HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026: Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana into the finals
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana will face each other in the finals of the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026. In the semifinals, Magnus won his match against Nodirbek Abdusattorov with a score of 3-1, and Fabiano Caruana defeated Vincent Keymer to secure his spot in the finals. After losing to Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2018, this is a great chance for Caruana to win his first World Championship title. In the lower bracket, Arjun Erigaisi won his match against Javokhir Sindarov, and Hans Niemann sealed the deal against Levon Aronian. Arjun and Hans will be playing each other in the match for 5th place. The Finals will be played on Sunday, February 15th, at Local Time 3:00 pm CET/ 7:30 pm IST.
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
LEARN CARO-KANN FROM IM SAGAR SHAH!
One of the missions for us at ChessBase India has always been making chess improvement as accessible as possible to the masses. Keeping this in mind, we launched our first ChessRanga video course! On 28th January, the birthday of Sagar, we launched "Learn Caro-Kann from scratch with IM Sagar Shah". Close to 2000 people have already purchased it - you can also get it right now at just Rs. 36 (USD 0.40). Head to ChessRanga now to learn Caro-Kann in depth with Sagar Shah - it's a 7-hour video course with 25 chapters!
LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
Apoorv Kamble wins SixDays Budapest January 2026 GM Round Robin
Apoorv Kamble of Karnataka clinched the title of SixDays Budapest January 2026 GM Round Robin Group (B). Apoorv was unbeaten throughout the event. He won 3 games and drew his other 6 games to score 6/9 points. FM Palczert Matyas of Hungary and IM Krallis Christos also scored 6/9 points, but Apoorv secured the first place on a better tiebreak score. Apoorv also scored his 5th IM norm in the tournament. It was a round-robin event with time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment, organized by SixDays Chess in Budapest at the tournament hall of the Hungarian Chess Federation from 25th to 30th January. The next SixDays Budapest event will be conducted from 19th to 24th March. Photos: Apoorv Kamble, Michael Yip
Alisher Suleymenov wins Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin, Ethan Vaz second, Ameya Audi third
Kazakh Grandmaster Alisher Suleymenov is the Champion of the Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament. Alisher drew against IM Ameya Audi in the final round in a hard-fought battle, sealing the tournament victory with 6/9 points. IM Ethan Vaz secured second place with 5.5/9 points and a better tiebreak score than IM Ameya Audi, who lost his game against Ethan in round 2 of the event. Ameya scored 5.5/9 points to secure third place, but he barely missed his GM norm by half a point as his last game against Alisher ended in a draw. The event was successfully organized at Chola Chess, Chennai, from 3rd to 11th February. Photos: Chola Chess/Himank Ghosh
How the Queens of Braille Chess are making their mark on Indian chess
Indian chess has produced many Grandmasters, including current World Champion D Gukesh and Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh. Every year, more young talents continue to emerge across the country. But away from the spotlight are achievers like Himanshi Rathi and Sanskruti More. They play Braille chess, a format that relies on touch, memory, and deep focus. Their journeys have been shaped by challenges and resilience. They want to bring change and greater recognition to the game they love. Read their story and discover a side of Indian chess that deserves to be seen. Photo: BBC
Phoenix ChessBase India Chess Club celebrates its 4th anniversary with Rs.500,000 rapid and blitz rating event
On 19th March 2026, the ChessBase India Chess Club at Phoenix Marketcity Mall will complete 4 years. To celebrate this milestone, we are organising the 4th Anniversary Phoenix ChessBase India Chess Club FIDE Rapid and Blitz Tournaments 2026 on 28th February and 1st March at Dublin Square, Phoenix Marketcity Mall, Kurla, Mumbai. Both events are FIDE-rated, with a total prize fund of Rs. 3 lakh for Rapid and Rs. 2 lakh for Blitz. Read on to find all the event details and registration information.
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