Records were shattered and history was made at the 2024 FIDE Candidates. Two events open and women’s took place simultaneously for the first time at the same hall. We saw the first brother-sister duo, R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali, participating. In the end, D Gukesh broke a number of records: he was the youngest ever to win the Candidates Tournament and thus become the youngest ever challenger to the World Championship. Gukesh was interviewed by Sagar Shah in what turned out to be a conversation lasting close to two hours. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
The Chennai Grand Masters 2023 got off to a splendid start. Just when it seemed like the first round would end up being victorless, Pentala Harikrishna and Pavel Eljanov proved those predictions wrong. Arjun Erigaisi (Harikrishna’s opponent) made a significant mistake early in the game. It made him defend the better part of the battle. Eventually he missed his final opportunity to salvage a half point, which cost him the game. Parham Maghsoodloo (Eljanov’s opponent) made a huge blunder in a rook and two pawns endgame which was seemingly heading towards a draw. | All photos are by Shahid Ahmed unless specified otherwise.
Dommaraju Gukesh and Michael Adams got off to winning starts at the 13th edition of the London Chess Classic. Gukesh defeated Mateusz Bartel’s French Defence, while Adams showcased his positional virtuosity playing white against Amin Tabatabaei. Both Gukesh and Adams will play black in the second round, against Nikita Vitiugov and Hans Niemann respectively. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
16-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh is one of the brightest talents of India and World Chess. He is now World no.18 with a FIDE Rating of 2730. The current India no.2 graced the ChessBase India Chess Club with his presence on Saturday, 18th March 2023. There was a big challenge in front of him – he was to give a simultaneous exhibition to 21 players, with the top five seeds having an Elo rating of over 2000. The spectacular even simul was held at the Phoenix Marketcity Mall in Mumbai. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022-23 is into its third leg, and it is a huge moment for Indian chess. The start to the event has been rocky. One of the participants, Zhansaya Abdumalik, has withdrawn from the tournament after reaching New Delhi and spending a day at the venue. The players wrote an official letter to the FIDE President, and FIDE responded back with an official statement. Meanwhile, Zhansaya’s compatriot Bibisara Assaubayeva, who is present at the venue, wrote a post on social media voicing her opinions. We try to put it all together in this article. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy