ChessBase India

18th of January 2026 is the 10th year anniversary of ChessBase India. We began 10 years ago in 2016. A big thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey.

We are writing an article on this occasion and if you have

1. Any experience or an anecdote that you would like to share, please do so.
2. Any feedback for improvement if you have

We will incorporate the best ones in the article on our ChessBase India newspage (www.chessbase.in)

What we have built would be nothing without the community that exists! Hence, we would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you who has contributed in some form or the other to help us continue our mission of "Powering Chess in India and the world!"

1 week ago | [YT] | 2,000

ChessBase India

It was a beautiful start to the year 2026 for Nihal Sarin. The youngster from Kerala won the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid 2026 with a clear half point ahead of the field scoring 6.5/9. Nihal performed at an Elo of 2839 and won games against Aravindh, Niemann, Murzin, Vidit and Wesley So.

Nihal after winning the tournament, dedicated his win to his maternal grandfather AA Ummar, who passed away yesterday. It was extremely tough for Nihal, as his grandfather was the one who had taught him chess. He played today's games thinking about him.

Vishy Anand, the legend of Indian chess, finished sole second with 6.0/9. The third place went to 3 players Arjun Erigaisi, Wesley So, Hans Niemann - all of whom finished with 5.0/9.

Nihal's victory is very special because just a week before the event, he was not even in the list of participants. It was only when the World Champion D. Gukesh pulled out from the event, that Nihal got a chance to play here. And he made the chance count by winning with an amazing performance. Whenever Nihal wins, we are reminded that "Kind and good people do not always finish last! In fact they can even finish ahead of everyone else!"

Kudos to the Champ! It seems that the year 2026 will belong to Nihal Sarin! 😍

#chess #chessbaseindia #nihalsarin #tatasteelchessindia

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 7,383

ChessBase India

With Grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva winning the FIDE Women's World Blitz 2025, the field of the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament is all set! The following are the players who will fight it out from 28th March-16th April 2026 at Cyprus to win it all and challenge GM Ju Wenjun to become the Women's World Champion:

1. Zhu Jiner (2024-25 Women's Grand Prix 1st)
2. Aleksandra Goryachkina (2024-25 Women's Grand Prix 2nd)
3. Divya Deshmukh (Women's World Cup 2025 Champion)
4. Koneru Humpy (Women's World Cup 2025 Runner-up)
5. Tan Zhongyi (Women's World Cup 2025 3rd place)
6. R. Vaishali (FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 Champion)
7. Kateryna Lagno (FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 Runner-up)
8. Bibisara Assaubayeva (FIDE Women's events 2024-25 Champion)

Who do you think will win the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026 and become the World Championship Challenger? Let us know in the comments.

Graphic: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #chessbaseindia #Candidates

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,219

ChessBase India

As 2025 has come to an end, the field for FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 is finalised! 8 players will fight it out in Cyprus from 28th March-16th April 2026 - the winner will challenge the World Champion D Gukesh for the World Championship crown.

There are 4 players who are playing the Candidates for the first time in this years lineup! Here is the full list:

1. Fabiano Caruana (2024 FIDE Circuit)

2. Javokhir Sindarov (2025 World Cup Champion)

3. Wei Yi (2025 World Cup Runner-up)

4. Andrey Esipenko (2025 World Cup 3rd place)

5. Anish Giri (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Champion)

6. Matthias Bluebaum (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Runners-up)

7. R.Praggnanandhaa (2025 FIDE Circuit)

8. Hikaru Nakamura (Rating Spot)

Who do you think will win the Candidates Tournament 2026? Let us know in the comments.

Graphic: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #ChessBaseIndia #Candidates

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,630

ChessBase India

From the ChessBase India Team to you - wishing you all a very happy new year! 2025 was a blast with so many amazing moments in the World of Chess. We can only hope that 2026 will be even crazier!

What are your chess resolutions for 2026? Let us know in the comments.

Graphic: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #ChessBaseIndia #happynewyear❤️

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,154

ChessBase India

The GOAT has secured his 20th World Championship title. Magnus Carlsen is the FIDE World Blitz Champion 2025! After losing to Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Game 1 of the Finals, Magnus won Game 2 and went on to score the all-important win with the Black pieces in Game 4 to win the match and become the Champion by defeating Abdusattorov 2.5-1.5.

What a guy Magnus Carlsen is - he conquers the double crown again, World Rapid and Blitz Champion 2025 at Doha, Qatar!

Arjun Erigaisi secured Bronze medal at the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025! After topping the Swiss segment with a fantastic 15/19 points, Arjun suffered a tough 2.5-0.5 loss against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the semifinals, finishing 3rd in the event.

While the ending was definitely sad for Arjun, what a journey it was for the Wonderboy from Warangal in Doha - he wins 2 Bronze medals in World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2025! An amazing performance in both the events from Arjun - and both times he was so close to the Champions title.

Huge congratulations to Arjun, his team and his family for this incredible finish to the year!

Grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva is the Women's World Blitz Champion 2025! In a tense finals match which went down to the wire, Bibisara defeated Anna Muzychuk 2.5-1.5 - winning the 4th and final Blitz game after the first 3 ended in draws.

What a performance by Bibisara - this is her 3rd Women's World Blitz title. Thanks to this incredible run , she is now the winner of the FIDE Women's events 2024-25 cycle and qualified for the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 in Cyprus!

Graphic: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #chessbaseindia #magnuscarlsen

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,983

ChessBase India

Magnus Carlsen is the FIDE World Rapid Champion 2025! In a 13-round tournament full of the strongest players in the World, Magnus scored an unbelievable 10.5/13 points to become the Champion - sealing the deal with a draw against Anish Giri in the final round!

