India's first chess features print magazine published quarterly from Lucknow since 2004 by Aspire Welfare Society.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Harshit wins 3rd Sunita Verma Memorial Chess, Kushal Dey Jr. Champion

Caption: Chief Guest and Awadh ITI Principal Agni Shikha Verma with prize winners at the 3rd Sunita Verma Memorial Rapid Chess 2025 in Lucknow.

Lucknow’s top rated junior, Harshit Amarnani, won the 3rd Sunita Verma Memorial Chess Rapid a point ahead of a very strong field with 6.5/7 on Sunday. 

Veteran coach and senior player Arif Ali was runners-up with 5.5 points dropping a point to another veteran coach Sayeed Ahmad of the Lucknow Chess Centre. Five players tied for third place with five points each including Pawan Batham, Kuldeep Shankar, Anchal Rastogi, Sayeed Ahmad and Suchitra Tandon. Pawan took the trophy on a better tie-break. Following him was Kuldeep Shankar who works with the Parliament in New Delhi and was recently felicitated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for excellence in chess. 

Chief Guest and Awadh ITI Principal Agni Shikha Verma gave away the prizes to all the winners. Ms Verma is a philanthropist, yoga practitioner and well known for her social contribution in supporting especially women and the underprivileged.

Another star of the tournament was eighteen-year-old Suchitra Tandon who made it to joint third despite being unrated.
Raghav Awasthi and Abhigyan Katiyar 4 points each won the under 16 rated section.


Hrothbertina Hilton was the best woman player with 3 points. The best senior citizen players were RP Gupta with 4 points and Kamalesh Kumar Kesharwani with 3.5 points.
All credit to eighteen-year-old Shabad Kesarwani for winning the Brave Beginner prize despite being an unrated player among top-rated players of the city.

Kushal Dey from Unchahar won the junior section with a fantastic 6/7, followed by Divyansh Singh 5.5/7.

Best Junior Girl prize went to nine-year-old Advika Tiwari.
Best children’s section checkmating combinations were by seven-year-old Atharv Sarin Shukla. 


Other Top Results
Under 10: 1st Advik Singhal 4.5 points, 2nd Kaustub Mishra 4 points
Under 13: 1st Aqib Jalil 5 points, 2nd Meer Shukla 4.5 points
Under 16: 1st Aadi Saxena 5.5 points, 2nd Daksh Arora 5 points

More photos in Facebook album (including newspaper clippings): https://www.facebook.com/share/15vRXLx3Tc/

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Monday, November 25, 2024

Singapore World Chess Championship 2024 Gukesh plays White Game 1 today


Singapore, Nov 23: The World Chess Championship 2024 in Singapore between Ding Liren and Gukesh D kicked off this afternoon with the opening ceremony. Packed to the brim with more than 400 guests, the magnificent Capitol Theatre, an architectural and lifestyle gem in the heart of Singapore's civic and cultural district, hosted the festivities.

The gala evening included a wonderful musical performance, three motivational opening speeches, the two national anthems, and, most importantly for the players, the drawing of colors for the first game of the match. In an unprecedented technological display in which both players participated actively, the drawing of colors awarded Gukesh D the white pieces in the first of the fourteen games. Three of the many attending guests of honor addressed the audience, highlighting the significance of the event for the Singapore chess community.

Mr Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, was the first on the stage and was eager to keep in mind the huge impact of the championship on his country. "This year's World Championship has spread special significance for our part of the world. It is the first ever between two Grandmasters from Asia. Singapore is proud to play host for this historic match," he said.

FIDE President, Mr Arkady Dvorkovich, began his speech by thanking the media for paying so much attention to the match. He also mentioned the many side events organized around the event. In addition, he highlighted the fact that special attention had been given to the younger generation, "The match itself is the most important thing, but today we already had dozens of kids coming to the playing venue. I would like to thank both players for sharing their time with the kids: they will remember this moment for the rest of their lives, and maybe some of them will compete at the highest possible level at some point."

Dvorkovich also directed his attention to the worldwide audience and chess legacy, "Now, for the first time in history, the Indian Tiger faces the Chinese Dragon in the fight for the world crown. We are about to witness a monumental clash as Gukesh, just 18 years old, challenges the reigning World Champion, Ding Liren, one of the strongest players ever to emerge from China. This match will not only shape the history of the game, but also its future, with millions watching worldwide".

Finally, the President of the Singapore Chess Federation, Dr Hsu Li Yang, also an International Master in his own right, was confident that the match would help inspire the new generation of players in Singapore, "My federation and I hope that this match will serve as a powerful catalyst for our thriving chess community, inspiring the next generation of chess players in our country and around the world. Singapore has long valued education, innovation, perseverance and the pursuit of excellence – qualities that are the essence of chess and which both Champion and Challenger possess in spades."

The full video of the opening ceremony can be found here:

https://youtube.com/live/tpAolTm1mTU?si=ElgLxn1L5U29iV2h

Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)

Photos: Eng Chin An and Maria Emelianova

About the event

Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, will face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.

The first of the fourteen scheduled games will take place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm. Gukesh will open with White. The match will be hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcasted live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.

Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/

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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 US, Germany, South Africa Dates Announced

Hamburg, October 1, 2024 – The first dates for the new Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 with Magnus Carlsen have been set: The elite of chess will initially meet from 7 to 14 February in Weissenhaus in northern Germany. The second event is planned for 17 to 24 July in the USA. In December 2025, the event will then move to South Africa, where it will be played from 1 to 8 December. The specific venues will be announced later.

"We are very pleased about these concrete steps towards the globalization of Freestyle Chess and are convinced that the Grand Slam will take chess as a spectator event into a new dimension,” said entrepreneur and investor Jan Henric Buettner, who launched the new series together with the world’s best chess player Magnus Carlsen.

Thomas Harsch, who was appointed Managing Director of Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH on 1 September, added: "The opening tournament this February in Weissenhaus, Germany, has already received an overwhelmingly positive response from players, fans and the media around the world. Chess interest in the USA is traditionally very good, and in Africa, there is huge untapped potential that we now want to realize.”

The newly founded Hamburg-based company Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH will organize six to eight Grand Slam tournaments a year on all continents. Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player of his era and co-founder of the new tour, will take part in all tournaments. The prize money to be shared between the players is 750,000 US dollars for each of the first three tournaments and 1 million US dollars for the subsequent tournaments. Freestyle Chess retains the core elements of traditional chess but offers a new twist: the pieces on the baseline are placed randomly. Also known as Fischer Random, this innovative setup brings new strategic options and greater unpredictability to the game, promoting a fresh, new way of competing.

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