8/21/2018 – The state of Kerala in India is in disarray right now. The flooding has reached catastrophic levels, 350 people have died and more than 200,000 are displaced after losing their houses. In such a situation, the third GM of Kerala, 14-year-old Nihal Sarin, has decided to do his bit to support the people affected by the floods. The young boy will feature on the ChessBase India live show on the 22nd of August 2018 at 8 p.m. to raise funds for the flood victims. It's a call to the chess community to help our brethren in distress.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Biel 2024 Chess Festival with analyses by Le Quang Liem, Donchenko, Bjerre and others. Sokolov, King and Zwirs show new opening ideas in the video. 10 repertoire articles from the Dutch to King's Indian and much more.
€21.90
India is witnessing one of the worst natural calamities in decades. In a tweet the Chief Minister of the state said that more than 314,000 people were now living in over 2,000 emergency relief camps set up in the area. At last count, 357 people lost their lives, and the floods destroyed roughly 906,400 hectares of crops. The cost to the state and its people stands at a staggering Rs 19,512 crore (almost three billion dollars). The flood was caused by 2086 mm of rainfall.
Volunteers and rescue workers evacuate kids from the area | Photo: AFP/ Getty Images
A displaced woman cries holding her son in her arms | Photo: Reuters
It is clear that the situation in Kerala is horrible. The people of the state are desperately in need of help. Financial help is the best way in which we can do our bit for the people who are fighting the flood and have lost almost everything that was dear to them.
14-year-old Nihal Sarin's pledge to help
Five days ago, the state of Kerala got its third grandmaster. 14-year-old Nihal Sarin achieved the GM title at the Abu Dhabi Masters 2018. After the tournament he had to cancel his flights because of the floods and there was no way to land at the Cochin airport. Somehow Nihal reached his home today via the Kozhikode airport. The boy has decided to help the victims of the flood by having a live show on the ChessBase India Youtube channel, where he will analyze some of the best games with IM Sagar Shah.
Nihal Sarin, the boy with a golden heart | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Nihal is considered as one of the best prodigies in the world of chess right now. The analysis of his games will surely give you a peek into the mind of a future world class player. As it is a live show, Nihal will also answer any of the questions that you have related to chess. His request to the chess community in India and all over the world: "I hope that you will attend the show on 22nd of August and be able to enjoy my games and analysis. Please contribute generously towards the victims of Kerala floods. Your contribution matters."
When will the Live Show be staged
The live show will be held on 22nd of August 2018 at 20.00 hours (8 p.m. IST). That is 17:30 Moscow time, 16:30h Central European Summer Time, 15:30 London, 10:30 a.m. New York, 07:30 a.m. California, 02:30 a.m. Auckland (on the following day).
Setting an example, as he always has, India's first GM and five-time World Champion Vishy Anand came forward as the first donor. Vishy has pledged Rs.15,000 so that the live show would be conducted in the best possible manner and has also happily agreed to sign the posters, DVDs and merchandise that will be given as special prizes during the live show.
How to contribute
ChessBase India would like to congratulate Nihal Sarin for his willingness to help. His exploits on the board are already well known. Nihal with this gesture has shown that there is no right or wrong age to help people who are in need. If a 14-year-old boy can be so empathetic about the situation of the people affected by floods, so can you. Here are the four options that you have for donating:
1. Bank transfer
All people from India can contribute directly to the following Bank account:
ChessBase India Foundation IFSC CODE :- HDFC0000118 Branch Address :- 001 / 002,Samyak Darshan,Junction Of Tilak Road& Vallabh Baug Lane,Mumbai, Branch Name :- GHATKOPAR EAST-TILAK ROAD A/C No. 50200031999591 HDFC Bank
2. Credit or Debit Card
If you are a credit or a debit card holder please use the Kerala Flood Donations page to contribute. Please share the link with friends and colleagues. (only applicable for Indian card holders).
4. Youtube Super Chat
When the live show is in progress on 22nd of August 2018, Youtube has launched a new feature known as Super Chat where you can click on the dollar sign in the Live Chat and contribute the money towards the cause. (This can be used by international audience to contribute).
When will this money be sent to Kerala?
All the money collected during this fundraiser will be donated by the 23rd of August to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. Please note that you can contribute to the above avenues (apart from Super Chat) even before the live show on 22nd of August.
Boy prodigy Nihal Sarin
Nihal Sarin, born on 13 July 2004 Thrissur, Kerala (a southern state in India), learned chess at the age of five, advanced rapidly and earlier this year entered the record books by becoming an International Master at the tender age of 12 years and 08 months. His feat is reminiscent of the current world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who had also become an IM at the age of 12 years and 08 months in 2003. Nihal is the second youngest International Master ever in India, and third youngest in the world.
In April last year Nihal completed his first GM norm in Norway, crushing a 2600+ GM in the process. Just before the Norway tournament he and his father, Sarin, visited Hamburg and spent some days at the ChessBase office, optimizing his computer and software, learning how to use the system more effectively. He also recorded a Playchess show with our endgame expert GM Dr Karsten Müller, which you can watch here in our video archives. It is an hour and a half of intense instructive analysis.
In the ChessBase office it was not all work and no play. Nihal is highly entertaining, blessed with a keen sense of humour, and always open to pranks. Frederic Friedel described some of his escapades in part two of this portrait:
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
In this 60-minute course, IM Andrew Martin introduces you to a flexible and refreshingly simple opening setup - that Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has used to rack up numerous impressive wins.
If you are looking for a practical, easy-to-learn system to sidestep the main lines and catch your opponent off guard, the Two Knights Variation is your perfect weapon against the French!
ChessBase is re-releasing this timeless classic in the modern ChessBase Media format - complete with brand-new training features. Get ready to rediscover a masterpiece of chess instruction!
How do you play the Queen's Gambit Accepted? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 300 000 games, most of them played by engines.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 11827 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 240 are annotated.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.