Month: August 2023

The Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz Women’s tournament was inaugurated at Kolkata, India, on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, with a short ceremony and drawing of lots. The event pits five of the best Indian women players against five invited global stars, including the reigning Women’s World Champion, Ju Wenjun. The women’s event will run from August 31 until September 4, 2023, to be followed by the open event for the next five days, both with a single round-robin of rapid games. The women’s tournament carries a prize fund of $41,500, identical to the open tournament, an admirable gesture by Tata Steel to bring parity to the competitions.
Ju starts as the firm favorite on paper in what will be her tournament debut on Indian soil. Her rapid rating of 2592 and blitz rating of 2536 are way ahead of her nearest rivals, the Indian duo of GMs Humpy Koneru (2473 and 2448) and Harika Dronavalli (2459 and 2417). However, quick time controls and the resulting unique challenges promise an absorbing contest.
The Women’s Rapid begins on August 31 at 5:30 a.m. ET / 11:30 CEST / 15:00 IST.
How to watch the Tata Steel India Chess Women’s Rapid & Blitz
You can watch the event live on Twitch, as well as our YouTube channels for Chess.com and Chess24. Keep up with all the details of the tournament on our live events platform, and follow live games by clicking here. 
The Chess.com live commentary team of GM Robert Hess, IM Soumya Swaminathan, and IM Tania Sachdev will be at Kolkata to provide comprehensive coverage of the event:
A hectic schedule of global events has made it quite difficult for the organizers to assemble an interesting field this year in both the women’s and open sections. Many players were at the World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan (July 30-August 24), and/or at the World Rapid Team Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany (August 26-28), before this event, and are proceeding to the World Women’s Team Championship in Warsaw, Poland, and/or to the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China (September 23-October 8).
The schedule has been most grueling for Harika, who had to find time to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday in between all her tournament appearances, and hence preferred to rest after landing in Kolkata, instead of attending the inauguration ceremony.
Jeroen van den Berg, the organizer of the current tournament and also the iconic tournaments of Wijk aan Zee, shared his insight on the difficulty of getting a strong field of players in the open and women’s sections this year: “Normally, we (hold these tournaments) in November, but the Sinquefield Cup is being (held at that time this year). Some of the ladies, immediately after this event, (are going) to Poland, to play the (Women) World Team Championship. So, it was quite a puzzle to make it happen… But, we have the (Women’s) World Champion here—we are quite happy with that”.
Jeroen van den Berg addressing the media, along with Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President – Corporate Services, Tata Steel. Photo: Vivek Sohani / Tata Steel Chess India.
The hectic schedule also meant that the All India Chess Federation decided to conducts its practice camp for the Indian team for the Asian Games with GM Boris Gelfand at the players’ hotel, thus making it convenient for the teams to attend the camp as well as participate in the event. Unfortunately, this means that the players’ list in the open section will miss speed chess expert GM Nihal Sarin, who was not selected to represent India for the Asian Games due to his standing in the national rankings.
In spite of all the scheduling conflicts, Tata Steel and event organizer Gameplan are happy with the pool of players gathered. “Among the international players, we always tried to get a mix of young and talented players and as many top players as we could get. So, we were happy to get the (Women’s) World Champion. In fact, we had the runner-up (GM Lei Tingjie), who had agreed. But due to visa delays, she had to withdraw,” said Jeet Banerjee, Director of Gameplan. Hence, the organization secured the participation of GM Polina Shuvalova as a replacement, while WGM Divya Deshmukh was another last-minute replacement for defending blitz champion IM R Vaishali, who had to withdraw due to ill health.
Jeet Banerjee at the inauguration, with IM Soumya Swaminathan and GM Robert Hess, the hosts for the evening. Picture: Vivek Sohani / Tata Steel Chess India.
Another new face in this edition is GM Nino Batsiashvili, who returns to India with pleasant memories of the gold medal for her performance on the second board in the 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. “I like to be in India because I play very well here always!”
Nino Batsiashvili, returning with pleasant memories. Picture: Vivek Sohani / Tata Steel Chess India.
Returning to defend her rapid title is GM Anna Ushenina, who also celebrated her 37th birthday on the inauguration day. “Defending my title will be tough, but I will try my best,” Ushenina declared.
Birthday girl Ushenina. Photo: Vivek Sohani / Tata Steel Chess India.
What does it take to do well in such an unusual and grueling format compared to a classical tournament? To their credit, youngsters Deshmukh and WGM Vantika Agrawal came up with smart insights: “The most important thing to play well in such a tournament is to keep your composure, as it is not a tournament where you have time to recover from your losses. So, I think the most important thing would be just to make peace with whatever result comes and try to do your best in the next games,” explained Deshmukh, while Agrawal opined, “You need to be physically (very) fit to play rapid and blitz—so many games, so many rounds in a day.”
Young and smart, from right to left: Agrawal, Deshmukh, and GM Irina Krush. Photo: Vivek Sohani / Tata Steel Chess India.
Players of the Tata Steel India Women Rapid & Blitz. Photo: Tata Steel Chess India
First-round pairings: Women’s Rapid

