FROM THE CEO
I am trying to keep my eyes open! It's 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning and I am on my way to Budapest for the Chess Olympiad 2024. Along with me is my better half Amruta Mokal. 2 more team members - Abhyudaya Ram and Aditya Sur Roy will join us and GM Harshit Raja will fly down from the US.
We have a fantastic team back home in India who will support our coverage. We have a room at the venue from where we would be live streaming the event!
From Budapest we go to the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League that will happen in London from 3-12th October. Shahid Ahmed from our team will join us there and I will end my trip with WR Masters which is also in London. A 16-player classical event which will feature Anand, Vidit, Pragg and Arjun.
This is 40 days in Europe and UK for me this time. I have several projects going back home and in the past any such travel would be quite tough as the work would slow down whenever Amruta and I travelled outside the country.
But now our team has expanded in terms of operations and execution as well. And the most important thing is to avoid becoming a bottleneck. There is a fine line between trusting the people you work with, and not really caring about where the project goes! And perhaps this is the biggest challenge ChessBase India and I face! :)
Nothing really remains constant. Everything keeps changing. Just have a look at the Indian team in the Men's (open) section. Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa will take top 3 boards! India will in no way be inferior even when we take on a team like USA that has Caruana, Aronian, So, Dominguez. I look back at Batumi 2018 and remember the team - Anand, Hari, Vidit, Adhiban and Sasikiran! How things have changed in 6 years!
Indian women's team is the top seed in their section. Harika, Vaishali, Divya, Tania, Vantika is a fine time! I am hoping that team India wins two Gold medals. That would be an insane boost for the sport in the country. First among close to 190 countries! That would be the best thing to happen for chess in India. But at the same time I am aware that this is an extremely tough feat to achieve. But if it does happen, we will have the frontseat to this epic feat unfolding.
Stay in touch with us! We will be having our content on all our platforms - website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! And thanks to all your support. It's only because of your love that an organization like ChessBase India dreams big and invests lakhs of rupees in such a coverage. I am living the dream and I promise to share it with you as it unfolds! - Sagar Shah
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
Subhayan Kundu becomes the latest International Master of India
Subhayan Kundu became the latest International Master of West Bengal and India on 17th August. He achieved the title when he defeated Vidya Bhushan Singh in Round 2 of 4th Atal Talen Hunt Rating Open 2024 in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. The first IM-norm was scored at 5th Eka IIFL Investment Managers GM Tournament 2019-20. Almost three years later, he earned his second IM-norm at 59th National Senior Championship 2022 in New Delhi. A little over a year and a half later he secured his final IM-norm at Dini GM International Tournament 2024 in Sri Lanka. Subhayan did not slow down after becoming an IM. He continued playing tournaments, in fact he won the tournament where he fulfilled the final criteria to become an IM. His journey towards the GM title continues. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
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LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
Surya Ganguly wins the Venceslav Rutar Scoring System match against Sam Shankland
GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly defeated GM Sam Shankland in their 8-game online match following the Venceslav-Rutar Scoring system, a brand new scoring system devised by Venceslav Rutar which changes the scoring of draws into three categories based on the material disparity - Favored draw, Disfavored draw, Equal draw. Surya won the match with a margin of 26-11 points, scoring 5 wins. Sam managed to score 1 win, and 3 games ended in equal draws. The total prize fund of the match was USD 5000 - Surya received USD 2000 for winning the match, and Sam USD 1000. The remaining USD 2000 was divided proportionally among the players according to the number of wins and draws. While there were no favored/unfavored draws in the match, it surely advocated for fighting chess as we got to see so many interesting games! Read the full report of the final day below.
Utsab Chatterjee clinches 6th Sant Adria Open 2024
IM Utsab Chatterjee scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win 6th Sant Adria International Open Group A (≥1950) 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. 12-year-old Siddharth Singh (USA) scored 7/9 to finish second. FM Carlos Alberto Chavez Suarez (CUB), CM Vaibhav Jayant Raut, CM Vedant Pimpalkhare and Elm Catalan Monteagudo (ESP) scored 6/9 each. They were placed third to sixth respectively. Utsab defeated both runners-up in Round 2 and 6 respectively. The total prize fund of the tournament was €3030, €2100 in Group A. The top three prizes were €700, €400 and €300 along with a trophy each. Ambarish Sharma, Anustoop Biswas, CM Barath Kalyan M and WFM Vrushali Umesh Deodhar scored 5.5/9 each to be placed from seventh to tenth respectively. Vaibhav won the Blitz Open scoring 8/8, Ambarish second 7/8 and Suvradeepta Das third 6/8. Photo: IO NA Ricard Llerins
Velammal Vidyalaya Paruthipattu and Velammal MHS Mogappair dominate 2nd National Schools Team Under-12 and Under-18 Championships 2024
Top seed Velammal Vidyalaya Paruthipattu scored a perfect 18/18 to win 2nd National Schools Team Under-12 Champions. They finished three match points ahead of the rest. Velammal Vidyalaya Alapakkam and Velammal MHSS Mogappair scored 15/18 each. They were placed second and third according to tie-breaks. The Under-18 category was won by Velammal MHSS Mogappair. They also scored a perfect 18/18 to win the tournament. Velammal Vidyalaya Alapakkam secured second place scoring a sole 16/18. Kalvi International Public School, Madurai edged past Delhi Public School, Guwahati A Team on tie-breaks to finish third scoring 13/18. Trophies and medals were the prizes for the top three finishers in each category. There were also top three board prizes for all five boards. Photo: All India Chess Federation
Exciting format changes announced for World Blitz Championships 2024
FIDE has announced a change in the format of World Blitz Championships 2024. Instead of the usual 21 rounds for Open and 17 for Women, there will be two stages. Stage 1 will be of 13 rounds of Swiss league in Open and 11 in Women. The top eight players from both events will qualify to the knockout stage. The knockout stage will have four games per match. This is done to garner more attention from the media, make the spectacle exciting for all viewers, reduce the results determined by chance/luck and more on the sheer quality and form of the player. What do you think about these changes? Does the Rapid event also need a similar change? Photo: FIDE
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