Acing your chess moves online is one thing, playing a “real” virtual game is something else, especially when your opponent is a star master player!

It was a Moment de Gloire for the Netherlands as it got to witness the face-off between two of its brilliant talents at the grand finals of the Tata Steel Chess 2021 at Wijk aan Zee. For the Dutch soil, it ain’t new to celebrate chess.

With grandmasters like Max Euwe, Jim Timman, and the current No.1 Anish Giri, chess is prestigious for the ‘Netherlanders’ which is all the more accentuated by a new wave of “urban chess”. An innovative initiative by Jesus Medina is opening the Dutch schaakwereld (chess world) to urban public spaces in the Netherlands.

The new Julius Baer Challengers Chess that kicked off on April 8 2021 gave India a goosebump as its young prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won the maiden event title with eight wins in a row.

Praggnanandhaa isn’t a new name for India or even the chess world to get excited over. The 15 year old prodigy from Chennai has already been rated as “another Anand in the making” by the chess kingdom.

On 10 May 2021, India’s teen talent Arjun Erigaisi ensured his seat in the June event of the elite, online Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. In a tough game that showcased his grit and patience, the 17 year old beat compatriot and prime seed B. Adhiban in the Indian Qualifier finals.

As the pandemic has propelled online chess to newer heights, so has it fuelled cheating online in the game. The latest rumour concerns FIDE’s online University Tournament where 19 players got disqualified including the winner, a former women’s champion from Ukraine.

Thanks to the new Julius Baer Challenger’s Chess Tour from the Play Magnus Group, Women’s chess is getting a much-needed and delayed facelift. With Judit Polgar – a powerful female name in the chessworld - at the helm (along with ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik), the best of the young female talents is sure to emerge out of the mist in 2021.

American GM Wesley So slays it on Valentine’s Day leaving the World Champion heartbroken as one of his own arrows back-fired and drowned him in a mire of blunders.

Following two draws that led to a thrilling final game, a third one sealed the overall victory for So giving him the rare opportunity to beat the Norwegian Chess King twice in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

Wesley So had earlier won the opening match – the Skilling Open - of the online chess tour in November 2020 against Magnus Carlsen, “ruining” Carlsen’s 30th birthday that fell on the D-day.

Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov clinched third place playing against the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, winning twice with white.

It is a year-end warm-up for chess lovers as the prestigious online Champions Chess Tournament 2020 kick-started by November end, followed closely on the heels by the Speed Chess Championship in December. As the championships bring cheers to chess galleries, it would be interesting to look back at some of the most controversial tournaments that stirred up a few storms in the history of chess.