The 2023 Tata Steel Chess India Men’s and Women’s Rapid and Blitz are two of India’s most prestigious rapid chess events. The Women’s event takes place before the Men’s. Players compete in a 10-player round-robin in three days of rapid games with a 25+10 time control, followed by two days of blitz games played at a 3+2 time control. 
Previous Coverage

Ansu Fati is closing on a loan move to Brighton but it appears a Spanish club has also joined the mix for the Barcelona starlet.
Tottenham appeared set to land Fati but now appear to have been pipped by Premier League rivals Brighton.
Fabrizio Romano has given the transfer the full here we go treatment and says Fati has agreed the move and could fly to England on Thursday.
Ansu Fati to Brighton, here we go! Deal in place between #BHAFC and Barça as revealed earlier, verbal agreeement now done
NO buy option clause.Loan deal until June 2024.Main part of salary covered.
Travel booked on Thursday, Brighton want it signed ASAP. pic.twitter.com/1yHKYArJ9I
Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2023
But there could still be late drama. Mundo Deportivo are reporting that an important Spanish club are also keen on Fati and could make a late play.
The unnamed club are apparently trying to convince Fati that his best option is to continue in La Liga rather than try for a new challenge in the Premier League.
Brighton still appear to be heavy favorites to land Fati before the window closes but there certainly appears to be plenty of other interest in the youngster.

Garena is relaunching Free Fire in India, a year and a half after the popular mobile title was banned in the South Asian market over national security concerns.
The firm, owned by South Asian giant Sea, said it has partnered with Yotta, controlled by local giant Hiranandani, for cloud and other storage needs of local users’ data in the country. It has also appointed Indian cricket legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador in the country.
The company said it has further localized Free Fire for the Indian market — incorporating “unique content” and creating an environment that “encourage(s) a safe, healthy and fun gameplay experience” — and will make the title available in the country on September 5. Free Fire India users will be encouraged to take breaks after certain intervals, the company said.
Before it was banned, Free Fire enjoyed significant popularity in India with around 40 million monthly active users. It was a close competitor to Krafton’s PUBG and BGMI, which are also immensely popular in the country. India’s ban on Free Fire immediately wiped $16 billion off Sea’s market cap last year.
“We look forward to providing an engaging and highly localised experience for Indian users,” said Gang Ye, Co-founder of Garena, in a statement. “We believe our partnership with Yotta will ensure that our users can enjoy the highest quality gameplay experience and benefit from Yottas expertise in protecting and securing Indian user data.”
Data and image: HSBC. Research: Sensor Tower, HSBC
Garena’s move follows Krafton securing a re-entry of BGMI in India on a trial basis. Last year, Sea also quietly attempted to launch its e-commerce platform Shopee in India but ceased the initiative weeks after the ban on Free Fire.
Industry executives say that Garena still needs to change its tack in the country and should attempt to mirror Krafton strategy by investing in local firms.
“We still believe that Sea needs to present a more vocal identity for its India business, and for that, it needs to hire an established CEO,” AllianceBernstein analysts wrote last year. “This is required to bring an identity to its Indian business, rather than being operated from the region.”
Sea didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT hasn’t commented on Free Fire’s return.
“Garena’s launch of Free Fire India and commitment to localising and developing the esports ecosystem locally is testament to the vibrancy of the mobile games and esports space in India, and to India’s potential for global leadership in this area,” said H.E. Simon Wong, High Commissioner of Singapore to India, at an event Thursday. “I look forward to greater partnerships in the digital media, entertainment and esports fields between India and Singapore.

