Chess Awakening

The Renaissance of Chess

The Renaissance of the Royal Game – A Visual and Narrative Tribute to Chess and the Chess Fever in India.

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A Book That Redefines Chess History

‘Chess Awakening’ is an artistic documentary that captures the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament in Toronto in all its strategic depth and emotional intensity. At the same time, it highlights the remarkable rise of chess in India, which was accelerated by the historic victory of 17-year-old Gukesh and manifested by India's historic double victory at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. This work combines stunning photography with compelling insider stories and traces the most important chess moments.

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The Battle for the Chess Crown

In 2024, Toronto became the center of the chess world. With Chess Awakening will you experience the tension, psychological duels, and masterful moves that made the FIDE Candidates Tournament an unforgettable event. Step into a world where every move determines glory or defeat.

India writes history

Gukesh's sensational triumph in Toronto marks the beginning of a new era of chess in India. Chess Awakening takes you into the heart of this emerging chess nation, where the game is not just a sport, but a growing cultural movement. Feel the passion, the pride and the unstoppable energy that has ignited the chess scene in India.

A Masterpiece of Storytelling and Photography

This book is a tribute to the beauty and depth of chess. With stunning photographs capturing the intensity of the games and insider stories that delve deep into the world of professional chess, Chess Awakening is both a visual and intellectual masterpiece.

Insights and inside view

Experience the drama and triumph of the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournaments in stunning visuals - with pictures you'll find in the book. The authors look into the world of professional chess, analyse power struggles and who has a say in the chess world.

Dive deep into the World of Chess

Chess Awakening explains why the best chess players are getting younger and younger and why the balance in world chess is shifting powerfully towards Asia. Let yourself be fascinated by a game that has a rich history and still fascinates children and young people despite its traditional rules and game set-up. and has the highest growth rates in the online age compared to modern games in the gaming industry.

Example Game from the First Round in Toronto

The most important games from both candidate tournaments in Toronto 2024, with extensive analysis, can be found in a section with restricted online access. The Games are available for Download in PGN Format.

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Chess Awakening

The book project Chess Awakening began with the idea of writing a tournament book about the Candidates Tournaments in Toronto. Then 17-year-old Indian Gukesh won the tournament and the narrative took on a larger context. In September, India won two gold medals in the women's and open events at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Stefan Löffler and Thorsten Cmiel took the chance and conducted numerous background discussions with the professionals behind the scene of top-level chess.

Irina Bulmaga

Irina Bulmaga is a WGM/IM born in Moldova, currently representing Romania. She became the youngest Moldavian Champion among Women at the age of 14 years old. Since 2010, she has been a part of the Romanian Olympic team, successfully representing it at 7 Olympiads, winning an individual bronze medal in 2014. Irina’s been the top rated female player of Romania since 2017, being a constant presence in the Top 100 rated Women in the World for over ten years. She holds more than 30 National titles at classical, rapid, blitz and solving and won various national and international chess tournaments. For this project Irina has analyzed the games of the Women Candidates in Toronto.

Sundararajan Kidambi

Sundararajan Kidambi is an Indian International Master since 2000 and a Chess Grandmaster since 2009. Kidambi won two titles each as a junior in national championships and twice finished third in Asian Championships. After his active career during which he won several open tournaments and won individual mendals, he is a well-known chess coach in India and a recognised author of chess columns. As a coach, Kidambi has worked with top Indian grandmasters Pentala Harikrishna and Sasikiran. For this project Kidambi followed the Candidates Tournament in the Open section.

Thorsten Cmiel

Thorsten Cmiel is a German FIDE master, economist and financial journalist. He is a well-known chess author who is responsible for the editorial scouting of chess talents for Chessbase. In this project, he is the initiator of the book project, author and was additional responsible for the editorial processing of the games and the selection of the game analyses.

Stefan Löffler

Stefan Löffler is the editor of Pocket Chess (Schachkalender) and has been reporting on chess for the Frankfurter Allgemeine since 1996. The International Master, who lives in Lisbon, has organised twelve international conferences on chess and strategy games.