HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

World Blitz: Carlsen and Nepo are cochampions after 'Wall Street Gambit', Wenjun wins Gold, Vaishali Bronze

Magnus Carlsen (NOR) suggested sharing the World Blitz Championship with Ian Nepomniachtchi after they drew three tie-break games in the Finals. In an unprecedented situation, apparently it was decided to make them cochampions. The online tournaments witness more number of Playoffs. If Armageddon is not there, infinite number of sudden death games were to be played until a clear winner was decided, well at least that's what the regulations implied. It was probably a 'Wall Street Gambit' after all. Wenjun Ju (CHN) defeated her compatriot Tingjie Lei (CHN) to clinch World Blitz Women title for the first time in her career. R Vaishali and Kateryna Lagno won Bronze in Women, Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) and Wesley So (USA) received Bronze in Open.

Read the full article


WINNING STARTS WITH CHESSBASE 18

CHESSBASE18

ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

Whether it is preparation for an individual opponent or tournament, administration and analysis of one's own games, development of training material for self-study or for training groups, or publication of games on the web or in print: ChessBase offers an incredible wealth of functions for all areas of study and playing levels! With features like Playing style analysis, strategic theme search, access to lichess and chesscom games database, and a brand-new mobile app, ChessBase is a must-have software for a player looking to improve their chess!

Endgame theory is well covered elsewhere; this book is all about technique and devoid of material to memorise. This week, we have a special offer running - use the coupon code "CHESSBASE18" to get a 10% discount on the ChessBase 18 software! This offer is only valid till 11th January 2025 - get it now!


LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK

Koneru Humpy Golden at World Rapid Women Championship 2024

GM Koneru Humpy convincingly clinched World Rapid 2024 Women championship. She started the day with two draws against the reigning Women's World champion - GM Wenjun Ju (CHN) and World Rapid 2014 champion - GM Kateryna Lagno. In the final round, the Indian legend defeated IM Irene Sukandar (INA) to clinch the championship for the second time in her career. Unlike last time, no tie-breaks were needed and Humpy finished clear first. Despite starting with a loss, Humpy made a strong comeback by scoring 8.5 in the next twelve games to claim the Gold. 18-year-old GM Volodar Murzin became World Rapid 2024 champion scoring an unbeaten 10/13. Today is a rest day. Blitz Round 1 Open and Women starts tomorrow Monday 30th December at 2 p.m. local time, next day 12:30 a.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

 

Read the full report


Md. Reyan and Saranya Devi Narahari are 37th National Under-13 Open and Girls 2024 Champions

CM Md. Reyan (BIH), CM Prathamesh Sherla (MAH) and Pranav Sai Ram R S (TN) scored 9/11 each at 37th National Under-13 Open 2024. Reyan won the tournament due to better tie-break score, Prathamesh and Pranav secured second and third place respectively. Reyan drew with Prathamesh and lost to Pranav. Saranya Devi Narahari (TEL) scored 9/11 to become the champion in the Girls event. She finished a half point ahead of the competition. Four girls - Nivedita V C (TN), Nihira Koul (MAH), Aamuktha Guntaka (AP) and Deekshitha Modipalli (TEL) scored 8.5/11 each. They were placed second to fifth respectively. The total prize fund combining Open and Girls section was ₹800000. The top three prizes in both Open and Girls sections were ₹80000, ₹60000 and ₹48000 along with a trophy each respectively. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Read the full article


Four Indians in World Top 13

Arjun Erigaisi maintained his rating 2801 and place World no.4 with a second place finish at Qatar Masters 2024. D Gukesh became 18th World Champion after dethroning Ding Liren (CHN). He lost a few rating points, however, he retained his World no.5 rank. R Praggnanandhaa won a game at SchachBundesliga. It fetched him 3.5 Elo rating points and moved him up to World no.13. Aravindh Chithambaram continues his ascension. He gained 7.8 Elo rating points to move to 2726 and World no.23. Currently, there are three Indians in World top 10, four in top 13, six in top 24 and nine in top 48. Among the Women, WGM Nandhidhaa P V is the highest gainer with 40.8 points. She and IM Padmini Rout returned to India top ten and World top 100 among Women. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Read the Full Article


S L Narayanan clear first at Groningen Chess Festival Open 2024

GM S L Narayanan scored an unbeaten 7/9 to win Chess Festival Groningen Open A (>2100) 2024. The top seed finished a half point ahead of the competition. Four players - GM Thomas Beerdsen (GER), IM Nick Maatman (NED), IM Manish Anto Cristiano F and IM Theo Stijve (SUI) scored 6.5/9 each. They shared second place. The total prize fund of the festival was €9750, €8000 for Open A. The top three prizes were €2500 + 'The Silver Zwanepol', €1500 and €900 each. The ten-day nine-round Swiss league rating tournament was organized by Stichting Schaakfestival Groningen Sportcentrum RUG & Hanze in Groningen, Netherlands from 21st to 30th December 2024. Rest day was on 25th December. This is Narayanan's first rating tournament triumph in 2024. Photo: Harry Gielen

Read the full Report