French Toast: How India No. 2 Harikrishna fries 1... e6

India's number two chess player, the in-form Super GM Pentala Harikrishna, is offering a unique chance to have training time with him.

The 2730-rated grandmaster has launched a competition to win a place in one of two group lessons focusing on one of his opening systems.

Harikrishna, aged 33, recently released his first chess instruction course, an anti-French repertoire titled French Toast: How Harikrishna fries 1... e6, through the online training platform Chessable.com.

The course has a points leaderboard to show who has studied the most, and Harikrishna will host a lesson with the top 5 each week.

Harikrishna, from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, has been in sparkling form this year and narrowly missed out on top spot at the elite Shenzhen Masters earlier this month

Read more »

Yugina Chess Art: Chance to Buy Talented WFM's Paintings

Maria Yugina (Mariya Yughina) seduces her fans with bold shapes and vibrant colors weaving her passion for romance, travel and the royal game of chess into her paintings.Maria is a talented artist from St. Petersburg, Russia.  She is also an accomplished chess player with a women’s fide chess master title and elo of 2183. She is married to Romanian chess grandmaster Mihail Marin. The two of them travel the world competing in chess tournaments and showcasing Maria’s chess themed collection of work.

She is quickly taking the world by storm with her flirty and whimsical cubism style. Before now, her paintings have been sold primarily through word of mouth. This alone has resulted in her selling close to 15 pieces of work a month in over 8 countries!

She has now partnered with chess marketing company OFF da ROOK Entertainment to expand her reach and brand YUGINA ART as a household name.  Original art can be found for purchase at  yugina.com.

To kick things off, Jennifer Vallens, founder of OFF da ROOK Entertainment and a huge fan of Yugina’s work, will have a YUGINA ART table set up at the International Chess Festival in Las Vegas June 14 and 15, 2019.  Exclusive YUGINA ART poster art will be available for sale.  Stop by and say hello and get your limited print!

Read more »

World Fischer Random Chess Championship okayed by FIDE

Arne Horvei and Jøran Aulin-Jansson received FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich a few weeks ago in Oslo.

Oslo, April 20, 2019—The World Fischer Random Chess Championship is now officially recognized by FIDE and will start on Chess.com.

This historic event will feature an online qualifying phase on Chess.com, beginning April 28, and is open to all non-titled players. Qualifiers for titled players begin June 30. The finals will be held in Norway this fall, with a prize fund of $375,000 USD.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has granted the rights to host the inaugural FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship cycle to Dund AS, in partnership with Chess.com. And, for the first time in history, a chess world championship cycle will combine an online, open qualifier and worldwide participation with physical finals.

“With FIDE’s support for Fischer Random Chess, we are happy to invite you to join the quest to become the first-ever FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Champion” said Arne Horvei, founding partner in Dund AS. “Anyone can participate online, and we are excited to see if there are any diamonds in the rough out there that could excel in this format of chess,” he said.

"It is an unprecedented move that the International Chess Federation recognizes a new variety of chess, so this was a decision that required to be carefully thought out,” said FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich, who recently visited Oslo to discuss this agreement. “But we believe that Fischer Random is a positive innovation: It injects new energies an enthusiasm into our game, but at the same time it doesn't mean a rupture with our classical chess and its tradition. It is probably for this reason that Fischer Random chess has won the favor of the chess community, including the top players and the world champion himself. FIDE couldn't be oblivious to that: It was time to embrace and incorporate this modality of chess."

The 2019 FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship features chess superstars such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana. Wesley So, Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Peter Svidler are also confirmed to play. This historic event will feature a qualifying phase open to all players beginning April 28. Players can enter at www.FRChess.com, and the qualifying rounds will be hosted by Chess.com.

"We are thrilled to be the organizing partner for the 2019 FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship," said Daniel Rensch, chief chess officer of Chess.com. "We're excited to be teaming up with Dund AS to provide an accessible path to stardom for players around the world!"

