All posts tagged: grandmasters

Teenagers take over from grizzled, grey-haired grandmasters

Teenagers take over from grizzled, grey-haired grandmasters

Published by Webster

For decades, the figure of the ‘Second’ in elite chess was some grizzled grandmaster in a blazer, someone who’d earned their quiet authority over decades. They knew strategies one couldn’t Google and find, passed down from the Soviet days. These were the grey-haired men, sipping coffee and whispering some old but trusted lines of preparation. Their value wasn’t in how fast they could calculate, but in years spent being put through the wringer and getting wiser. Fast forward to 2026. The profile of the ‘Second’, a Grandmaster and trusted assistant to the main player, has changed. At the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, the picture has completely flipped. The press area buzzes with a different kind of energy now. Teenagers are slowly edging out the veterans, sometimes kids barely out of school, hunched over laptops with glazed eyes, still grinding through engine lines at 3 am. They speak the language of the machine with a fluency that can leave the old guard scrambling to keep up. Take M Pranesh, all of 20 years old, for example. …

State-wise list of all Indian Grandmasters

State-wise list of all Indian Grandmasters

Published by Webster

India has transformed into a global chess superpower, producing some of the sharpest minds the game has ever witnessed. As of the current records, India boasts an incredible roster of 94 chess Grandmasters, with Mayank Chakraborty the latest to be added to the list. Here, we take a look at the state wise list of Indian Grandmasters: 1. Tamil Nadu (35 GMs) It is impossible to talk about chess in India without starting in Tamil Nadu. Leading the entire nation by a massive margin, this southern state has produced a staggering 35 Grandmasters. The chess revolution here was sparked by Viswanathan Anand, who became India’s very first GM. Today, the state’s legacy continues with globally recognized prodigies like Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, and Rameshbabu Vaishali. Other names from this state include Krishnan Sasikiran, SP Sethuraman, and Aravindh Chitambaram etc. GMs from Tamil Nadu: Viswanathan Anand, Krishnan Sasikiran, Ramachandran Ramesh, Magesh Chandran Panchanathan, J Deepan Chakkravarthy, Subramaniam Arun Prasad, Sundaranjan Kidambi, RR Laxman, Baskaran Adhiban, SP Sethuraman, MR Venkatesh, Shyam Sundar, Vishnu Prassanna, Aravindh …

Full list of Indian Grandmasters after Aarav Dengla becomes 93rd GM of India; Check updated list

Full list of Indian Grandmasters after Aarav Dengla becomes 93rd GM of India; Check updated list

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Mar 1, 2026 12:09 AM IST Gone are the days when Viswanathan Anand was the only Indian with a Grandmaster title. Thirty-eight years after Anand became the first Indian Grandmaster, the list has now grown significantly, with the latest entrant being 17-year-old Aarav Dengla from Mumbai. The teenager became India’s 93rd GM after fulfilling the norms and rating criteria. Dengla won his third and final GM norm and crossed the 2500 barrier by winning the GM Mix Bijeljina and GM Norm Round Robin Tournament consecutively in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He won his first GM norm at the 1st International Grandmaster Tournament Bijeljina back in 2022, while his second GM norm came at Zupanja Celebrates Chess GM Norm Round Robin in Croatia in 2025. He is also the third GM from Mumbai after Praveen Thipsay and Aditya Mittal. Dengla is the second Indian to attain the GM title in 2026, after Aaryan Varshney became the 92nd GM from the country in January. India have four female Grandmasters in Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R. …

Praggnanandhaa, 6 other top grandmasters issue urgent plea as 2026 chess calendar ‘clash’ turns concrete | Chess News

Praggnanandhaa, 6 other top grandmasters issue urgent plea as 2026 chess calendar ‘clash’ turns concrete | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readFeb 11, 2026 06:15 PM IST Seven of the top chess players in the world, including India’s Praggnanandhaa R, have written an open letter to tournament organisers raising the issue of clashes on the calendar, particularly with the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and the Esports World Cup chess event. Besides Praggnanandhaa, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have also put their names under the open letter. The letter speaks about ‘serious concern about the scheduling conflict between the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and the Esports World Cup chess events’. The players wrote that while their intention was not to criticize either event, they were writing the letter to try and resolve the situation. “Resolving the situation is now the players’ clear and immediate priority,” the letter read. “Players and teams raised this issue with both organizers earlier and received replies, but no scheduling adjustment followed. Discussions have since stalled completely, leaving players with no visibility. With qualification paths already underway, the conflict is becoming concrete.” Here’s …

15-year-old IM Goutham Krishna stuns three Grandmasters

15-year-old IM Goutham Krishna stuns three Grandmasters

Published by Webster

India had a brilliant start to the 2025 World Rapid Championship, with two players, Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigiaisi, sharing the joint lead after day 1 in Qatar. Arjun started the day with four consecutive wins and then played a draw against veteran Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the fifth to finish the day with 4.5 points. Meanwhile, Gukesh played a draw in his first game, but then, with four consecutive wins, he joined Arjun, Magnus, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Vladislav Artemiev (RUS) in a joint lead. A memorable Day for 15-year-old Goutham Krishna The star of the opening day was 15-year-old Indian IM Goutham Krishna, who stunned three GMs – Aleksander Indjic (SRB), Aravindh Chithambaram (IND) & Teimour Radjabov (AZE) in his first three games. Then he played two draws in the final two games, including one against current FIDE Candidate Anish Giri of the Netherlands, to remain unbeaten on the day. In the process, he gained 60 rating points within a day and is now just half a point behind the five leaders, …