Who will be India’s best bet to stop Pakistan captain Babar Azam? Most would be inclined to take Jasprit Bumrah’s name. The pace spearhead will play his first multi-nation tournament since the 2021 T20 World Cup and will be Rohit Sharma’s main weapon to peg back the in-form Pakistan batting line-up in their Asia Cup 2023 opener on September 2 in Pallekele. Some may even take Kuldeep Yadav’s name. The left-arm wrist spinner has been in top form ever since making his comeback to the Indian side last year. And the last time he came up against Babar in an ODI, he left the Pakistan captain totally bamboozled in the 2019 ODI World Cup. Former India batter Mohammad Kaif, however, feels it will be Mohammed Shami.
Indian players Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and others(PTI)
Kaif said Shami would give him a tough time to Babar in the Asia Cup. “Mohammed Shami is a fantastic bowler, his form is also very good. And even in Bumrahs absence, he managed the bowling very well. Even his form in the IPL was great. So he has a lot of talent. In my opinion, Babar Azam is going to have a lot of difficulty,” Kaif said on Star Sports.
Shami has been a regular member of the Indian side for about 10 years now. He was the one who was called back into the side when Bumrah was ruled out of last year’s T20 World Cup with a stress fracture. The veteran right-arm seamer, who many believe, is turning up for his last ODI World Cup, would look to end on a high.
For big games, there is always preparation as we have practiced in the training camp. I don’t think we have to analyze too much into the situation, we have the skill and the bowling lineup, so we don’t have to think too much. But I have to say one thing, whenever one-day matches come, there has to be focus. So to be focused and to have proper planning, Shami said.
With a steady belief in the team’s skill and bowling lineup, Shami emphasized the importance of maintaining focus and adhering to well-structured planning during one-day matches. He also highlighted the importance of Bumrah’s return from injury.
“Depends on whether I have the new ball or whether the team requires me at any stage during the match, I’m always on. I don’t have any hesitancy to bowl with the new ball or the old ball. I don’t have an ego like that. All three of us (Bumrah, Shami & Siraj) are bowling very well, so it depends on the management on who will play. There is only one goal, to go and give our 100%, the result will come running to us if we give our 100%. So it is very important to focus and execute, its a very simple plan.
“There is too much talk about the white ball or red ball, if you bowl in the right areas I don’t think that there is any difficulty in any ball. For a long time we didn’t have Jassi (Bumrah), so we felt the loss of a good player like him. You sometimes feel like I wish this player was there, to make your combination set. So having Jassi, especially in the white-ball format, has made our bowling very strong. So you know having Jassi in the team has made us stronger, hes looking fit and hes playing well, hopefully, we have a good Asia Cup.”

Viacom 18 bags TV and digital rights for Indian cricket team’s home matches for five years. Viacom18 won the media rights for all BCCI India matches for a total of 5963 crore. It will pay 3101 crore for digital rights which is 35.23 per match and for TV, it will pay 2862 or 32.52 crore per match. Jay Shah, Secretary, BCCI in a tweet wrote,” Congratulations Viacom18 for winning the @BCCI Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as after @IPL and wplt20 we extend the partnership @BCCI Media Rights as well. Together we will continue to capture the imagination of cricket fans.

Asia Cup: SL, Bangladesh look for winning start
asia-cup-2023-sri-lanka-bangladesh-look-for-winning-start

