2/13/2024 – In January, Leon Mendonca won the prestigious Tata Steel Challengers tournament, and now he has analysed the 13 games he played in the tournament! In a video of more than 150 minutes (maybe a better choice than a Netflix movie tonight?), Leon shares his thoughts and insights, in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. Instructive, entertaining, and a must for any chess fan!

11/20/2023 – For the Fritz 19 launch, we let six different players, ranging from elo 1839 up to 2614, battle the six engine player characters. Twice, the computer escaped with extraordinary swindle tactics, causing a stalemate for Elisabeth Paehtz, and Jan Jettel! The engine showed us beautiful tactical moves, to decide the outcome against Leon Mendonca, and Svitlana Demchenko. The two human victories were determined through hard fights in endgames, by Robert Ris, and Polina Karelina. Overall, the experiment was a success: We wanted fun, and entertaining games, and we got them. Now, it is your turn!

11/14/2023 – Leon Luke Mendonca fears nobody, not even the Grandmaster level of the brand new Fritz 19! The Indian Grandmaster faces the allrounder, which is one of six new player types, that Fritz 19 has to offer. Does Leon even have a tiny chance against the powerful GM-Level? Can the allrounder score, just by maintaining an innocent demeanor? You can find out in the video.

10/13/2023 – After White's first move, it is usually Black, who determines the character of the game. The Keymer System 1.Nf3 and 2.e3 is an attempt from White to steer the game into lines and structures White likes. On his first Fritztrainer the young Indian Grandmaster Leon Mendonca shows the potential and the advantages of the Keymer System. Christian Höthe took a look at the course.

4/1/2023 – Grandmaster (GM) Leon Mendonca is a rising star in the chess world and one of India's most promising young talents. Recently, he won the HIT Open 2023 in Slovenia, with an insane 9 out of 9 points. In this ChessBase article, Leon provides an in-depth analysis of three of his games from the tournament, offering insights into his decision-making process and the strategies he employed to secure victory. By sharing his experiences and expertise, Leon offers valuable lessons for chess players of all levels looking to improve their game.

3/31/2023 – Grandmaster (GM) Leon Mendonca is a rising star in the chess world and one of India's most promising young talents. Recently, he won the HIT Open 2023 in Slovenia, with an insane 9 out of 9 points. In this ChessBase article, Leon provides an in-depth analysis of three of his games from the tournament, offering insights into his decision-making process and the strategies he employed to secure victory. By sharing his experiences and expertise, Leon offers valuable lessons for chess players of all levels looking to improve their game.

3/29/2023 – Grandmaster (GM) Leon Mendonca is a rising star in the chess world and one of India's most promising young talents. Recently, he won the HIT Open 2023 in Slovenia, with an insane 9 out of 9 points. In this ChessBase article, Leon provides an in-depth analysis of three of his games from the tournament, offering insights into his decision-making process and the strategies he employed to secure victory. By sharing his experiences and expertise, Leon offers valuable lessons for chess players of all levels looking to improve their game.

2/11/2023 – Rapid interviews are fun: interviewer and guest face each other in an epic rapid chess battle. The chess guest not only has to face the interviewer's questions, but also concentrate on the chess game at the same time. This leads to surprising answers and sometimes to curious chess positions. Leon Mendonca is now playing for the Schachbundesliga team HSK in Hamburg, just like Nihal Sarin. Leon visited us a couple of times already, and was brave enough to face Arne Kaehler in the Rapid Interview, using the legendary Garde chess clock. | Photo: Twitter Leon Mendonca with Frederic Friedel

10/13/2021 – The knockout Finals of the ground-breaking Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour kick off on Thursday with German chess prodigy Vincent Keymer favourite to be crowned champion, though he will face stiff competition from the likes of Praggnanandhaa and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. At stake is $12,500 for the winner and a regular spot in next year’s elite Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

7/14/2020 – We want you to find a caption for this picture. It shows the Balaton tournament director IM Janos Rigo congratulating winner IM Leon Luke Mendonca, who is fourteen years old. Due to the pandemic Leon has been trapped in Budapest, together with his father, for almost four months now. Fortunately it is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and fortunately the legendary Judit Polgar has helped make their stay more pleasant – this time by sharing a culinary adventure.

5/30/2020 – Two months ago, just before his 14th birthday, Indian super-talent (Elo 2452) Leon Luke Mendonca played in the 1st Saturday tournament in Budapest, Hungary. He was scheduled to fly back on the 18th of March, but the Indian government closed the country on the 19th, when the flight was supposed to arrive. So for over two months now Leon and his father Lyndon have been separated from their family in Goa. Only comfort: they are stranded in what Lyndon called "one of the most beautiful cities in the world." And they got to meet a wonderful lady who inspired the young chess player deeply. Latest: yesterday five-time World Champion Vishy Anand was able to fly bacck to India after being stranded for over three months in Frankfurt, Germany.

9/4/2019 – As we reported last week, Vladimir Kramnik conducted a special training camp in Chens-Sur-Léman, France, for six very talented Indian youngsters, all in their early teens, but already GMs or close to winning the title. The camp was sponsored by the Chennai-based company Microsense Private Limited and ended last Saturday. ChessBase editor Frederic Friedel visited the camp and watched the interaction between the kids and the former World Champion. | Photos: Amruta Mokal and Frederic Friedel