ChessBase India

Happy International Chess Day everyone! Today, on 20th July, in 1924 FIDE was formed and this day was kept as the international chess day! :) A day that is dedicated to all the people who love chess.

Thank you to each one of you who loves chess and grows the sport by being involved in it!

The picture we have shared today is that of the legend Vishy Anand. Chess in India is what it is today because of him and his relentless pursuit of excellence for over 3 decades. He was the first GM of the country in 1987 and today we are one shy of reaching 100! :)

#chess #chessbaseindia #internationalchesday

1 day ago | [YT] | 2,666

ChessBase India

BREAKING NEWS: Rathanvel V S becomes India's 99th Grandmaster! 🇮🇳

Congratulations to Rathanvel V S on becoming India's 99th GM. He is born in 2001 and hails from the city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He crossed the Elo of 2500 at the 3rd Guwahati Smart City International Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament 2026. This also makes it a very memorable moment for the state of Assam as India's 99th GM was created in their tournament.

Rathanvel's journey has been one of the most remarkable in recent years. While a player needs 3 GM norms to become a Grandmaster, Rathanvel amassed an incredible 5 GM norms before finally completing the title. Rathanvel scored his first GM norm at the First Saturday tournament in Hungary in September 2021. The second followed immediately in the same month at the Vezerkepzo GM-MIX. The third GM norm followed in 2022.

He had already fulfilled the norm requirement back in 2022. What followed was a long and testing battle with the rating barrier. For nearly four years, he remained one of the strongest International Masters in India and the world, repeatedly coming agonizingly close to the magical 2500 mark.

Many players would have been disheartened. Rathanvel kept fighting. Tournament after tournament, country after country, he continued to prove that he possessed Grandmaster strength. His perseverance has finally been rewarded. As on 1st of July he was rated 2492 when he decided to play 2 rating tournaments in India in the state of Assam. He had a unique approach towards this where he skipped a few rounds playing against players below the Elo of 1600. He won 10 games in a row and gained those coveted 8 Elo points and reached 2500 Elo.

Here are some of Rathanvel's excellent achievements:
1. Completed 4 IM Norms and crossed 2400 rating during 2019 Abu Dhabi Masters
2. Highest rated Classical win against Super GM Le Quang Liem ( rated 2727)
3. Classical draws against top players like Abdusattorov Nodirbek (twice) , Artemiev Vladislav , Sindarov Javokhir and Gukesh.
4. World Youth U-10 Bronze Medallist , 2011 held at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
5. Represented Tamilnadu Thrice in SGFI ( School Games Federation of India) and won Gold (twice) and Silver.
6. Multiple age category Tamilnadu state chess champion ( U-9,13,19)
India now has its 99th Grandmaster - a milestone that also brings the country one step closer to the historic 100th GM.

Congratulations, GM Rathanvel V S! We wish you many more successes in the years to come. 🇮🇳♟️
A special thanks to Ravikant Tiwari for sending us some of the photos from the current tournament in Assam where Rathanvel became a GM.

Read more: chessbase.in/news/rathanvel-is-indias-99th-gm

#chess #chessbaseindia #rathanvel

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3 days ago | [YT] | 5,903

ChessBase India

BREAKING NEWS: Aswath S becomes India's 98th and latest Grandmaster!

Born in 2008, Aswath scored his 3rd and final Grandmaster norm at the Pune International GM Round Robin 2026 to become a Grandmaster. He had to win on demand in his final round game today! And he did - Aswath took down FM Kannan Vaidyanathan with the Black pieces, finishing the tournament with 7/9 points and clinching the norm.

Aswath scored his first GM norm by winning the strong Grenke Open A 2025 ahead of several strong Grandmasters. His 2nd GM norm came at the First Saturday GM Round Robin Budapest in December 2025 - he won that event as well scoring 7/9 points! He crossed 2500 FIDE Rating as well in the same event. And the final norm came in India, at Pune!

Speaking to Aswath's trainer GM Shyam Sundar, he said: " Aswath is Hardworking and a dedicated player. He has no social media distractions, and he is fully focused and a determined player. He is also a very good person!"

A huge congratulations to Aswath, his team and his family for this amazing achievement. And what a special moment for Indian Chess as well - the 97th Grandmaster, Harshavardhan GB came from the Chola Chess GM Norm Invitational. And the 98th GM Aswath comes from the Pune International GM Round Robin 2026!

PS: it was a dream of Prakash Kunte, who organized this event to see an Indian scoring a GM norm. It happened! But when it happened he wasn't there to witness it. Prakash Kunte passed away at the age of 80 years on 7th of July 2026. "It is a tribute to my father and all credit goes to him." - GM Abhijit Kunte.

