have lost at least one of them. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/21/2021 – Records keep tumbling when Arjun Erigaisi plays tournaments. The 18-year-old continues his brilliant momentum in Blitz as he scored an unbeaten 6½/9 to gain sole lead. He is the only player who remained undefeated for nine rounds of Blitz. His total unbeaten streak is at 16 games now at Tata Steel Chess India 2021. That’s not all: he has climbed to World no.14 and India no.2 in Blitz in the live ratings. Aronian is once again in pursuit of Arjun as he is just a half point behind him at 6/9. They will face each other in the 14th round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/20/2021 – Arjun Erigaisi started hitting the next level at Goldmoney Asian Rapid this past summer when he ended Aronian’s undefeated streak at the event. The healthy rivalry with Aronian began since then. The most anticipated match of the event between Aronian and Arjun did not disappoint. It delivered everything one can fathom — there was action, drama and high stakes in a high-tension match which showcased Arjun’s another quality which the majority of the Indian youth possess: true grit. No matter how adverse things might get, one needs to have the courage to fight back, even if your opponent is the mighty, only two-time World Cup winner in the history of chess. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/19/2021 – It was not Arjun’s birthday, but given the way he played, it can easily be called ‘The Arjun Erigaisi day’, as he scored a hat-trick, gained sole lead and beat former US champion Sam Shankland in just 19 moves. This just shows his preparation, strength and consistency. He is now a full point ahead of his competition on 5.0/6. Praggnanandhaa and Aronian are at 4.0/6 each. He will face Adhiban, Vidit and Aronian in the final three games tomorrow. Arjun vs. Aronian is something everyone is waiting for with bated breath. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/12/2021 – The Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz Tournament will take place on November 17-21 in Kolkata. This time, fourteen players will be taking part. The lineup will be spearheaded by Levon Aronian. This event aims to give maximum exposure to Indian youngsters who have been rapidly climbing the rating ladder. Vishy Anand will be present at the tournament as a mentor to the young talents.

10/15/2021 – Iniyan Panneerselvam scored an unbeaten 7/8 to win the La Nucia International Open 2021. He had to miss the eighth round game due to his commitments towards the CoinDCX Chess Super League, and still managed to win the tournament in just eight games. He won a trophy and €2.500 as a prize. Iniyan annotated his favourite game from the tournament. | Photo: Valencian Chess Federation

9/21/2021 – Gukesh D won the masters’ section of the Norway Chess Open in Stavanger. He scored 8½/10, remained undefeated, performed at 2743 and gained 17.5 Elo rating points. His compatriot Iniyan P scored 7½/10 to finish at second position. He performed at 2550 and increased his rating by 6.7 points. Gukesh is currently playing for Prilep (North Macedonia) at the European Club Cup. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/11/2021 – Arjun Erigaisi pulled a massive upset in the finals of the Indian Qualifier to the Champions Chess Tour by handing Adhiban his first defeat of the event. Nonetheless, by reaching the finals, Adhiban had already qualified to the elite online tour. Aravindh beat Gukesh in the match for third place. Gukesh should be happy with his performance, as he was the only player to beat eventual champion Arjun Erigaisi in the very first game of the semifinals.

4/4/2021 – On April 3, Sportstar premiered the ‘Sportstar Aces Awards 2021’ on their YouTube channel. Vishy Anand was nominated for ‘Sportsman of the Decade Non-Olympic Sport’ along with Pankaj Advani (billiards) and Rajat Chauhan (compound archery). Koneru Humpy was nominated for ‘Sportswoman of the Decade Non-Olympic Sport’ along with Harika Dronavalli and Jyothi Surekha (compound archery). Arjuna Awardees Dibyendu Barua and Tania Sachdev presented the awards to Anand and Humpy respectively. | Photo: Sportstar

3/21/2021 – Dr. N Mahalingam Chess Academy is for the first time organizing an international online blitz open tournament, with a total prize fund of ₹100000. It will take place on Sunday, 21st March at 7 p.m. IST (2:30 p.m. CET, 09:30 New York) in the ChessBase India webroom on Playchess. Entry is FREE for GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. For everyone else the entry fee is ₹200 for Indians, and 3 Euro for foreigners. The tournament can be played via Windows software, desktop or laptop browsers only. So far 279 participants – including lots of GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs – have registered. | Photo: Yugam 2021

3/13/2021 – On 8 February 2021, BBC revealed the nominees for Indian Sportswoman of the Year award. Koneru Humpy was one of them along with Manu Bhaker, Dutee Chand, Vinesh Phogat and Rani. It was announced that the winner would be decided by public vote with the results scheduled to be presented on 8 March, on International Women’s Day. Women's World Rapid champion Koneru Humpy won the award. | Photo: BBC News Press Team

12/5/2020 – A lot of movies have been made where chess was either a backdrop, centerpiece or just one of the key elements to a mystery or climax. But there has not been any mainstream drama series where chess is the main focal point in a series. Netflix decided to adapt The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis into a seven episode mini-series. Special Consultants are Garry Kasparov and Bruce Pandolfini. So you can be rest assured that there won't be odd chess board orientation or or incorrect checkmates. Photo: Pinterest

10/23/2020 – In the online era, we play matches in such a short period of time, compared to what we would have played when over-the-board events were possible. And while it is true that blitz games are usually not worth analyzing, we often encounter positions which definitely warrant some deep analysis as well. Here's a very instructive endgame that is comprehensively analysed by a dedicated chess trainer. Take a look at the diagram: can you see the key first move?