Why Lichess, the Wikipedia of chess, is loved by hobby players and grandmasters alike | Chess News

Why Lichess, the Wikipedia of chess, is loved by hobby players and grandmasters alike | Chess News

Published by Webster

When Theophilus Wait talks about Lichess, the company that he works for, he likes to describe it as something of a “Wikipedia for chess”. Over the past month, some of the world’s top grandmasters have gone on social media to paint a picture of a chess app that is much more than that. Srinath Narayanan, for example, called it “the only chess app he needs” in a Twitter post earlier this month. Vidit Gujrathi in an “appreciation post” called it an “absolute delight to use”, to which Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri responded by saying: “And there is a lot more to say (about Lichess).” At the ongoing FIDE World Cup, several grandmasters like finalist Javokhir Sindarov, SL Narayanan, Lorenzo Lodici and Sam Sevian have also used various functions of the Lichess app to prepare for the games, from the puzzles to blitz tournaments to the analysis feature. “You could name basically any chess player and they’ve used Lichess at some point. Be it Magnus Carlsen or Indian players like Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh as …

At the Chess World Cup, a question for Grandmasters: What after work? Their reply: Take a walk | Chess News

At the Chess World Cup, a question for Grandmasters: What after work? Their reply: Take a walk | Chess News

Published by Webster

As the sun sets on the Goan village of Arpora and another day at the FIDE World Cup ends, the road to Resort Rio, the venue where most of the players are also staying, gets busy. Not with vehicles, but Grandmasters. They set off in little groups, many wearing shorts and tracksuits that are a far cry from their usual attire of custom-fitted suits. Where are they headed? Well, wherever their feet take them. For a sport that demands hours of being seated at one place, walking has spawned its own folklore in chess. Some Grandmasters talk about five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand once ending up in another village while he went for a walk. It’s a fable that makes even Anand chuckle while dismissing it. He did add though that whenever he played the Tata Steel Chess event in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee, he always walked on the rest days to the neighbouring town of Beverwijk. Story continues below this ad “Beverwijk is about 6 km from Wijk. An hour to …

Grandmasters’ getaway: India’s vacation capital Goa turns into chess arena as it prepares to host the World Cup | Chess News

Grandmasters’ getaway: India’s vacation capital Goa turns into chess arena as it prepares to host the World Cup | Chess News

Published by Webster

“Even the grandmasters need a holiday. Preferably before facing each other,” reads a board at Goa’s Resort Rio, a five-star hotel in the tony village of Arpora that will host the FIDE World Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport. When the action starts from Saturday in a state that has become India’s vacation capital, ideas like ‘holiday’ and ‘relaxation’ will be a luxury for the players in attendance — one that they cannot afford with three spots for Candidates on the line and a brutal path to the title in front of anyone who fancies making it to the semi-finals. The players are not the only ones working tirelessly. A day before the FIDE World Cup kicks off in earnest, a small battalion of about 200 people is working tirelessly at the Resort Rio Convention Centre. For many members of this hidden workforce, the past four days have been a blur of tasks and sleepless nights as they went about transforming the convention centre with grandiose chandeliers into an arena fit …

Does D Gukesh Have A Girlfriend? Indian Grandmaster’s Old Reaction Resurfaces

Does D Gukesh Have A Girlfriend? Indian Grandmaster’s Old Reaction Resurfaces

Published by Webster

D Gukesh during an interview.© YouTube/@ChessBase India Clips The entire India is talking about 18-year-old chess Grandmaster D Gukesh after his historic achievement at World Championship. The Indian GM became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion with his hard-fought win over China’s Ding Liren in the 14-match contest. The final game turned out to be the decider after both the players were tied at the score of 6.5 going into the match. The nation is now curious to know more and more about Gukesh, who has etched his name in the history books. From the achievements of the player to the prize money he won, fans are taking interest in everything that is related to him. An old video of the star player is going viral on social media in which he answers a question related to his personal life. In the clip, Gukesh was asked whether he had a girlfriend. He reacted to the question with an innocent smile and said, “No, this is not on.” When asked about his opinions on whether …

World Chess Championship: Meet D Gukesh’s father and Ding Liren’s mother – the Grandmasters’ most important seconds | Chess News

World Chess Championship: Meet D Gukesh’s father and Ding Liren’s mother – the Grandmasters’ most important seconds | Chess News

Published by Webster

The lift opens and a smiling Ding Liren emerges, flanked by his seconds Ni Hua and Richard Rapport. They seem to be engrossed in a serious chess conversation understandably, since they’re on their way to a serious battle that’s afoot to retain the World Championship crown. As the camera moves with Ding and his two lieutenants there is a fourth figure who stays a couple of steps behind, wanting to stay out of the glare. But it’s a futile attempt, as Ding pauses mid-step, turns back, smiles, and waves her an innocent goodbye. It’s Ding Liren’s mother, Ye Xiaoping, the woman who introduced the 17th world champion to chess at the age of four in China’s Wenzhou. In another life, Ye Xiaoping used to work as a nurse in a hospital. These days she spends her time being a travel companion to her 32-year-old son. A few minutes later, the man presently occupying the most real estate in Ding Liren’s mind – D Gukesh – also power-walks his way into the playing hall past screaming …