A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against world No 2 Fabiano Caurana of Italy in the first round of Grenke Chess Classic in Baden-Baden, Germany. Playing his first tournament after winning the London Classic, the five-times world champion was pleasantly surprised as Caruana went for the Italian opening with white that does not find many followers in top level chess.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with black against local star Anish Giri but slipped to joint second spot after the sixth round of Tata Steel Chess tournament, in Wijk Aan Zee, on Saturday.
Velammal Institutions is the catalysing force behind this chess revolution in Chennai
Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi on Tuesday said "everything came together" for him at the Grand Swiss event on his way to the Candidates.
The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on his Twitter page
Chess icon Viswanathan Anand feels the current crop of Indian players, that he has had a role in shaping, has turned out to be "great" in grabbing crucial opportunities.
Asked if the teenaged GM from Chennai needs to tone down on his aggression, Ramesh said, "I don't think so. That is one of his strengths. But, he must also learn every aspect of the game, not just aggression..."
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, with a double black, suffered a surprising first round loss at the hands of Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the Sinquefield Cup, in St Louis, the United States.
India's top player and Asian Games gold medallist Koneru Humpy, who had come back into medal contention after a modest performance on day two, had to settle for the sixth place though she logged eight points.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand scored a thumping victory over French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to jump to joint-second after the end of the sixth round in the Norway Chess tournament, which is a part of the Grand Chess Tour.
Chess ace Viswanathan Anand termed losing just one game at the World Blitz Championship in Riyadh as a huge achievement after capturing the title at the World Rapid event.
For a long time, Viswanathan Anand was the lone flag-bearer of Indian chess, taking the world by storm with his exploits.
Defending champions Triveni Continental Kings outclassed PBG Alaskan Knights in both final matches to secure their second successive title in the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League.
R Praggnanandhaa was far from realising the enormity of his achievement in the FIDE World Cup but reckoned his incredible run could force people to "start noticing" Indian chess.
It was a huge drama on the opening day as World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway lost on time from a winning position in the longest game of the day.
"The crucial moment was the win against Magnus Carlsen, because he had come back after a defeat against Bu Xiangzhi. He seemed to be in great form, as always.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand scored a crushing victory against overnight leader Wesley So of United States in the fifth round of Shamkir Chess 2015 in Shamkir, Azerbaijan.
Vaishali, sister of the Indian chess prodigy and GM R Praggnanandhaa, scored impressive victories over Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) and Russia's Valentina Gunina on the opening day of the Blitz championship.
Ding, who could become the first Chinese male to win the world title, began the tournament admitting he felt like there was "something wrong" with his mind.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Canadian Grandmaster Anton Kovalyov to leave the Indian on the verge of an early exit at the FIDE Chess World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia.
India's Viswanathan Anand will open his campaign with white pieces against defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the first game of the World Championship, which starts in Sochi, on Saturday.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand started with a fluent win over Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest before faltering against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round of the rapid event in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour tournament, in Zagreb, on Wednesday.
Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand played out a draw againt Peter Svidler of Russia in the eighth round of Tata Steel Masters underway, in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, on Sunday.
After ending the first day of the Blitz category on a disappointing note when he suffered a loss at the hands of Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, Anand was a class act on the final day as he won against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France.
The fact that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa approved an expenditure of Rs 29 crore for the World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Norway's Magnus Carlsen to be held here points to the significance the event has for the state government.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand did not have a change in fortunes as he played out his sixth draw in a row, signing peace with tournament leader Levon Aronian of Armenia in the eighth and penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup chess meet.
Viswanathan Anand continued his roller-coaster ride in the London Chess Classic as he went down to Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk in the sixth round.
Indian chess great Viswanathan Anand sees signs of greatness in Nihal Sarin but says it's a long journey ahead for the impressive 14-year-old since there has been a trend of players struggling to replicate success as they age.
The Global Chess League has hit a significant milestone on its fifth day. With half of the matches already in the books, the competition now embarks on the crucial second phase of the round-robin tournament.
Grandmaster and former Asian champion S P Sethuraman has knocked out former FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in a big first round upset at the Chess World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Former women's World champion Susan Polgar feels that the rising strength of Indian players makes them favourites to grab three out of the six medals at stake.
This is Anand's sixth loss to American in Classical chess and the Indian ace will now have to do a lot of hard work to catch up in the last five rounds.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand said the career spans of chess players are getting shortened because of the intense competition within the sport.
Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand bounced back from his fourth round loss and beat his former world championship challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria on Wednesday in the fifth round of London Chess Classic, the concluding edition of the Grand Chess Tour.
Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi won Tata Steel Chess Challengers 2018, at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, on Sunday. The victory ensured him qualification for the Tata Steel Masters 2019, where leading chess players from across the world, including World champion Magnus Carlsen, will take part.
Viswanathan Anand was to return to Chennai on Monday after competing in the Bundesliga Chess League but had to stay back near Frankfurt given the travel restrictions, his wife Aruna said. Anand, who is set to don the commentator's hat for the FIDE Candidates tournament that begins in Yekaterinburg, Russia to spot the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen, will handle the role from his present location.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand's bad form continued as he finished 22nd in the World Blitz Chess championship, which concluded in Berlin on Thursday.
His semifinal match against Giri went up to 2am and a few hours later, he had to be at his school to take his 11th-class board examination.
