While the mind games will go on in the last two games and a potential tiebreaker, American Hikaru Nakamura and world number one Magnus Carlsen feel that the balance had tilted slightly in Ding Liren's favour.
Viswanathan Anand is the third Indian in the top 10, occupying the 10th spot with an ELO rating of 2750.
In an event completely dominated by the Chinese, Ju Wenjun went on to snare the world title, defeating compatriot Lei Tingjie 3.5-2.5.
Anish Giri blundered a piece against Magnus Carlsen, losing in just 22 moves.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi opened his campaign with four victories and a solitary defeat in the World Rapid Chess Championship and was tied fifth, even as defending champion Magnus Carlsen endured a frustrating day, managing to log just one victory in New York.
Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their previous three encounters in this format.
Uzbekistan's young grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged sole leader in the open section of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.
World Champion D Gukesh began his campaign at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour with a mixed bag of results, including three draws and a lone loss, signaling that he is adapting to the new format.
Real Madrid teammates Eder Militao, Eduardo Camavinga, and Aurelien Tchouameni praised him on social media, calling him the "best player."
American Hans Niemann filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen and Chess.com in October 2022 after the allegations that he had cheated.
Arjun Erigaisi breathed a sigh of relief after receiving his US visa to compete in the upcoming World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York
Five-time world champions Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen played out a draw in the top duel of the opening day as the second edition of the Global Chess League began with players from around the world squaring off in London on Thursday.
Erigaisi also requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and the All India Chess Federation (AICF) to help him get the visa.
Russians Volodar Murzin and Alexander Grischuk, along with Duda Jan-Kryzstof of Poland, share the lead with Arjun on seven points after the end of the second day and Round 9 of the championship, which will decide the best player of the planet after 13 games.
'I think the world championship matches are decided not purely by chess but by who has the better character and who has the better willpower. And I think those qualities, I did show quite well'
The 18-year-old Gukesh claimed the title by beating China's Ding Liren in Singapore on Thursday.
World No 1 Magnus Carlsen narrowly avoided forfeiting his third-round game against Roberto Garcia Pantoja at the Chess Olympiad due to a late arrival.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is still third on 9.5 points in the Norway Chess tournament.
Teenager Gukesh Dommaraju of India became the youngest chess world champion by beating defending champion Ding Liren of China on Thursday
With nine rounds still to come in the blitz event, Wei Yi has amassed 20.5 points with seven wins on the first day of blitz. Ending the day with 7.5 out of a possible nine, Yi, seems like a man possessed and unless a hurricane hits him, is poised to win the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi believes the government's recent decision to stop cash rewards for attaining GM and International Master titles is 'not ideal' for the parents of chess players.
If I do the right things, I have all the chances in the world: Gukesh
Vaishali defeated Muzychuk for the second time in the event in the Armageddon. It was a finely played Classical game wherein neither players could reach an advantage but in the Armageddon Vaishali took advantage of her better placed rooks to call the shots.
Grandmaster D Gukesh will face his first major challenge since becoming world champion when he begins his campaign in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, which starts on Friday in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
Indian Grandmaster Gukesh made history on Thursday, becoming the youngest-ever to win the world title defeating Liren in the 14th and final game of the championship in Singapore.
Reigning champions Triveni Continental Kings secured a 10-8 win over upGrad Mumba Masters in the opening match on day five of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London on Monday.
Chess governing body FIDE's general assembly agreed to consider lifting parts of a ban on Russian and Belarusian players imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in a vote on Sunday in Budapest.
On current form, D Gukesh is the favourite to win the World Chess Championship title against his Chinese opponent, Ding Liren, believes Indian teenage Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa.
Gukesh said he wanted to just win the game cleanly but there was excitement as Liren had very little time left.
'I spoke to Paddy, and I made some changes.' 'After that, I slept well in the last two days -- at least eight hours each day.' 'So, I was fresh in the games. Sleep is very important.'
Newly-crowned world chess champion D Gukesh is looking forward to the day when the sport will become a part of the Olympic curriculum, which, he said, would take it to an altogether different level not just in India but across the world.
Arjun Erigaisi briefly reached a career-high live rating of 2771.2 earlier this week and is the only Indian since Vishwanathan Anand to do so.
Praggnanandhaa did not have to sweat hard to hold Caruana under Classical but in the Armageddon the American was a transformed player as he took advantage of his white pieces.
R Praggnanandhaa outclassed world champion D Gukesh in sudden death to win Tata Steel Masters chess title.
Vaishali stretched her lead to 2.5 points following her second win under classical time control.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa got off to a flier and defeated Firouzja Alireza of France in the Armageddon game in the first round of Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger on Tuesday.
Gukesh, Liren eye breakthrough after series of draws in the Chess World C'ship.
Chess great Magnus Carlsen is launching a world Freestyle Chess tour as the variant of the game, also known as Chess960, is gaining in popularity, the world number one announced on Friday.
The image of a smiling D Gukesh standing with outstretched hands will forever be embossed in the memory of a nation of billions.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway feels that on current form Indian star D Gukesh is the favourite to win the World Chess Championship
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