Candidates just a week away - Sagar Shah shares three experiences!
From the CEO
The newsletter is my way of sharing my experiences with all of you, and so in this edition I want to share three experiences that have been happening with me over the last week.
1. Subhash and Gukesh
In 2023, we began teaching in a Children’s home here in Mumbai. A children’s home is a government setup where kids who do not have their parents or whose parents are unable to take care of them are given refuge. When we began in 2023, we had no clue on what value we or chess could add in the lives of the kids. Slowly, we recognized that some kids were very interested in the game. One of them was Subhash. Right from the early days, Subhash’s talent in chess was quite clear. Instead of just making moves like attacking a piece or defending a piece, he would always set up his pieces in a way that he could execute a checkmate. He would always go after the king, and what I loved about him was the way he would combine two or more pieces. He had a wonderful combinative vision. It was clear to me that Subhash, if he worked hard on his chess, would do really well; however, the difficult part was, of course, to keep his motivation alive. While we would have sessions once a week, the remaining days he would have his own life that was going on in the home. And often I would observe that Subhash would lose his motivation/interest and not practice chess. While he was improving, his improvement was quite slow. But in comes a big change, a big shift.
In December 2025, the Global Chess League comes to Mumbai, and Subhash gets a chance to meet his idol Gukesh. Gukesh was kind enough to take out a few minutes to meet Subhash in person and even gave him a challenge. The dare was that you need to reach 2000 Elo if you want my jersey. This was just the perfect challenge that Subhash needed, and the boy started to work on chess in right earnest. On 1st of April, Subhash will get his FIDE rating. He managed to play well in a local tournament and beat a 1500-rated opponent. Now Subhash sleeps, eats, drinks chess, and he hopes to reach 2000 Elo soon to get that jersey from Gukesh. I’m pretty sure when he reaches 2000 and gets that jersey, Gukesh will have a new challenge waiting for him. Perhaps to reach the IM or GM title. :)
2. The value of protein
A few days ago, we visited the home of our good friends Charmie and Shikhar and stayed with them for a week. This is where we learnt a lot of things about diet and nutrition. To tell you the truth, I had my own notions of a healthy diet, but very soon I realized that having protein in the diet is a must. While exercise helps you break your muscles, protein helps to regenerate them. This was something that Charmie and Shikhar were able to tell us not just by words but by actually living that way. They practiced what they preached. We started having protein powder. We started to make sure that the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and fibers were involved in our diet. I hope to write one entire newsletter on this, but suffice it to say that properly apportioning these macronutrients in your food would drastically improve your health. Amruta and I can already see the difference in our energy levels and quality of life. It is my request to all of you to try and research about the importance of protein in your diet if you haven’t done so already.
3. Candidates 2026
For a long time, Amruta and I were confused whether we should go to the FIDE Candidates or not. With the ongoing war situation, we were unclear about whether going to Cyprus was safe. However, at some point we took a call that we would like to be there, and so just a few days ago we have booked our tickets to Cyprus. We will be live streaming from there and we will also be doing on-ground coverage. One of the things that was extremely tricky was to find a good flight connection to Cyprus. All flights have become super expensive because of the fact that Emirates Airlines and Qatar Airlines have stopped functioning normally. We found a ticket from Mumbai to Istanbul, which was roughly ₹1.3 lakh per person, but believe it when I say that this is amount is actually quite low. The current price of tickets is well over two lakhs.
The venue of FIDE Candidates 2026 - Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort in Cyprus.
Yogesh Gautam, who has been our travel agent, helped us immensely here. The interesting thing is that we thought that from Istanbul it’s very easy to reach Cyprus. However, from Istanbul you can only reach North Cyprus, while the tournament is taking place in South Cyprus. As the situation exists in the country, passing from North to South Cyprus is not possible, which is why we had to cancel our flight tickets from Istanbul to Cyprus and now have rebooked new tickets from Istanbul to Athens to Cyprus. Our journey will begin on the 27th of March, and we hope to reach there safely. I’m pretty sure that once we are there it will be an absolute joy to witness Pragg, Humpy, Vaishali, and Divya fight it out for the top honors. - Sagar Shah
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
IM Shashikant Kutwal Dominates Super Heroes Cup 2026
The Super Heroes Cup 2026 will be remembered not only for its inspiring participants but also for the sheer quality of chess produced across all rounds. In a knockout format where every game could end a campaign, IM Shashikant Kutwal delivered a performance of remarkable control, precision, and maturity to lift the title. Unlike many knockout events dominated by chaos, this tournament showcased a fascinating blend of fearless attacking play and classical positional understanding.
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
LEARN OPENINGS FROM SUPER GM ANISH GIRI!
When you begin your journey of building an opening repertoire, how nice would it be to get a glimpse of what each opening looks like through the eyes of a super GM. It is exactly with this thought that “A Super GM’s Guide to Openings with Anish Giri” was made.
This video course includes GM Anish Giri’s deep insights and IM Sagar Shah’s pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered, including the Ruy Lopez, Italian, Petroff, Scotch, French, Sicilian, Caro Kann, Pirc, Modern and much more. Vol.2 has all the openings after 1.d4 as well as 1.c4 and sidelines are covered. This includes the Queen's Gambit Accepted, Queen's Gambit Declined, Slav, Nimzo Complex, London System, English Opening, 1.b3, Bird's opening and more!
Along with explaining the nuances, each video also has a story, narrated by Anish, on the favourite game he played in that opening and his memories related to it. Get this wonderful software at a 10% discount right now, using the Coupon code ANISHG10. This offer is only valid till 29th March 2026, so hurry up and get it now!
LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
Aronyak Ghosh and Abhimanyu Puranik crowned as 2026 National Rapid and Blitz Champions
Aronyak Ghosh of RSPB scored an unbeaten 9.5/11 points to win the National Rapid Chess Championship 2025-26 with a clear half-point lead. Murali Karthikeyan and Hari Madhavan NB of Tamil Nadu scored 9/11 points to finish in second and third place according to tiebreaks. Abhimanyu Puranik scored 9/11 points to win the National Blitz Championship 2026, Sayantan Das finished 2nd on tiebreaks also scoring 9/11 points. Hari Madhavan NB finished 3rd scoring 8.5/11 points.
An Interview with the Former World Champion Ding Liren: Sports, Engines, Rest
In early March, Jonathan Zhi had the chance to do a written interview with Ding Liren. His answers are translated from Chinese; the original answers are available here. The questions draw heavily from previous interviews, articles, podcasts, and TV shows that Ding has given, particularly Chinese-language ones. Read this conversation with the former World Champion!
How strong is Gukesh at 19?
Gukesh has achieved what many of the greatest players could only dream of at his age: becoming a World Champion! How does Gukesh at 19 compare with the legends of the game when they were the same age? In this article, A Ganesan takes a historical journey through the early careers of some iconic champions. By examining their achievements, setbacks and growth at 19, the article places Gukesh’s remarkable rise into a broader historical perspective. Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
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