Designed by Tanay Vora, Vidushi Gupta, Hardik Sharma, and Yaman Gupta, this isn't your grandmother's chess set. Though actually, it kind of is, if your grandmother happened to appreciate mid-century Indian modernism and spiritual philosophy. The name "Mohmaya" translates to "illusion," which feels perfect for a game that's all about deception, strategy, and seeing through your opponent's tricks. Designers: Tanay Vora, Vidushi Gupta, Hardik Sharma, Yaman Gupta
There's only so much you can do improve on chess, but you can at least make it a whole lot weirder. That simple fact led to the great Really Bad Chess in 2016, and now, a more recent spin on one of the most-played games in the world is available for free for a short time on the Epic Games Store for mobile. This time, it's an even bigger deviation from its origins, turning chess into a turn-based roguelike strategy game that's just as bizarre as it is captivating.
India's Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha has become the youngest player in chess history to earn an official Fide rating at the age of three years, seven months and 20 days. The chess prodigy edged out the previous record of compatriot Anish Sarkar, who was three years, eight months and 19 days when he reached the milestone in November last year. Kushwaha, who is enrolled in nursery school in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, holds a rapid rating of 1,572. To achieve a rating from Fide, the International Chess Federation, a player needs to beat at least one Fide-rated player. A rating is a score that measures a chess player's strengths based on their performances and is not the same as a ranking. World No 1 Magnus Carlsen is the top in rapid chess with a rating of 2,824.
Ukraine was the most successful nation at this week's European team championships, winning gold in the open event and silver in the women's. It also sparked one of the most memorable results of recent years, as Igor Kovalenko, a serving army soldier who played no chess for three years, won the individual gold on fourth board with 6.5/8, the best percentage of the entire tournament.
Levon Aronian, at 42 the oldest in the tournament, scored what he described as one of the crown jewels of his career to win the $200,000 first prize at the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam last weekend.
It looked as if the Carlsen era might finally be over. The Norwegian, 35, had just lost his second game in a row to India's world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, 19, who was on a streak of five successive wins and leading the Zagreb event three points ahead of Carlsen.