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What a month has it been -- overflowing with chess of the highest calibre, full of fighting games, nerves, and gladiators crumbling under pressure! While the world made a feast in the fest that was underway, in India, the month was synonymous with one name.
Viswanathan Anand!
It is said that the game of chess is getting younger and younger every day. But here is a 46-year-old man who not only fought for the top places in a gruelling event like the Candidates, but was matching blow for blow against opponents nearly half his age. Vishy Anand provided us with some edge-of-the-seat entertainment at the Moscow Candidates, finishing with 7.5/14 and a respectable third place.
Although our man at ground zero – the ever-energetic Sagar Shah – brought to you round by round coverage, here is his detailed round-up of the tournament from Anand’s perspective.
That said, India did see a frenzy of chess activities in the month of March, and we humbly present to you our newsletter, serving our content for you to taste and enjoy!
India's No. 1 and No. 2 women players – Humpy and Harika – had their hands full playing some of the best females at the Tehran Grand Prix 2016 held in Iran. Chinese grandmaster Ju Wenjun won the tournament in a chaotic race to the finish. In this report, however, we focused on the Indian performance at the tourney. An illustrated report with games.
Have you played a tournament in a perfect setting with excellent conditions and everything that you could have hoped for – with one exception: you just cannot play chess there? Welcome to Cannes! The 30th Festival International des Jeux de Cannes was held from 22nd February to 28th February. It was a nine round Swiss event with 79 titled players out of the total 111 in the A group, including 19 grandmasters. A perfect tournament to play chess one might say! IM Nisha Mohota brought us a richly illustrated report.
The IMSA Mindgames, is a bit of an in-between for FIDE, as far as chess is concerned, and the Olympics (the normal one, not the chess specific one). Each year it organizes a series of chess events, with a number of top players, offering medals as well as prizes. We covered the tournament in our international newspage as well. In this year's event were rapid, blitz and basque chess, and India was represented by our two leading lights -- Harika and Harikrishna. Here is an illustrated report depicting the Indian performance.
A decade or two back, Vietnam was more of a war than a nation, but not anymore – today, they are among the fastest growing economies in Asia. The country hosted the 6th HD Bank Cup 2016 this month. Fifteen grandmasters and twenty-nine International Masters led a field of seventy-one players, and five Indians were among them. India also earned its latest grandmaster in the tournament! An illustrated report with choice tactics and grandmaster analysis.
Sameer Kathmale finished second in the C-group tournament
The 13th edition of the Aeroflot Open 2016 was held in Moscow, Russia, from the 29th of February to 10th of March 2016. The tournament ended in a close finish at the top: both Boris Gelfand and Evgeny Najer scoring 6.5/9, with the latter taking first place on tiebreak. Of course, we covered the event on the international site too. The Indians were playing in sizable numbers in all three groups and we bring you an illustrated report of Group B and C with loads of chess, and links to previous reports.
With more than 230 participants and many top grandmasters the Reykjavik Open boasted a strong field. The Harpa Hall, where the tournament was played, was another attraction. But the thing that attracted the world most was the summer smile of GM Abhijeet Gupta and IM Tania Sachdev in the inconsistent cold of the Icelandic capital. In an in-depth round-up we brought you an illustrated report with the comments of Abhijeet himself.
The All India Public Sector Chess Tournament 2016 was held from 14-18 March 2016, hosted by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. at Mysuru. Almost all of India's top players are employed by the Petroleum companies, and they were present to represent their teams in this six-team round-robin contest. IM N. Srinath brought you his personal account and report from this tournament.
The poor live transmission hit the coverage of the prestigious Asian Nations Cup 2016, with an ancient website of the Asian Chess Federation well below the mark in promoting our game. In the women's section, India took on China for a mouth-watering clash, and nobody had any clue what the results would be. The Indian men's team was expected to roll through Mongolia. So, what exactly happened? A report with games.
You know that Australia is a sport-crazy country, but what about chess? Back in 1963, when one chess lover envisioned the development of the royal game down under, he started more than just a tournament. Over half a century after its beginning, the Doeberl Cup still continues to prosper, and India's GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly made his way to the land of kangaroos for the 2016 edition. Report.
March is the month of examinations in our country and is often a stressful time for many of our friends – the chess playing students. They have to cope with their usual appetite for our beautiful game and at the same time study hard for that impending examination that scares the living daylights out of many of them. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly address to the nation via 'Mann ki Baat', discussed some valuable insights regarding examinations and how to deal with them. The Prime Minister had a special guest in the form of a cerebral Olympian who himself was an above average student in his school days – Vishy Anand!
The world knows that Indians are a world-class force in chess, but what about non-resident Indians abroad? Chess is a young sport and budding down under in Australia from where our dear friend Anandaram Jothibabu reported the Melbourne Chess Club's 150th-anniversary tournament. An illustrated report with games.
In 1986, with a rating of 2405, Vishy Anand shot ahead of all his compatriots at the end of the 23rd National A. This India number one post he preserved right until the 15th of March 2016, until that fateful game in which he lost against Sergey Karjakin. Pentala Harikrishna who has been hovering around the 2760 Elo mark for quite some time now, finally made the leap and became India number one based on the live Elo rankings. The brouhaha lasted for a day, but nevertheless, it was something to bookmark!
Central India is all set to host its biggest Open tournament when the SYNA International School hosts the SYNA Open 2016 at Katni in Madhya Pradesh. The tournament carries, for a reasonable entry fee, features that are only enviable and comparable to the best chess tournaments in the country. Read this heartfelt invitation by the man behind the event, Niklesh Kumar Jain.
Save our friend MangeshRobert Frost once famously said that if he had learnt anything about life, it is that it goes on. People around the world die in a number beyond our imagination, but people are born in even greater numbers – the cycle will continue without waiting for you and me. But often, when you really want to help somebody, save a life, it is more a question of the will to help by joining hands than anything else.
Mangesh Parab, a chess playing friend, was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, and three operations later he is free of his brain tumour, but with one last detail to attend to – chemotherapy for a year. A physical battle with the emperor of maladies has failed to break the man, although he lies on the battlefield awaiting his comrades' help. He is fast running out of resources, and now the only way he can continue a year's treatment is with our help. An appeal from a fellow chess lover.
He is one of the rising talents of India. After scoring his maiden IM norm at the Cannes festival just a few days ago, Praggnanandhaa followed it up with another brilliant performance at the Aeroflot Open 2016. He is just ten years old and already has two IM norms and a live rating of 2376! Little Praggu annotated two of his best games for our dear readers and also granted us a short video interview following his memorable performance.
26-year-old GM Abhijeet Gupta – above in an early picture – tasted a resounding success recently when he won the extremely strong Reykjavik Open 2016 in Iceland. And this is not the first time he is stamping his class by winning a strong Open. He has done this time and again. The Indian, the last one to win a World Junior for our country, granted ChessBase India a crisp interview, where he details his approach to chess, his career and more.
Interviews of super grandmasters and world-class talents, young stars and old warhorses alike! Videos of blitz games from various tournaments, most notably the Aerofot Blitz! The ChessBase India YouTube page is a reservoir of infotainment, for you!
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