A big shoutout to Balraj the Gentleman Ghai - who opened the doors of Habitat Pune to do this event! 😍 The Habitat in Pune after hosting the Super Heroes Cup, the GM Round Robin tournament and also the first session of the weekly chess club is all set to become a chess hub in Pune!

Photos: Vivek Sohani

#chess #chessbaseindia #aswath

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1 week ago | [YT] | 4,829

ChessBase India

Daniel Naroditsky's contribution to chess will never be forgotten - his games, his commentary, his writings and his teachings! But thanks to the chess community that came together and raised US$ 1.2 million along with the Charlotte Chess Center Foundation two amazing things will happen:

1. There will be annual rapid and blitz tournament that will be held in the memory of Danya with some of the best players in the world taking part.

2. The Daniel Naroditsky Fellowship of US$50,000 for a young American talent has been instated. This will be launched in August 2026 and the winner will be chosen at the start of 2027.

Both these initiatives are related to things that were close to Danya's heart. He loved playing rapid and blitz. And when he was young, he got the Samford fellowship of US$ 50,000 which helped him immensely in his chess career! A huge shoutout to the Charlotte Chess Center Foundation and the entire chess community for making this happen!

You can contribute to the fund and further strengthen it. More contribution would mean more amount for the fellowship and a better annual event every year!

givebutter.com/naroditsky-memorial-2026

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 6,827

ChessBase India

Praggnanandhaa remains the man of comebacks. Just like he won 4 games in a row to win Norway Chess 2026, Praggnanandhaa beat Saric, Deac and Anish Giri in a row in Day 3 of the GCT Super Rapid Zagreb to tie for the top spot with Alireza Firouzja - both are on 12/18 points!

After a decent start, Pragg had 2 losses in Round 5 and 6 and went down in the standings. With a strong showing in the final day, he now catches up with Alireza - who had an amazing start, but lost 1 and drew 2 games today!

Up next is 2 days of Blitz - 9 rounds of Blitz tomorrow, and 9 more rounds in the final day. Who do you think will win the GCT Super Rapid and Blitz 2026?

Photo: Lennart Ootes/ Grand Chess Tour
#chess #chessbaseindia #praggnanandhaa #grandchesstour #zagreb

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 5,596

ChessBase India

If you visit the ChessBase India YouTube channel, you will notice the "Join" button sitting next to "Subscribe." Clicking it lets you pick a membership option and become part of something larger than just a subscription. Every rupee contributed by our YouTube members goes directly towards supporting Indian chess talent, and over the years, that simple click has changed lives.

Building on the response from the previous two editions, in which 23 players received laptops, this year's program (2025-26) continues in the same spirit. The funds raised through YouTube memberships over the past year will once again be pooled together and used to provide laptops to a fresh group of deserving young players from across the country. These funds were collected between 1st April 2025 and 31st March 2026 and the total amounts to Rs. 7,79,477.3.

In the first year, the selected players received the Lenovo Yoga Slim, while in the second year, we offered the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED. This year as well, we will provide a laptop that meets the training and preparation needs of chess players. As always, tech expert Ashwin Subramanian (who has helped some of the best players in the world with their tech requirements for chess) will help us identify the best possible option.

The players who received laptops in earlier editions are now using them to chase IM and GM titles, to compete in national and international events, and to dream bigger than they could before. We cannot wait to see what this year's group of recipients goes on to achieve with the support of this community behind them.

Thank you dear ChessBase India YouTube community for enabling this program and keeping it going! :) The details of every single member who has contributed is in the article link given below and we also have the link for young talents to apply for a laptop this year.

www.chessbase.in/news/laptop-to-chess-players-thro…

Below are photos of all 23 youngsters who have received laptop from our YouTube memberships program.

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,540

ChessBase India

BREAKING NEWS! Harshavardhan G.B. is India's 97th Grandmaster!
A day after Ethan Vaz became India's 96th GM, it is now time for the next one already! Harshavardhan G.B. scored his final Grandmaster norm at the 2nd Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament, officially securing his GM title. He remained completely unbeaten throughout the tournament, scoring the required 6.5/9 points, and crossing 2500 rating too!

His path to the final norm was an absolute masterclass in clutch performance. After sitting on 3 points from the first 5 rounds, he needed an intense 3.5 points from his final 4 games to cross the finish line.

