World number seven Erigaise Arjun started his campaign on a positive note, outplaying Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan in the first round of the Sharjah Masters chess tournament in Sharjah.

Gukesh follows in the footsteps of Anand, the only other Indian to win the Candidates

Teenaged Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh shot into sole lead after defeating Firouzja Alireza of France in the 13th and penultimate round of Candidates' Chess tournament in Toronto on Saturday, his quest for the extraordinary placing him on the cusp of becoming the youngest ever World Championship contender.

Pragg, Gujrathi out of contention

The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.

India's D Gukesh bounced back with a finely crafted game to outwit compatriot Vidit Gujrathi and regain his joint lead with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia after the eighth round in the Candidates chess tournament in Toronto on Friday.

The Indian challenge in the women's section might already have ended as Zhongyi stood firmly ahead on five points while Goryachkina had 4.5 points in her kitty.

Vidit Gujrathi also put an end to his losses by settling for a draw with Caruana.

Liverpool hammered Sparta Prague 6-1 on Thursday to storm into the Europa League quarter-finals 11-2 on aggregate.

In round 3, the Indian defeated German GM Vincent Keymar with the game decided in the rook endgame after Praggnanandhaa managed to win two pawns, following which Keymar resigned.

In another entertaining contest SG Alpine Warriors defeated Chingari Gulf Titans 11-6.

Azerbaijan said on Thursday that it is open to dialogue with Armenia and if India comes up with some proposal to bring stability in the region, Baku will welcome such initiatives, hours after the two arch-rivals believed to have negotiated a cease-fire to end the recent hostilities between them.

Where paneer came to India from... How sambar got its name... Gulab jamun does not have Indian roots...

Bajrang Punia's perennial leg-defence weakness came to haunt him at the big stage as he lost the men's freestyle 65kg semi-final to three-time world champion Haji Aliev at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.

A photo symbolising "love and compassion" of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman getting her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent "hug curtain" has been named the World Press Photo of the Year. This year, according to organisers, 74,470 images were submitted for judging, made by 4,315 photographers from 130 different countries. World Press Photo has been kind enough to allow to share some of this year's winning photos here with you.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken down another victim, with the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix being the latest sporting event to fall prey to the global pandemic. Postponement of the race in Baku leaves Azerbaijan without a major sporting event in a year that had promised plenty of action as they were four games of Euro 2020 that has now been postponed to 2021.

Sagaliuk's defeat in quarterfinals shut the repechage door on the Indian.

It was a second consecutive defeat for Vinesh against the Japanese this season after losing to the two-time world champion at the Asian Championship in China.

Many soccer fans knew little or nothing about Russian cuisine before the World Cup, but have tucked into local gastronomy with relish, trying everything from luxurious caviar to staples like veal tongue.

Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive win continued as he was held to yet another draw by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the sixth round of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament, Stavanger, Norway.

A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.

World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand continued his fine run in the faster version of the game and annexed the Tal Memorial rapid chess title in Moscow after an easy final round draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel.

Founded in 1992, Qarabag's Imarat Stadium is reduced to rubble and they play their home games 440km away in the capital Baku.

Chelsea footballer Eden Hazard says he is keen to win the Champions League title as his club begins its European campaign with a group stage match against Azerbaijani side Qarabag on Tuesday.

A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday

Inter Milan's aversion to Europa League football continued with a 3-1 defeat at Sparta Prague, while AS Roma ended a continental hoodoo stretching back seven games with a 4-0 home win over Romanian side FC Astra on Thursday.

Yogeshwar Dutt's London Olympics bronze medal will not be upgraded to gold after the United World Wrestling (UWW) on Tuesday made it clear that the top-place finisher in men's 60kg freestyle -- Togrul Asgarov - never tested positive for a banned substance. "Contrary to news reports, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Togrul ASGAROV (AZE) has never been in violation of UWW's anti-doping policy," the world body tweeted from its official Twitter handle.

The explosion hit three military vehicles and a private vehicle in central Ankara, near Turkish parliament buildings, Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported, citing Ankara Governor Mehmet Kiliclar. The vehicles were stopped for a traffic light at the time, the military said.

2016 F1 calendar to feature record 21-race campaign

New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Swiss club Sion on Thursday.

Juergen Klopp got a taste of the problems at Liverpool as his first home game as manager ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw against Rubin Kazan who played more than 50 minutes with 10 men in the Europa League on Thursday.

Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman crashed out of the World Cup of chess after a draw with Azerbaijani superstar Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the second game of the third round in Baku.

Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman went down to higher ranked Shakhriayar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the first game of the third round of World Cup of Chess now underway in Baku.

Jonatan Soriano's love affair with the Europa League continued as last season's top scorer grabbed a hat-trick on Thursday to help Salzburg become one of four teams to reach the knockout stages.

Napoli's Marek Hamsik enjoyed a memorable return to his former club Slovan Bratislava, scoring one and creating another, in a 2-0 victory on Thursday as the Italians joined five others who made it two wins from two in the Europa League group stage.

World champion Magnus Carlsen became the first chess player ever to hold three world championship crowns as he handsomely won the blitz title too with a remarkable 17 points.

World champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Boris Gelfand of Israel in the fourth round of Tal Memorial chess tournament in Moscow.

World champion Viswanathan Anand got off to a disappointing start, suffering a rare defeat against Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the first round of the Tal Memorial Chess Tournament in Moscow.

World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against Russian Peter Svidler as black while World No 1 Magnus Carlsen turned the tables on Sergey Karjakin of Russia to put a twist in the tale at the Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament in Sandnes, Norway.

Amateur boxing's world governing body has dismissed as 'preposterous and utterly untrue' allegations that Azerbaijan was promised two gold medals at next year's London Olympics in exchange for a loan of millions of dollars.