Originally published at: https://killerchesstraining.com/2025/12/08/trisha-kayamarala-becomes-irelands-first-woman-grandmaster/
Dear Friends,
Grandmaster Boris Gelfand will give two classes in the academy this December. The first one will happen this Sunday, the 14th of December, from 5 PM UK. His next class will be on the 21st, same time.
Sabino will be back next Monday with a new chapter of Killer Openings. The 1.e4 Repertoire is over and will soon be removed from the ongoing courses. It will stay available for all members for 3 more weeks, until the 1st of January. Sabino’s new course will be called Beat the Punks and will cover the London, Reti, English, Rhino (aka Jobava London), Larsen, Bird – openings which are very relevant in modern chess, while not considered a 1.e4/1.d4 main line.
A reminder that if you are a yearly member, your membership includes special access to the files we have on Chesstempo. To receive it, don’t forget to send us your username!
The homework club is taking a short break over the holidays. The 16th and 17th of December will be the last review classes of this year. It will be back in January, starting from the 6th. New homework sheets will be uploaded on the 27th of December. We know many of you like to use the holiday time to work on their chess – fear not, we have a surprise prepared for you, which we will announce soon!
We also have the Christmas Camp will take place between the 27th and 30th of December. GM Ivan Sokolov will be the host and will talk about 12 Paths from the Opening into the Middlegame.
The training will take time between 17.00 and 20.30 London time each day (9:00-12:30 California, 12:00-15:30 New York, 18:00-21:30 CET). There will be two 15-minute breaks. The camp will offer you a full 12 hours of training.
New yearly members and yearly renewals between the 7th of November and 27th of December will receive this camp for free, as a welcome gift. Everyone else who would like to participate needs to purchase the camp in our shop. If you are a member, remember to log in first to have the members’ discount applied to the camp!
Click here to purchase the camp or here to become a yearly member and receive this camp for free!
We are accepting registrations for the 2026 in-person camp. The camp will take place in the 4* resort Zoraida Garden in Roquetas de Mar, Spain, between the 17th and the 24th of May. Your trainers will be GM Jacob Aagaard, GM Renier Castellanos and GM Julen Arizmendi. We will also have a special guest who will do a few extra activities with the camp participants. The camp is open to both members and non-members of the academy.
Check the archive section of our website to get an idea about how the camp unfolded last year. In the gallery section you can find some photos from the event.
Participants who will register and pay the camp fee before the 15th of February 2026 will receive a gift consisting of 6 books. Four of them will be available to choose from a list. The other two will be with free choice.
If you would like to join us, please fill in the registration form, here. More information is available on our website.
Trisha and Tarun Kanyamarala played the super strong London Chess Classic Open. Trisha scored 5/9, gained 66 rating points and scored her last WGM norm, becoming Ireland’s first Woman Grandmaster! She was very close to scoring an IM norm as well. Congratulations, Trisha! Check out her amazing performance here and learn more about her journey here. Tarun scored 6 points, adding 21 points to his rating. He was very close to scoring a GM norm, but winning the last round against a strong GM is easier said than done. Simon Roe also had a nice tournament, picking up 41 rating points. Velimir Ivic finished 2nd, tied for 1st, with 7 points.
Arshiya won the gold medal on her board in the National U17 Championship with 6/6! She is currently taking part in the Indian Championship. She is currently on 4.5/6, with 5 more rounds to go. Best of luck, Arshiya!
Sabino finished 2nd, with 7/11 in the Italian Championship. Congratulations!
Have you been playing any tournaments? We want to know! Let us know on the forum or on social media.
Your friends from Killer Chess Training
Coming up in December: 12 hours camp with GM Ivan Sokolov – free for new yearly members and renewals (sign-ups between the 7th of November 2025 and 27th of December 2025)