From the CEO
Magnus Carlsen is in India for the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz 2024 and what can be more exciting than this, right? I should be writing on him in this newsletter. And I would have! If not for this young boy whom I have become a big fan of 3-year-old Anish Sarkar. Well, to be precise he is 3 years and 10 months old. He is the currently the youngest FIDE rated player in the history of the sport with an Elo of 1555.
The World no.1 with the World's youngest FIDE Rated player! | Photo: Lennart Ootes
He came to the limelight when Shahid Ahmed, published a couple of videos and then wrote about him on ChessBase India. I saw these posts and said to myself, "Wow so cute! But how much can a kid know at the age of 3 years and a few months!" I then saw him at the opening ceremony of the Tata Steel Chess India and he was the center of attraction there. Pragg and Humpy lifted him and Magnus Carlsen held him close! These were all very wholesome moments. In my head I was still quite curious and so I asked Shahid if he could arrange a small session with the youngster where I could pose him with a few puzzles. Shahid wrote back to me in a few minutes and said, Anish will come to 15th at 6 p.m. Turns out that the moment Anish was told that he would be given chess puzzles, he was very excited.
As Magnus Carlsen and Aleksandra Goryachkina completed their domination of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid, my mind was thinking about this time I would spend with Anish Sarkar. I gave the job of finding 5 positions to Kartik Krishnan in our team. He is also rated around 1500 Elo and I asked him to find puzzles that would challenge him a bit. That's how we found those five puzzles. The first position I gave him was this one:
The moment he saw the position he immediately pounced on it with Qxg2+ Kxg2 Bf3+ Kg1 Nh3#. I was surprised. We then moved to the next position. It was the famous Reti vs Tartakower, 1910. He once again could solve it immediately as he had seen this position. The positions that he hadn't seen before, he did struggle a bit not finding the tactical solutions immediately. Then we sat down on another board and I started giving him some puzzles. I first began with e4 e5 Nf3 f6? This is an error and the refutation of it is not so simple. What surprised me is in this position....
...Anish immediately played the move Bxb7! I was shocked. I had recently given this position to 20+ trainers in Meghalaya during my train the trainers seminar. It took them a good solid few minutes to find it. Turns out that Anish had already seen it before. I then went on to ask him about Legal's mate, Lucena, Philidor, Reti's position, the famous Saavedra position and much more. And he knew all of it. And the impressive part is that he not only remembers the main lines but also the variations of each of these puzzles! He definitely has an eidetic memory.
Little Anish in action at the Tata Steel Chess India Open tournament! | Photo: Lennart Ootes
When people would speak about the role of memory in becoming a good chess player, I would often be confused. Things like Vishy Anand and Vassily Ivanchuk remember 10,000 games in their head. I was not sure of how true these statements were, but even if they were, I couldn't understand if it would be all so relevant in becoming a strong chess player. But after seeing Anish, and the way in which this youngster interacted with me, I have begun to understand the value of memory. It means that once he learns something, it is in his head forever! This is an amazing thing to possess.
I want to congratulate Anish's parents specifically and his coaches at DBCA (Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy) because they have created the right environment for him to keep learning chess! This boy is an extraordinary talent and a lot of creativity will have to be brought in by the trainers to ensure that he keeps improving at a rapid pace! Personally, I am quite excited to see how this boy grows in the world of chess! The best part for now is that chess is the only thing that Anish would love to do over everything else in his life! :) And my heart was filled with joy to see this love for chess!
PS: This is not captured in the video, but when our session ended and Anish had to go back home, he started crying! :) He wanted more chess puzzles to solve! :) - Sagar Shah
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
Tata Steel Blitz R1-9: Arjun Erigaisi stuns Carlsen in 20 moves, Praggnanandhaa scores a double hat-trick
Magnus Carlsen (NOR) scored 6.5/9 to gain sole lead on the first day of Blitz at Tata Steel Chess India 2024. However, his invincibility cloak wore off as Arjun Erigaisi crushed him in just 20 moves. R Praggnanandhaa had a rough start by losing the first three games of the day. However, he made a strong comeback by the next six games, scoring a double hat-trick to move sole second place 6/9. Arjun Erigaisi and Daniil Dubov are in pursuit at 5.5/9. They are followed by Vidit Gujrathi at 5/9. In the Women's event, GM Kateryna Lagno has emerged sole leader 7/9. She is followed by GM Valentina Gunina at 6/9 and Aleksandra Goryachkina at 5/9 each respectively. The last nine rounds of Blitz will be played tomorrow, starting from 2 p.m. IST.
MEGA DATABASE 2025 - THE PREMIER CHESS DATABASE!