After a tough loss against Vladislav Artemiev in Round 7, it seemed like Magnus only got more motivated - he went on to win the next 5 rounds in a row! Huge congratulations to Magnus Carlsen on yet another World Rapid title - and he might very well win World Blitz 2025 as well. What a guy!

Huge congratulations to Arjun Erigaisi for securing the Bronze medal in FIDE World Rapid Championship 2025! Arjun scored 9.5/13 points to finish 3rd in World Rapid - thanks to his amazing performance, Arjun is now World no.3 in Rapid live ratings, rated 2746.6 now.

Arjun Erigaisi is the only Indian after the legendary Vishy Anand to secure a medal in World Rapid Championship! Arjun scored 8 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in this very strong tournament. After a tough loss against Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus in Round 12 which threw him out of title contention, Arjun was not deterred - he finished strong with consecutive wins!

Huge congratulations to Arjun, his team and his family for this amazing performance. Best wishes to the Wonderboy from Warangal for World Blitz!

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy secures 3rd place at the FIDE Women's World Rapid Chess Championship 2025! After winning Women's World Rapid last year, Humpy secured the Bronze medal this year scoring 8.5/11 points.

Humpy remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, drawing her final round game against her compatriot Savitha Shri Baskar. Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Koneru Humpy all finished with 8.5/11 points - Humpy had worse tiebreak score, so she took 3rd position while Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina are playing tiebreaks for the Champions title.

Huge congratulations to Humpy for yet another amazing performance, and best wishes to the India no.1 Woman for Blitz!

Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina is the FIDE Women's World Rapid Champion 2025! Goryachkina took down Zhu Jiner in a nerve-wracking Blitz tiebreak match to become the Champion and secure her maiden World Rapid title.

Goryachkina scored 8.5/11 points, tied for first place with Zhu Jiner, and then went on to defeat Zhu in Blitz tiebreaks - winning the first game and drawing the second one! Huge congratulations to Goryachkina on an amazing performance, and best wishes to her for Blitz.

Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes
Graphics: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #chessbaseindia #worldrapid

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 4,314

ChessBase India

It is that time again - the most exciting tournament of the year starts tomorrow. All of the World's top players have gathered at Doha,Qatar for the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships!

A total of 41 Indian players - 28 in Open section and 13 in the Women's section will take part in this tournament. There will be 13 rounds of Rapid Chess and 21 rounds of Blitz followed by the top 4 players competing in a Knockout format!

Magnus Carlsen and Ju Wenjun are the top seeds of Open and Women's section respectively. Arjun Erigaisi is the Indian top seed in Open, while Koneru Humpy returns to defend her Women's World Rapid title - she is the Indian top seed among Women! The World Chess Champion D Gukesh and Women's World Cup Champion Divya Deshmukh will also play. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian are just some of the names in this star-studded lineup!

Who do you think will be crowned Champions this year? Let us know your predictions in the comments. Follow all the action live on the ChessBase India YouTube channel from 4:30 PM IST tomorrow, 26th December to 30th December!

Graphic: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #chessbaseindia #fideworldrapidblitz #gukesh #magnuscarlsen

1 month ago | [YT] | 2,662

ChessBase India

The FIDE Candidates and Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 will take place together at Cyprus from 28th March-16th April. There will be 4 Indian players going to Cyprus - R. Praggnanandhaa, Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy and R. Vaishali.

For the second time in a row, siblings Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali will play the Candidates tournament together! The field of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 is all but decided. Here's how it looks:

1. Fabiano Caruana (2024 FIDE Circuit)
2. Javokhir Sindarov (2025 World Cup Champion)
3. Wei Yi (2025 World Cup Runner-up)
4. Andrey Esipenko (2025 World Cup 3rd place)
5. Anish Giri (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Champion)
6. Matthias Bluebaum (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss 2nd)
7. R.Praggnanandhaa (2025 FIDE Circuit)
8. Hikaru Nakamura* ( Almost certain to grab the rating spot)

The winner of this double round robin tournament will challenge World Champion Gukesh!

For the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, this is how the field looks like:

1. Zhu Jiner (2024-25 Women's Grand Prix 1st)
2. Aleksandra Goryachkina (2024-25 Women's Grand Prix 2nd)
3. Divya Deshmukh (Women's World Cup 2025 Champion)
4. Koneru Humpy (Women's World Cup 2025 Runner-up)
5. Tan Zhongyi (Women's World Cup 2025 3rd place)
6. R. Vaishali (FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 Champion)
7. Kateryna Lagno (FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 Runner-up)
8. FIDE Women's events 2024-25 Champion (Player not determined yet)

The winner of this event will take on Ju Wenjun in the World Championship match.

How do you think the 4 Indians will fare in Cyprus? Let us know in the comments.

Photos: Michal Walusza, Anna Shtourman

#chess #chessbaseindia #candidates

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 4,583

ChessBase India

It's OFFICIAL! - Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has topped the FIDE Circuit 2025, qualifying to the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026!

Pragg has 115.17 FIDE Circuit points in what was a year of dominating performances for him! His nearest competitor who hasn't qualified yet was Nodirbek Abdusattorov with 71.61 points. FIDE has determined that it's not mathematically possible for Nodirbek to surmount this lead - hence they announced the news!

Huge congratulations to Pragg on qualifying for the Candidates for the second time. He will be the only Indian player in the FIDE Candidates Tournament this year, while 3 Indian Women - Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy, and Vaishali Rameshbabu will play the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament. Both the tournaments are happening together just like 2024 - this time in Cyprus from 28th March-16th April!


Graphic: Anmol Bhargav
#chess #chessbaseindia #praggnanandhaa

1 month ago | [YT] | 8,358