Non-Titled players may register for qualifiers here

Titled players may register for qualifiers here

About Dund AS:
Dund AS organized the 2018 unofficial Fischer Random (FR) world title match between classical chess champion Magnus Carlsen and recognized Fischer Random ace Hikaru Nakamura, who won the final Mainz tournament in the discipline in 2009. The enormous interest generated by the event, which stole nearly two million Norwegian television viewers away from the national obsession of the Winter Olympics, showed that the world was ready for more FR chess.

About Chess.com:
Chess.com is the world’s largest chess site, with a community of more than 27 million members from around the world playing millions of games every day. Launched in 2009, Chess.com is the leader in chess news, lessons, events and live entertainment. Visit Chess.com to play, learn and connect with chess—the world’s most popular game.

About FIDE:
The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) is the governing body of international chess competition. Founded in 1924, it was one of the first institutions of its kind and it is now one of the largest, with a total of 190 affiliated national chess federations.

Read more »

Aryan Singh wins Speed Chess on Running Lucknow Metro

GIANT LEAP FOR CITY: SPEED CHESS ON LUCKNOW METRO: Lucknow took a giant leap in chess awareness Sunday morning (April 7, 2019) with several chess whizkids in the age-group of 8-15 playing a speed tournament on the Lucknow Metro from the IT station to airport – a revolutionary concept, which is the first in India and only organised in tube rails in Europe.

Fourteen-year-old Aryan Singh of Jaipuria School won the Chess Club Black & White (CCBW) Speed Chess trophy and Himmika Amarnani, city’s top-rated Under-14 player was awarded the Best Girl trophy. Lucknow’s youngest FIDE-rated girl player Sanvi Agarwal also participated in the tournament. The event was supported by the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation with CS, PRO, Pushpa Belani accompanying the team through the entire stretch.

Morning Metro commuters were in for a surprise when they saw boys and girls playing speed chess with a three-minute time control in twin Metro coaches. An added draw was the youth members of the Ilyas Khan group playing guitar and playing Bollywood songs to cheer the players on.

The speed of the chess moves on the 64 squares matched the speed of the Metro skimming through the city skyspace. “If you love chess, you can play it anywhere, anytime. And like the Metro, chess resonates in the history, art and culture of Lucknow. We wanted to tell Lucknowites to come out and play,” said Dr Junaid Ahmad, CCBW director and former UP chess champion.

LMRC CS, PRO, Pushpa Bellani said, “I was impressed by the confidence and focus of the children despite the tournament happening in the Metro. LMRC is happy to have supported the tournament.”

Urdu poet and chess lover Anupam Srivastava, who was the chief guest, said he was impressed by the quality and sharpness of the chess moves by the kids in such an environment. Usually chess tournaments are organised in quiet halls. FIDE arbiter Hemant Sharma pulled off an acrobatic feat by balancing the laptop in one hand and conducting the parings in the moving Metro.

Read more »

Delhi Chess: Gukesh becomes World’s 2nd Youngest GM

New Delhi: Chennai's Gukesh D. made his third and final Grandmaster norm in the penultimate round of 17th Delhi International chess tournament now underway here. 

Gukesh has secured 7 points in nine rounds  to become the second youngest grandmaster in chess history, behind Sergey Karjakin of Russia but ahead of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan. He won his game in the ninth round against Dinesh Sharma rated 2303.

Meanwhile Grandmaster Pantsulaia Levan of Georgia stayed ahead of the field after defeating overnight leader Mosadeghpour Masoud of Iran. Kerala’s Grandmaster S. L Narayanan outwitted Odisha’s Debashis Das to take his tally to 7.5 points. 

The Rs. 35 Lakh tournament will come to an end on Wednesday. The tenth round will witness clash of overnight leaders Pantsulaia Levan and S.L Narayanan. 

Local hopeful GM Abhijeet Gupta has a chance to finish in top five if he can win his last round game against Gukesh D. However, the young Chennai prodigy is in top form here. 

There were norms galore at the tournament.  International Masters Gukesh D and Visakh NR secured GM norms while Aditya Mittal, Saurabh Ananad, Bharat Kumar Reddy and Neelash Saha scored IM Norms respectively.

