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.
The Indians were never the favourites in the entire scheme of things but yet, Gukesh has withstood the early storm and so has Praggnanandhaa.
Pragg, Gujrathi out of contention
R Praggnanandhaa outclassed world champion D Gukesh in sudden death to win Tata Steel Masters chess title.
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.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa lost to World Champion Ding Liren in the Armageddon tie-breaker after the two played out a draw under normal time control in the second round.
Gukesh tried his hands at the Ruy Lopez as white but did not get much against Praggnanandhaa. Both the teenagers have been showing great skills here against the world's best and there was nothing to choose between them when pieces flew off the board in tandem. The game was drawn in 41 moves.
The image of a smiling D Gukesh standing with outstretched hands will forever be embossed in the memory of a nation of billions.
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.
Giving prominence to experience over youthful exuberance, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand feels the three Indian participants remain far from winning the Candidates chess title, saying they "should first settle into the tournament."
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.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of world number three Hikaru Nakamura of United States, while R Praggnanandhaa went down to compatriot D Gukesh in the second round of Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa produced a spectacular game to get the better of fellow-Indian Vidit Gujrathi in the third round of the Candidates Chess tournament in Toronto on Saturday.
Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their previous three encounters in this format.
Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh finished fifth while his illustrious compatriot Viswanathan Anand could only manage a tied seventh place in the third leg of the 2023 SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament.
Gukesh to clash with Alireza on what promises to be a photo finish
Koneru Humpy's non-participation in the event has not hampered the team's chances much as Vaishali has jumped significantly in rankings and is a force to reckon with in the women's circle.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi scored crushing victories, while D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with a draw in a brilliant sixth-round outing for the Indian men's team at the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto.
By becoming only the second Indian after legendary Vishwanathan Anand to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, Praggnanandhaa booked a spot in the Candidates event in 2024 to determine the challenger to Ding Liren.
Gukesh had a fine run, beating Constantin Lupulescu and Saric after drawing with Richard Rapport in the day's first game.
Continuing his dream run, Praggnanandhaa on Monday stunned Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semi-finals to set up a summit clash with world number one and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway at the FIDE's premier event.
World Championship challenger D Gukesh on Sunday said he didn't think about his personal achievements and was prepared to do "whatever it takes" to secure India's maiden gold medal at the Chess Olympiad following near-misses in previous editions.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
Teen sensation R Praggnanandhaa will enter as the favourite among the three Indian participants in the Candidates chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto from Wednesday to decide the challenger for the next world championship match.
Praggnanandhaa, who has reached the summit clash featuring legendary five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, had none other than the iconic Gary Kasparov, acknowledging the Indian GM's mother's role
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen was in stunning form, winning all nine of his games to take a significant lead. He has 20 points out of a possible 27 going into the second half of the blitz on Sunday.
Grand Chess Tour: Teenaged GM Gukesh defeats idol Anand in Rapid segment
Seventh-round loss gave me energy, motivation to aim for title: Gukesh
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa wrote a golden chapter in Indian chess history by becoming only the second player from the country after Viswanathan Anand -- and the youngest -- to play in the FIDE World Cup final.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
Gukesh never got a chance against Mamedov who is known as a theoretician.
Indian chess icon Viswanathan Anand placed with nine points from seven rounds of Rapid (involving two mini-matches) and 14 rounds of Blitz.
The former World champion lost two games - one to Fabiano Caruana (USA) and the other to Richard Rapport (Hungary) while drawing with five others.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa went down to World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE Chess World Cup final, in Baku, on Thursday.
Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States to join the leaders' pack on 4.5 points.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Arjun Erigaisi 5-4 via the sudden death tie-break to enter the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament in Baku on Thursday.
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh shocked world number 5 Fabiano Caruana as India 'B' pulled off a superb 3-1 win over number 2 seeds USA in the eighth round of the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai on Saturday.
Anand had endured losses at the hands of Rauf Mamedov (Azerbaijan) in the opening round before suffering defeats to Rapport and David Navara (Czech Republic) in the second and third round respectively.
Praggnanandhaa has expressed his determination to approach the World Cup final against Magnus Carlsen with a fresh mindset.
Indian GM was impressive against a fancied and higher rated opponent