The ChessBase Mega Database 2025 is the premiere chess database with over 11 million games from 1475 to 2024 in high quality. Packing more than 120,000 annotated games, Mega 2024 contains the world‘s largest collection of high-class analysed games. Train like a pro! Prepare for your opponents with ChessBase and the Mega Database 2025. Let grandmasters explain how to best handle your favorite variations, improve your repertoire and much more.
Includes Mega Update Service 2025: update your Mega with your ChessBase 18 (or 17/16) program every week with over 5,000 new games. That’s about 250,000 new games!
• Comfortable design with even more top-level tournaments than ever before!
• Direct access to All World Championship matches, Candidates tournaments, famous historical tournaments and all Olympiads!
• Player lexicon for download with over 1.4 million player names and more than 44,000 player photos (only with ChessBase 18/17/16)
Get your hands on this fantastic database now - the combination of ChessBase 18 and Mega Database 2025 is a must for a player who wants to improve their chess!
LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
Aravindh Chithambaram ascends 2nd Chennai Grand Masters with a photo finish, Arjun Erigaisi third
Aravindh Chithambaram won 2nd Chennai Grand Masters 2024 in a photo finish. He needed a win in the final round to put himself in the conversation for the first place. Levon Aronian drew his game quickly with M Amin Tabatabaei. Aravindh needed to win and hope for Arjun to draw. It is exactly what happened. Aravindh defeated Parham Maghsoodloo with his sheer will and determination. Arjun could not manage to win against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, despite having two queens on the board. Of course, it was not easy. All three - Aravindh, Aronian and Arjun ended with 4.5/7. Aronian defeated Arjun in Playoffs by winning Armageddon. He drew it with black pieces. However, Aravindh utilized all his experience of playing 14 rounds of Blitz at 10th Gashimov Memorial, vanquished Aronian in both games to become the champion. What an amazing performance by Aravindh. This definitely marks the 'Age of Aravindh Chithambaram'. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy and Anmol Bhargav
Karthikeyan Murali magnificent at Hoogeveen Open 2024 with a 2833 performance, Sankalp Gupta third
Top seed GM Karthikeyan Murali scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Hoogeveen Open 2024. He finished a whopping 1.5 points ahead of the field with a 2833 performance. IM Nico Zwirs (NED) scored sole 7/9 to secure second place. GM Sankalp Gupt and IM Manuel Bosboom (NED) scored 6.5/9 each. Sankalp finished third and Manuel fourth according to tie-breaks. Sankalp was also the only player to draw with the eventual champion, Karthikeyan. The top three prizes were €3000 + trophy, €2000 and €1500. The eight-day nine round rating open tournament organized by Stichting Schaaktoernooi Hoogeveen at Town Hall in Hoogeveen, Netherlands from 27th October to 2nd November 2024. This was Karthikeyan's first tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Frans Peeters / Hoogeveen Open
Anirudhha Potawad receives Rs. 50,001 under the Gopal and Shilpa Ved Scholarship
Many talented young chess players in India struggle financially to pursue their dreams due to the high costs associated with the game. These costs can include high-level coaching, travel expenses, tournament fees, technical needs or other. That’s why the HelpChess Foundation was established in 2018 to provide support to such players. We connect the donors and recipients in a transparent manner after doing a thorough background check. Recently, Mumbai-based chess enthusiast Manan Ved contributed Rs. 50,001 to Anirudhha Potawad under the ‘Gopal and Shilpa Ved Scholarship’. This help will put Anirudhha one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming an IM. Read the article to know more.
Mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton praises Gukesh as one of the smartest and self-aware athletes
The World Championship match is just around the corner and so many discussions have been going on about Ding Liren and Gukesh. The spotlight is on their mindset more than their match. With only 10 days left, everyone is curious to know how both the players are preparing to give their best. A few days ago, we got to know that Paddy Upton who is a well-known coach, speaker, author, podcaster, and professor is helping Gukesh to prepare mentally for the biggest challenge of his career. With so many hats to wear, he has worked with world-class athletes across more than 20 sports. During his conversation with Sagar Shah, Paddy revealed that Gukesh is one of the smartest, intellectual, and self-aware athletes which is very uncommon in young athletes. Read the interview to know more about Paddy’s role and his tips for all of us on how to become our best version. Photo: Gukesh's Instagram
Did you enjoy this week's email? If so, share it with your friends and subscribe to our weekly chess newsletter! If you enjoy our work, please review us on Google.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERYou've received this Email because you have subscribed to our newsletter. To make sure this newsletter does not land in your junk/spam folder, select the email and add the sender to your address book.
ChessBase India
301, Damji Shamji, Vidyavihar west, 400086, Mumbai
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