Pairings for final round: http://chess-results.com/tnr393175.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=10&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30

Read more »

Delhi Chess 2019: Masoud pulls ahead

New Delhi: Twenty-two years old Iranian Grandmaster Mosadeghpour Masoud pulled ahead of the field with a finely crafted victory over Tran Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the eighth round of 17th Delhi International Grandmasters Tournament underway here on Monday. 

Playing with white pieces in Sicilian Najdorf Bg5 variation which lasted 33 moves, Masoud, rated 2517  got better of Grandmaster Tran Tuan Minh, rated 2541. Tran obtained a small advantage after making exchange sacrifice of his rook for knight on the 23rd move. Later he landed in a piece-down position, prompting him to resign.  

With his sixth victory in eight games, Masoud took his tally to a whopping 7 points out of a possible eight and emerged as sole leader with a half-point lead over nearest rivals. Just two rounds are remaining in this Rs. 35 Lakhs prize money tournament. 

Among other important games of the day, Indian Grandmasters Debashis Das and Diptayan Ghosh played out a quick draw to inch up to 6.5 points while Grandmasters Erigaisi Arjun and Stupak Kirill signed peace treaty after a tense struggle to also reach 6.5 points. 

Seven players are closely trailing behind the leader.  

Category ‘C’ tournament which boasts participation of more than 1500 players came to the half-way stage with 56 players scoring 4 points out of 4 rounds. Six more rounds are remaining in this 33 lakhs prize money event. Total prize of the 17th Delhi International Grandmasters Tournament is One Crore One Lakh Rupees. 

Pairings for round 09: http://chess-results.com/tnr393175.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=9&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30

Read more »

Delhi International Chess Festival: Rs 1 cr Prize Fund

One Crore prize fund for the first time in the country

29 Grandmasters compete in premier group ‘A’

Local star Vaibhav Suri starts as the highest ranked Indian in the biggest ever Indian open that kickstarts in the National capital on Wednesday.

With 29 Grandmasters in the fray in a field of over 300 participants, the premier event promises all the excitement for the chess buffs. Making it an open event for everyone this year means that the tiny tots will also get a chance to match their wits against much accomplished names.

However, it is not the premier event alone that is generating most of the buzz. The excitement also lies in the B and C group that has a rating cap for below 1899 and 1499 players. With list is growing with over 900 participants in the B group while over 1200 players have already registered for the “C” group that starts after four days.

This means that the Delhi open is actually set to breach the 3000 entry mark and might be referred to as the biggest open festival of the world. There is no other tournament across the globe where so many competitors participate.

The total prize pool that exceeds a 100000 Rupees over the One Crore mark is the biggest attraction this year and clearly the think tank lead by Delhi Chess Association President Bharat Singh Chauhan who also doubles up as the Secretary of Indian Chess Federation have made it the biggest extravaganza of 2019.

Grandmaster Farrukh Amonatov of Turkmenistan, a former winner here, starts as the top seed and rating favourite in the premier section but surely he will face stiff competition from the likes of Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia, Alexandre Predke from Russia and another Indian star Abhijeet Gupta.

There will be host of opportunities for the players seeking their International norms and talented youngster like D Gukesh can hope to become the next Grandmaster from India.

Apart from the main chess tournaments the organisers have planned many extra activities not only for the participants but also for visiting parents and accompanying persons with several players.

There will be sessions on parenting done by some of the best in business and a training camp for wannabe chess coaches is also planned. The lectures on parenting and making your child ready for the future will be done by, among others, Paarth Ashok Narang, a life coach.

The training for coaches will be imparted by super coach R B Ramesh along with FI Praful Zaveri and Vishal Sareen.

The icing on the cake will be of course the simultaneous displays in which the young players will get a chance to compete with India’s youngest ever Grandmaster R Praggnandhaa and former Asian queen Tania Sachdev. In another simul, GM K Priyadharshan will also give an opportunity for the young kids to have a go at him!

“We believe in creating opportunities and that’s what we are trying to do here. I had dreamt of a One Crore Prize Fund Chess festival about 30 Years back and here we are living the dream of every chess player in the country. Hopefully we will see many such events in the future in the country”, said Bharat Singh Chauhan on the eve of the beginning of the mega event. 

Read more »