GM Vidit Gujrathi (ONGC) scored 7/9 to win 34th PSPB Inter Unit Rapid Individual Chess Tournament 2025. GM Pranav Venkatesh (IOC-A) also scored the same 7/9. However, Vidit won the tournament on tie-breaks. Both Vidit and Pranav suffered a loss each. Vidit lost against the legend, GM Sasikiran Krishnan (ONGC) in Round 7. Pranav lost against the eventual champion, Vidit in the fifth round. Four players - GM Raunak Sadhwani (IOC-A), GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (IOC-A), GM G N Gopal (BPCL) and GM Sethuraman S P (ONGC) scored 6.5/9 each. They were placed third to sixth respectively according to tie-breaks. This is the second consecutive edition Vidit as he won the 33rd edition in 2023.
Endgame Labyrinths presents the reader with 1002 challenging studies selected and truncated, with their usefulness for the practical player in mind. It is common for studies to be extended by less interesting manoeuvres or by incomprehensible sequences, before the main themes come into play. The studies have been pruned to leave the reader with 1002 clear and solvable challenges! A few years of extensive selection, analysis, reselection, reanalysis and refining have gone into putting together the study book for the practical player with the most value ever.
Today, we have a very special offer on this wonderful book, which GM Anish Giri opined as "Absolute Gold". Just use the coupon code "ENDLAB10" to avail a 10% discount on Endgame Labyrinths by Jacob Aagaard and Steffen Nielsen ! This offer is valid till 1st March 2025 - so hurry up and get your copy now!
ONGC defeated BPCL 2.5-1.5 to win 34th PSPB Inter Unit Rapid Team Chess Tournament 2025. They won all seven of their matches, five in Pool and two in Duel. BPCL is the only team to score 1.5 points to a losing effort against the eventual winners on both occasion at different stages. All other teams got whitewashed by ONGC. The team comprised - GM Koneru Humpy, GM Sethuraman S P, GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Sasikiran Krishnan and GM Deep Sengupta. BPCL had GM Vaibhav Suri, GM Abhijeet Gupta, GM G N Gopal and GM Venkatesh M R. IOC-A finished third. Their team consisted - GM Raunak Sadhwani, GM Karthikeyan Murali, GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly, GM Pranav V and GM Adhiban B.
Over 4.5 years ago, we reported Hikaru Nakamura signing with TSM. After the announcement of the inclusion of chess in the upcoming Esports World Cup 2025, World no.4 Arjun Erigaisi became the first top player to be signed by Gen.G Esports organization. The new World Rapid champion - Volodar Murzin joined the AG Global team. Then it was announced by Team Vitality that World Blitz 2021 champion, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) is their latest signee. Team Liquid selected both World no.1 and 2 - Magnus Carlsen (NOR) and Fabiano Caruana (USA) to their team. NAVI esports club signed World no.6 and World Rapid 2021 champion - Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), first Official World Fischer Random champion - Wesley So (USA) and Oleksandr Bortnyk (UKR). Photo: Shahid Ahmed, logo: Gen.G Esports
GM Kateryna Lagno scored the sole victory in Round 4 of FIDE Monaco GP 2025. She is the now the sole leader 3/4. The three-time World Blitz champion had a messy game against GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER). After an initial mistake, the Germany no.1 woman got an opportunity to get back in the game. The complex nature of the position made her falter in the end again, allowing her opponent to win the game. GM Koneru Humpy and GM Harika Dronavalli had relatively quiet draws against GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) and IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) respectively. Round 5 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
On the 15th of February, IM Vantika Agrawal took on 17 challengers in an exciting simultaneous exhibition at the ChessBase India Chess Club in Phoenix Marketcity Mall, Kurla. The simul featured players from different age groups and ratings, all eager to test their skills against a titled player. All the challengers enjoyed this rare opportunity to face the Olympiad Gold medalist. In the end, Vantika delivered an impressive performance with 15 wins and just 2 losses. Read the article to find out how the event unfolded. Photos: Tanmesh Mokal, Vidhi Karelia.