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.
Viswanathan Anand on Saturday said the pressure of expectations of playing at home in the last World Chess Championships in Chennai was not a factor but pointed out that he made a few mistakes against Magnus Carlsen, which eventually cost him the world title last November.
American Hans Niemann filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen and Chess.com in October 2022 after the allegations that he had cheated.
World Championship challenger Dommaraju Gukesh survived by the skin of his teeth against compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
India produced their own version of 'Bazball' to squeeze out a remarkable seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh from a seemingly dead Test match en route to a 2-0 series sweep on Tuesday.
In the women's event, the country's top player Koneru Humpy has 3.5 points with two wins and three draws after five rounds as does R Vaishali who has scored three victories to go with a draw apart from a loss.
D Gukesh struck back after recovering from a sedate start to defeat compatriot R Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer in the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament
Placed fourth after the first leg on Tuesday, the 48-year-old had a dream run on the final day to secure six wins and three draws in the nine rounds to draw level with the world No 3 American Nakamura to force a play-off.
Viswanathan Anand finished second in a strong field at the World Blitz Chess Championship.
Viswanathan Anand had to be content with second place in the World Blitz Chess Championship after scoring 28 points, three behind the winner, Magnus Carlsen, of Norway.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy bowed out of the women's World Chess Championship succumbing to 14-year old Yifan Hao of China in the blitz tie-break games of the semi-finals in Nalchik, Russia on Friday. Humpy rose back to level scores twice but Yifan emerged as the better player in the blitz games where she won both the tie-break games and advanced to the final where she takes on Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia.
Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk of Russia won the event.
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand came up with a fine performance to be placed tied second in the blitz tournament of the Altibox Norway chess tournament, in Stavanger.
Vaishali came back from 2-4 down to oust the experienced Ukrainian by winning the last two bullet games.
World Championship challenger D Gukesh bounced back from a sedate start to defeat compatriot R Praggnanandhaa and Germany's Vincent Keymer before holding world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen after round six of the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament in Warsaw on Friday.
The Indian ace won the first game with black pieces and then drew the second with white to score over the Bulgarian.
Images from the Olympics swimming action at the La Defense Arena, Paris, on Wednesday.
An eight-year-old Indian-origin boy defeated Polish chess grandmaster Jacek Stopa at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand hailed the young GM's achievement.
Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna beat Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in his eighth round tie in the Moscow FIDE Grand Prix in Moscow.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand ended the World Rapid Championship on a positive note, scoring four points out of five games on the final day, but the Indian ace could only finish 25th in the final standings.
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.
Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli had to settle for the bronze medal after a heartbreaking defeat against Tan Zhongyi of China via the tie-breaker in the semi-finals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Championship in Tehran.
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.
Photos posted by both outlets appeared to show her with no headscarf during the tournament. Khabarvarzeshi also posted a photo of her wearing a headscarf but without saying if it was taken at the same event.
In the second round, Anand lost the first of the two-game mini-match to Rapport with black pieces. The second game ended in a draw with the Indian playing with white pieces.
A title match requires months of preparation and pulling out of other events, putting together a team of seconds, etc. Carlsen just says he lacks the motivation to do this again.
The source also said Khadem's relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats, without giving further details.
Max Verstappen won the Miami Grand Prix from ninth on the starting grid with a masterful display of tyre management on Sunday.
Facing a point deficit with just four games to go, five time world champion Viswanathan Anand is in a now-or-never situation in the World Chess Championship match against Magnus Carlsen.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has charted his own path to glory and is closer to greatness than ever.
Gukesh aims to keep improving after becoming India No 1 without sponsorship support
'It will be special. Looking forward to going to a world championship match without the tension of playing. I am a chess fan too and hope it will be a good match'
A swashbuckling finish yielding five birdies in six holes catapulted Rory McIlroy up the Dubai World Championship leaderboard on Thursday as he seized the early initiative in his money-list battle with Luke Donald.
New France captain Kylian Mbappe lived up to expectations with two goals in a 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand had another bad outing, drawing seven and losing two games, to remain on joint eighth place after the end of nine rounds of blitz in the St. Louis Rapid and blitz chess tournament in St. Louis, United States.
Both Harikrishna and Carlsen drew all their four games on the opening day of the tournament as matches ended late on Saturday.
'I like to challenge myself. Competing against players much younger than me is something that I want to keep doing,' says Chess Legend Viswanathan Anand
The second standard student of the NSS Hill Spring International School reigned supreme in all the three categories - rapid, blitz and standard -- and achieved the feat of being the only Indian to bag all the crowns in the 1st Western Asia Youth Chess Championship.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances