Harini won the 2nd AIM Chess FIDE Rated Tmt
Harini of Kanchi won the 2nd AIM Chess FIDE rated Tmt held at Surabi College of Polytechnic in Namakkal from 13th Jan to 17th Jan 2012.
In the final round top seed Ram S Krishnan beat Varshini, In the second board Lokesh P of Chennai drew with Lokesh N of Housr and in the third board Harini beat Rathanvel of Kovai. Both Ram S Krishnan of BSNL and Harini tied for the first spot, but better tie-break score gave Harini to clinch the title with 7.5 points from nine rounds. The tournament had attracted 141 players from various parts of South India. Harini is the second girl to win a FIDE Rated tournament in Tamil Nadu, after Nimmy George of Kerala , who had won the Karur tournament, some years back.

Sri KPP Baskar, MLA Namakkal Constituency distributed the prizes in the presence of Sri G. Marimuthu, Chairman, Surabi College of Polytechnic and Mr. GM Gopu Madhavan, Principal, Surabi College of Polytechnic, Mr.V. Sathyamoorthy, Mr.K. Gandhi Murugesan and Mr. RN Kamalasekar. Mr. SV Iyappan, Secretary, AIM Chess Academy welcomed the gathering and Mr. V. Aatahayam proposed a vote of thanks.

All India Chess Federation Organises a Clinic for Arbiters to update their Knowledge
Arbiters have to update their knowledge periodically with the latest developments in chess with respect to laws of chess, pairing, title, rating, and tournament regulations. It is a good chance for the arbiters all over India to congregate and discuss

Yu Ruiyuan of China emerged the Chennai Open 2012 Champion with 9.0 points after the
second spot with 8.5 points were top seed Aleksandrov Aleksej (Belarus), defending champion Kravtsiv Martyn (Ukraine), Akshayraj Kore (India), Marat Dzhumaev (Uzbekistan) and Gomez John Paul (Philippines) respectively.

In the crucial final round, Yu held Uzbek Grandmaster Marat Dzhumaev without difficulty in a Sicilian game lasting 33 moves. The tournament is big triumph for the untitled Chinese star Yu Ruiyuan who started as the 13th seed with an ELO rating of 2491 and finished on top of the table. The title win fetches Yu an International Master Norm, as well as a Grandmaster Norm.

As a silver lining, India's performing star in this event, International Master Akshayraj Kore made his Grandmaster Norm with a solid draw in the final round against defending champion Grandmaster Kravtsiv Martyn of Ukraine. The Nimzo Indian game saw the Indian gaining the upper hand with a pawn up position. But accurate defence by the Ukraine Grandmaster saw the Akshayraj Kore settling for a draw after 55 moves.

FIDE Arbiters' Seminar in Chennai, India-RESULTS
From 6 to 9 January 2012 a FIDE Arbiters' Seminar was organized in Chennai, India, by the All India Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE.

The Lecturers were IA Casto Abundo (PHI), Asian Chess Federation Deputy President and FIDE Lecturer, and IA Prof. R. Anatharam (IND)

Central council decides to write to the Government to confer “Bharat Ratna to Vishy Anand
All India Chess Federation on Tuesday decided to recommend Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand for the coveted 'Bharat Ratna' award.

At its Central Council meeting this morning, the Federation unanimously passed a resolution to recommend World Champion Anand for the most prestigious award.