He did exactly that by defeating IM Kushagra Mohan in the sixth round, taking down the tournament leader GM Michal Krasenkow in the seventh round, and winning a highly complex rook endgame against Alexei Fedorov in the eighth round. Needing just a draw in the final round, he comfortably split the point with the white pieces against Mihail Nikitenko.

Harshavardhan earned his first GM norm by winning the Asian Juniors in 2022, and his second at the Asian Continental in 2025, from which he also qualified for the FIDE World Cup.

Speaking to ChessBase India, Harshavardhan shared how he started playing chess at the tender age of 4 because of his dad, FT Gopalakrishnan K. He is currently working with Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy, having previously trained under the renowned Visweswaran Kameswaran.

Yesterday, Ethan Vaz became the 96th GM, and today Harshavardhan G.B. joins him. It is a truly spectacular sign for Indian chess. A huge congratulations to Harshavardhan for this monumental achievement! 🏆🎉

Read the full report: chessbase.in/news/harshavardhan-gb-becomes-97th-gr…

#ChessBaseIndia #chess #grandmaster #Harshavardhan

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3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 9,701

ChessBase India

BREAKING NEWS! ETHAN VAZ IS INDIA'S 96th GM

14-year-old Ethan Vaz has become the 96th GM of India today! The youngster from Goa (born on 3rd September 2011) achieved his final GM norm at the Sarajevo GM Mix in Bosnia and Herzegovinia.

Playing the open tournament, Ethan not just achieved his final GM norm with a rating performance of 2643, he remained undefeated, scoring 7.0/9 and also won the tournament ahead of 10 GMs. Ethan's live rating is 2529.

Ethan's first GM norm came at the GM4 Festival Saha Bijeljina 2025 in Bosnia and Herzegovinia in October 2025 where he achieved his norm with a round to spare before going ahead and winning the tournament. His 2nd GM norm was at the GM Mix 11 Fantastico tournament in Senta, Serbia in January 2026. equiring a victory in the final round to achieve the norm, Ethan delivered under pressure by defeating a 2395-rated FIDE Master to secure both the tournament title and his second norm.

Speaking to ChessBase India Ethan's father Edwin says, "I want to thank Ethan's coaches Prakash Vikram Singh sir, Swayams Mishra sir and Srinath Narayanan sir for helping Ethan improve as a player. A big thank you to Chola Chess Academy and through them the Pro Chess Training and all their coaches including RB Ramesh sir for the guidance. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors who have helped us - Helpchess Foundation, Geno, Quantbox, Group e4, Chola Chess, The King's School and our friends who donated towards Ethan's crowdfunding campaign"

Ethan has become the third GM from the state of Goa after Anurag Mhamal and Leon Mendonca and is one of the brightest young talents of Indian chess and the world right now. It is almost certain that the boy will become a world class player in the years to come. We wish him the best in his journey to becoming a World Class GM!

Photos: From different ChessBase India articles over the years

#chess #chessbaseindia #ethanvaz

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 4,274

ChessBase India

ChessBase India is heading towards the Americas.

From 25th to 28th of June is the World Chess Marathon in Lima, Peru. And from there we will be travelling to Charlotte, North Carolina in the USA.

A world class event in the memory of Daniel Naroditsky will take place in Charlotte from 3rd to 5th of July. Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Javokhir Sindarov and many other top players will play there.

There's also a creator blitz tournament that will take place on 5th of July. IM Sagar Shah will play in it as well along with Gotham Chess, Botez sisters and many of the top chess creators!

We will keep you posted about all the happenings on our channel 😍

#chess #chessbaseindia

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,533

ChessBase India

Just two days after clinching the World Rapid Team Championship, the Chinese squad Dragon Chilling has completed a historic double by securing the World Team Blitz Championship 2026 title. Despite the presence of heavyweights like Magnus Carlsen’s WR Chess and India’s formidable Team MGD1, this Chinese unit maintained its dominance throughout the event to walk away with both trophies. In the Blitz Endgame, AI secured 2nd place while the Uzbekistan team secured 3rd position.

Double Gold of Dragon Chilling: The final was surprisingly one-sided, as Dragon Chilling faced off against Endgame.AI. The Chinese team dominated both Matches in the final, winning 5-1 in both. On the top board, Ding Liren scored 1.5/2 against Hans Niemann. Wang Zihao dominated on the amateur board, winning both of his games.

The most shocking moment of the tournament occurred in the quarterfinals. The defending champions and tournament favorites, WR Chess featuring Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, were knocked out by Uzbekistan.

Read the full report by Devansh Singh: chessbase.in/news/world-team-blitz-2026-day-final-…

#chess #rapidblitzteams #hongkong

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4 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,100