Guyana Amazon Warriors Women

Young gun Harry Brook did his chances of a late call-up to England’s squad for this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup squad no harm with an impressive knock against New Zealand in the opening match of their T20I series at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.Brook was a glaring omission from the preliminary World Cup squad that England named earlier this month and the 24-year-old has reacted well since the news with a string of excellent scores.
The right-hander smashed a century in his last match in England’s domestic T20 competition last week and followed that up with an eye-catching 43* from just 27 deliveries against the Kiwis to help his side clinch a comfortable seven-wicket victory.
England captain Jos Buttler indicated earlier this month that Brook was still an outside chance of earning a place in the final World Cup squad that must be submitted to the ICC prior to September 28 and his form against New Zealand showed he is currently in very good touch.
Brook smashed a pair of fours and three sixes during his innings, joining with Dawid Malan (54) and Liam Livingstone (10*) to help England chase down New Zealand’s modest total of 139/9 with six overs to spare.
Buttler was impressed with Brook’s composure and knows the youngster remains in England’s long-term plans, regardless of whether that includes selection at this year’s 50-over World Cup.
“(Harry Brook) is a class player,” Buttler told the BBC after play.
“No-one is saying they don’t rate him or think he is a superstar. 
“He has been a key part of the T20 side for the best part of a year and will be a key part for the next 10 years.”
BANvENG Player of the Match: Harry Brook
New Zealand captain Tim Southee made no excuses for his side’s poor performance, with middle-order batter Glenn Phillips top-scoring for the tourists with 41 and attacking opener Finn Allen (21) the only other player to score greater than 20.
“It was no doubt not our best effort, but we’ve got a couple of days to turn it around,” Southee said ahead of the second match of the series in Manchester on Saturday.
“The way they took early wickets stalls any momentum but our assessment of the wicket was probably a bit off, and with the ball we just had to try and take as many wickets as we could.”

Newly-crowned world champion Neeraj Chopra will be in action in the Zurich Diamond League, four days after winning a historic World Championships gold medal in men’s javelin in Budapest. Neeraj will look to complete a hat-trick of Diamond League wins and qualify for the Diamond League final, which will be held in Eugene on September 16 and 17.
Neeraj Chopra will look to keep his Diamond League winning streak intact in a competitive 10-man javelin field in Zurich on Thursday, August 31.
The Olympic champion has done it all. From winning the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games Gold to completing the Olympic and world championships double and winning the Diamond Trophy, Neeraj has achieved several firsts for India. In fact, he is only the third man in javelin to hold the Olympic and the world title at the same time after the legendary 3-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen.
NEERAJ TO TARGET 90M THROW?
Neeraj Chopra will be chasing the elusive 90m mark and the Indian superstar expressed his intentions of breaching the converted distance once again in the lead-up to Zurich.
Neeraj had said he wanted to push for the big throw at the World Championships but that he remained cautious due to a groin injury that he has been dealing with from the start of the season.
“It (World Championship) was the only gold medal I didn’t have, I won the Olympics (gold) in Tokyo. I just have the 90m mark now, hopefully, I will throw far in the next competitions,” he said.
STIFF COMPETITION
Neeraj Chopra currently sits at the 3rd spot in the Diamond League standings for men in 2023. He has 16 points after winning the Doha Diamond League in May and the Lausanne Diamond League in June. The Indian star is already assured of a place in the 6-man Diamond League final. Notably, Zurich is the last Diamond League with men’s javelin event in this season.
Neeraj will face stiff competition from Diamond League leader Jakub Vadlejch (21 points). The Czech star finished with the bronze medal at the World Championships behind Neeraj and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who will not be in action in Zurich on Thursday.
There is also Julian Weber, the second-placed thrower in the Diamond League standings this season. The German, who agonisingly finished 4th in Budapest, will be looking to get close to her personal best of 88.72m.
SREESHANKAR EYES REDEMPTION
On the other hand, MuralI Sreeshankar, who became only the 2nd Indian to finish on the podium in a Diamond League meeting when he came 3rd in Paris earlier this year, will be looking to put behind the World Championships disappointment and do well in Zurich.
Sreeshankar faces a world-class field, which includes recently crowned world champion Tentaglou Miltiadis and the Jamaican duo of Carey McLeod and Tajay Gayle.
Sreeshankar failed to qualify for the men’s long jump final in Budapest as he finished 22nd in the qualification with a best attempt of 7.74m, way off his season and personal best of 8.41m.
Sreeshankar currently is at the 3rd spot in the men’s long jump Diamond League table. He has 10 points after finishing 3rd in Paris and 5th in Lausanne. Tentoglou leads the charts with 21 points from 3 meetings.
Notably, the top 6 athletes in track events will qualify for the prestigious Diamond League final.
Men’s Javelin in Zurich Diamond League will start from 12:12 am IST on September 1.Men’s long jump in Zurich Diamond League will start from 11:54 pm IST on August 31.