From the CEO
I want to start this newsletter with a position that I shared with Arjun Erigaisi. You can also try to solve it. It is Black to play and win. Please Note: Arjun solved it within 10 seconds.
This is your position of the Week for today's newsletter! Black to play, find the win!
Arjun's answer was Qd6!! My answer in this position was not Qd6 but Qd4 because Rxd4 Rf1 is mate but Arjun saw the refutation as well - he saw Qd4 Qxh7+!! Kxh7 Nxf8 comes with check and then you pick up the queen. And so he saw Qd4, found refutation of it and then Qd6. All of this in just 10 seconds! What a beast! It also shows how tactically sharp this youngster is.
On 4th of October we played the India vs USA match. Kudos to Levy (who beat me) and Team USA for an emphatic 5-0 victory over India. The games were very exciting and I believe team USA played excellent chess! We hope to play them again in the revenge match a few months later in India when all Indians will have white pieces! :) There was a particular episode that took place at the end of the match where Hikaru Nakamura tossed Gukesh's king into the crowd after winning. While for many it came across as surprising and for some disrespectful, I must say that videos online do not do justice to the atmosphere of the esports stadium in Arlington. Also the organizers had encouraged such actions from the players so that people who don't understand chess so well, get attracted to the sport. I can see this happening more and more frequently at chess events, breaking away from traditional roots of the game.
Watch the full video of the incident
Is this good for the sport? This is surely an open question. For me it is not clear. Are we moving away from the classiness that chess has built all these years? But one can also see the financial implications of this approach. Close to 1000 people bought tickets worth close to USD 100 for a 3 hour show! When I spoke to them after the match, with many of the fans, they mentioned that they would prefer coming back to such an event! So definitely the organizers are doing something right here! A huge congratulations to Checkmate SV, Salim and his team for putting together this concept.
If you missed it, go watch the full livestream!
I want to thank a few people who helped me make a comeback to the board. My better half Amruta, who travelled all the way to USA as my second! I want to thank Anirudhha Potawad, Soumya Swaminathan and Vedant Panesar who came to the Temple of Chess to play training games with me. I played two rapid rating events in Mumbai and basically tried to get into touch by intensely working on chess in the last 20 days. Vidit Gujrathi also helped me understand the finer nuances of opening theory in chess. Of course, he is an encyclopaedia of chess knowledge! Immense gratitude to Avetik Grigoryan, the founder of ChessMood, who agreed to help me as a coach not just for this event but also if I want to continue my journey in chess in the coming days! For me he is my spiritual brother, and it gave me a lot of strength when he said yes to train me in chess. It basically made me feel, someone believes strongly in my abilities in chess! :) I also solved 777 tactics from his Tactics Ninja course on chessmood - highly recommended!
I want to thank all the members of ChessBase India who were so supportive of me making a comeback to chess, and raised their game so that I could dedicate time to chess! They have been constantly egging me on to play more and more chess! Thank you dear team! For me making a comeback to the board happened after 7.5 years. I hope to continue this journey and become a stronger chess player and a better human being! - Sagar Shah
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
FIDE World Cup 2025: Players list and pairings announced
A total of 24 Indians, 14 more than the previous edition in 2023, are set to take part in the upcoming FIDE World Cup 2025. First game of the first round is on 1st November. Eight Indians got a Bye in the first round due to being in the top 50 seeds. The remaining 16 will have to play their first round matches. The players are - D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, Pentala Harikrishna, Karthikeyan Murali, Pranav Venkatesh, Raunak Sadhwani, Pranesh M, Leon Luke Mendonca, S L Narayanan, Iniyan Pa, Karthik Venkataraman, Diptayan Ghosh, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Raja Rithvik R, Aronyak Ghosh, Lalit Rohit, Divya Deshmukh, Himal Gusain, Harshavardhan G B and Neelash Saha. What are your predictions? Photo: FIDE
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
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Jan Markos is a Slovakian grandmaster and trainer. His previous book, Under the Surface, was the English Chess Federation’s 2018 Book of the Year. David Navara is a ten-time Czech Champion and a world-class grandmaster. He is noted for combining fighting spirit with outstanding sportsmanship!
Today, we have a special offer on The Secret Ingredient - use the coupon code "SECRET10" to avail a 10% discount. This offer is valid until 13th October 2025 - hurry up and get it now!
LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
Impressive Iniyan clinches 62nd National Championship 2025, becomes a double champ
The reigning National Rapid champion, GM Iniyan Pa (TN) drew his final round game against GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB) to become 62nd National Champion. The last player to win two or more National titles simultaneously was, GM Aravindh Chithambaram back in 2019. He was the first National Triple Crown champion. Iniyan is now a double champion as he won the National Rapid Championship 2025 a few months ago. 15-year-old IM Goutham Krishna (KER) defeated IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (KAR) to finish with the same score as Iniyan 9/11. Goutham secured second place according to tie-breaks. IM Ritviz Parab (Goa) lost to GM Sasikiran Krishnan (PSPB) and the latter finished third. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Sharvaanica A S becomes World Cadet Under-10 Girls 2025 Champion, Bronze for Kiyanna and Sarbartho
WCM Sharvaanica A S won Gold in Under-10 Girls category at World Cadet 2025. Despite starting with a loss, she won her next nine games in-a-row and finished the event with a loss too. She had a better tie-break than WCM Chinzorig Nandinjiguur (MGL) as Sharvaanica defeated her in the eighth round. Kiyanna Parihar scored 8.5/11 to win Bronze in the same category. After a brilliant start 6/6, Sarbartho Mani scored 2.5/5 in the last five rounds to score 8.5/11 and get a Bronze medal in Under-10 Open group. In total, India won three medals at this event - one Gold and two Bronze medals. Photo: Saji Matthew
Narayani Marathe secures Vijay Ranade e4 Scholarship of Rs. 20,000 every month
Former National U-7 Girls Champion and Asian Youth U-8 Girls Champion (Classical & Rapid) Narayani Marathe comes from a small town in Maharashtra, called Nandurbar. But her talent has taken her dreams far beyond its borders. Her achievements stand out even more when you realize the challenges her family faced in supporting her chess journey. Sachin Ranade, a New York-based finance professional, has been financially supporting her since September 2024 through consistent monthly contributions. He even gifted his personal laptop to Narayani this year. With his generous help, Narayani has been able to attend coaching camps, play more tournaments, and focus on her growth. For Sachin, this support represents the most fulfilling chapter of his own chess story. Check out the article to know more.
Nihal Sarin reaches 2700
Nihal Sarin finally reached the coveted 2700 rating in a published FIDE Rating list. He became the tenth Indian to achieve so. The 21-year-old from Kerala, gained 9.9 Elo rating points at FIDE Grand Swiss 2025. Arjun Erigaisi returned to World no.4, after adding 1.5 Elo rating points. R Praggnanandhaa slipped to World no.5. World Champion, D Gukesh moved out of World Top ten for the first time since May 2024. There are still six Indians in Top 30. Among the Women, four are in Top 20. FIDE Women's World Cup winner, GM Divya Deshmukh returned to World no.11 among Women after her stellar performance at the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 Open. GM R Vaishali gained 19.6 Elo rating points by winning FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 Women for the second consecutive edition. Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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