Asia
The Chess Super League organized by NODWIN Gaming, ChessBase India and Samay Raina concludes with a bang
Zakir Khan’s Pivotal Pawns bags a lion’s share of INR 40 lakh prize pool
NODWIN Gaming, South Asia’s leading esports company, in partnership with title sponsor CoinDCX. The week-long online league saw participation from elite men and women grandmasters, international masters and top junior boys and girls, from India and across the world. The league concluded on October 17, 2021 by awarding its top teams a whopping prize pool of INR 40 lacs and garnered a viewership of 10 Million.
In the 30+ hour long league, a total of 120+ rounds of chess were played. Each team was spearheaded by their owners – top professionals in their respective fields – including Tanmay Bhat (The Kingslayers), Biswa Kalyan Rath and Shreyas Shrinivasan (Krazy Knights), S8UL (Ruthless Rooks), Raftaar – Kalaamkaa (Brutal Bishops), Zakir Khan from Pivotal Pawns and Suhani Shah with Saina Nehwal from Quintessential Queens. The Pivotal Pawns (Abhijeet Gupta, Arjun Kalyan, Bhakti Kulkarni, Ding Liren, Savitha Shri, Zhansaya Abdumalik) and The Kingslayers (Anish Giri, Arpita Mukherjee, D Gukesh, Nana Dzagnidze, Soumya Swaminathan, S. P. Sethuraman) engaged viewers in an edge-of-the-seat finale that had the audience on tenterhooks before the Pivotal Pawns emerged winners after a tie-breaking armageddon game.
“The success of the Chess Super League (CSL) — our foray into the world of online chess, has reiterated our belief that various forms of gaming can come under the umbrella of gaming and esports entertainment. Chess is a fantastic game that teaches you strategy, deep thinking, patience and in the CSL format teamwork. It will do our country good if through tournaments like the Chess Super League, we can get more of India’s youth interested in this phenomenal game. Apart from the players themselves, the team owners along with the storytellers and Samay and Sagar did a splendid job in keeping up the fun and the serious element of the league in a great balance. We look forward to season 2 of CSL very soon!” said Akshat Rathee, Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming.
Sagar Shah, CEO and Co-founder ChessBase India added “Powering Chess in India is the vision of ChessBase India. I am glad that with the Chess Super League we were able to do just that. Immense benefit was received to Indian chess players as they got to compete with world class players. The juniors got a chance to interact with top players of the world which gives them new insights into the game. I am overwhelmed with the love and support for the league from all the players, community and audience members. It’s been wonderful working with Samay Raina and NODWIN Gaming and we hope to make this league bigger and better in the years to come.”
Samay Raina added “It’s difficult to believe that after only 18 months of starting to stream chess, I have been able to be a part of something this huge and exciting – with top players playing in our league. The whole league has been an emotional roller-coaster and we can’t wait to be back with the next edition. I want to specially thank the fans who have been incredibly supportive throughout this journey.”
The Chess Super League streamed live on Samay’s Youtube channel with lots of surround content including team anthems, highlights and analysis hosted on the ChessBase India channel and channels of the team owners. Overall, content from the Chess Super League has been watched over 10 million times in just a week.
The League was sponsored by CoinDCX (India’s safest crypto exchange) and supported by Red Bull, Mama Earth, Rage Fan NFT and Exploring Infinities founded by the man who holds the title for being ‘The Fastest Human Calculator’ — Neelakantha Bhanu.
“We are very excited to enter into the world of gaming and esports through our association with NODWIN Gaming. We are seeing increasing associations across the globe in the emerging and exciting areas of cryptocurrency and esports and look forward to several more collaborations where we get to associate ourselves with new experiential games and trends,” said Ramalingam Subramanian, Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications, CoinDCX.
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Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has defended the Entertainment Complex Bill, set for parliamentary debate on April 9, as a vital economic measure amid rising US tariffs on Thai goods.
While opposition continues inside and outside parliament, Mr Phumtham insisted the bill’s fate should be decided through democratic processes — not protests.
The bill, which includes casino operations within an integrated entertainment complex, aims to generate significant revenue and counter the 36% US tariff hike on Thai goods — far higher than Singapore’s 10%, he said.
Mr Phumtham argued the measure would boost Thailand’s financial resilience and dismissed concerns that it promotes gambling addiction. He said strict entry rules, including age and income restrictions, would help mitigate risk.
“This isn’t about encouraging gambling — it’s about economic survival,” he said.
He urged critics to join the parliamentary debate and cited results from the government’s online public hearing held between Feb 28 and March 14, in which more than 70,000 people participated, with around 80% supporting the bill.
While acknowledging the right to protest, he warned such demonstrations should not be seen as representing the entire nation.
He said public opinion often differs from that of opposition parties and civil groups, stressing the need to respect the democratic process and let parliament decide.
The post Thai Deputy PM Defends Entertainment Complex Bill as Shield Against US Trade Move appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The Asian Poker Tour has announced the cancellation of APT Manila 2025, which was scheduled to take place from May 30 to June 8, 2025, at the City of Dreams Manila.
The next scheduled APT tour stop following the upcoming APT Taipei 2025—running April 25 to May 4 with a TWD 70M (~USD 2.1M) guaranteed Main Event—will be the APT Incheon 2025; boasting a KRW 2.5M buy-in Main Event with a KRW 1.5B (~USD 1M) guarantee running August 1-10 at the Paradise Hotel & Resort.
This will be followed by the APT Jeju 2025, which boasts a KRW 2.6M buy-in Main Event with a KRW 2.2B (~USD 1.5M) prize pool guarantee and runs from September 26 to October 5 at Jeju Shinhwa World.
The 2025 APT poker schedule will conclude with the thrilling end of year APT Championship (APTC), which runs from November 14-30, 2025 at the Red Point Center’s brand new “Red Space” venue located in central Taipei.
The APTC Main Event boasts a massive TWD 165 million (~USD 5 million) prize pool guarantee – the largest the tour has ever offered.
Players can win their seat to this exciting TWD 350,000 (~USD 10,700) freezeout by competing in the tour’s three signature events—the APT Main Event, the APT High Roller and the APT Super High Roller—at each of the three remaining APT tour stops preceding the APTC.
The post Asian Poker Tour Announces Cancellation of APT Manila 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
GOD55, a premier online gaming platform and leading operator in Southeast Asia, is proud to announce its partnership with Birmingham City Football Club as the club’s Official Asian Betting Partner.
Established in 2016, GOD55 has become one of the biggest and most trusted brands in the online gaming industry, offering a wide range of betting and entertainment options, including casino games, sports betting, and live dealer experiences. Leveraging cutting-edge technology, the platform provides users with seamless mobile and desktop access, real-time data integration, and high-quality streaming for live events.
As part of this exciting partnership, GOD55 has launched an exciting announcement film, filmed on location at Birmingham City’s St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park and Elite Performance Innovation Centre.
A spokesperson for GOD55 commented: “We are delighted to partner with Birmingham City, a club with a rich history and a dedicated global fanbase. This collaboration reflects our commitment to connecting with football enthusiasts and delivering an enhanced entertainment experience. Together, we aim to engage fans in innovative ways, celebrating the beautiful game while offering a world-class gaming platform for our users in Asia.”
Birmingham City also expressed their excitement about the partnership: “We’re thrilled to welcome GOD55 to the Birmingham City family as our Official Asian Betting Partner. This partnership highlights the club’s growing international appeal and provides an opportunity to further engage with our supporters in Asia. We look forward to working closely with GOD55 to achieve great things together.”
The post Birmingham City Forms Alliance with GOD55 as Their Official Asian Betting Partner appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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