'It is truly unfathomable how this kid would come from a country with no chess culture and not only become World Champion, but inspire generations of Indian kids to push chess forward. The legend, @vishy64theking!'
'The championship was well fought this year.' 'Ding played better than expected. Gukesh was below his level, but good enough to beat Ding.'
Three of the four Indian Open team players are in line for gold and silver medals for the individual performance.
Four draws and two wins on Under-20 boards helped India pull off the victory against the Chinese.
Grandmaster D Gukesh endured a heartbreak in the final tie-breaker against Wei Yi of China and had to be content with a joint second place finish at the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
After the draw with Iranian turned French player Firouza, Gukesh has seven points for his sole second spot.
With five points in his kitty from eight games, D Gukesh jointly leads the standings with Anish Giri of Holland.
With seven rounds still to come in the first super tournament of the year, Anish Guru maintained his sole lead on 4.5 points out of a possible six and he is now trailed by Iranian turned Frenchman Firouza Alireza who is on 4 points.
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.
This is Koneru Humpy's second World Rapid title after she had triumphed in the 2019 edition in Moscow.
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.
Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh sealed a remarkable Chess Olympiad campaign with a decisive victory over GM Vladimir Fedoseev on Sunday in Hungary.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand came into his own with a much-needed win over Jan-Krzystof Duda in 78 moves in the second round after losing to his opponent in the first round.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
R Praggnanandhaa was the best Indian with an overall third place finish
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Mrunal becomes a bride... Tamannaah promotes her new film... Subbaraju gets hitched, finally!
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi and Vaishali have trained at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) that the bespectacled chess wizard set up four years ago in Chennai. The 18-year-old Gukesh and the 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa have often stated that they would not be where they are without "Vishy sir".
'The Indian Open team was extremely well prepared and motivated to win the gold medal.' 'With two players in the world top 10 club, and four players with over 2,700 ELO points (GMs Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, all below 20) and Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna, it was a solid team.'
The first day of being Mrs Radhika Ambani was certainly magical, and the bride looked even prettier at the Shubh Ashirwad function on July 13, where she and her bridegroom Anant Ambani were blessed.
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.
It has bolstered the home team's medal chances at the 14-day event, which is expected to see massive participation from more than 150 countries.
R Praggnanandhaa emerged as unconquered king in the World Youth Chess Championship, in Mumbai, claiming the gold in the Under-18 Open category on Saturday.
In the women's event, India's D Harika drew with Nino Bastiashvili (Georgia) to move up to four points. She is in joint third place with six others.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Sankalp Gupta becomes India's 71st GM.
Apart from a place in the Candidates to be played in April next year in Canada, Vaishali got richer by US$25000 (Over Rs 20 Lakhs) while Vidit took home a whopping prize purse of US$80000 (Over Rs 66 Lakhs).
After six draws in a row, Praggnanandhaa was relieved after the victory, a result of Gupta's blunder under time pressure.
India's Dronavalli Harika defeated former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria in the third round of the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament in Riga to grab a share of the lead.
Just before Christmas, film and television stars partied with the Mumbai Police at their annual show, Umang.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Indian players experienced mixed fortunes in the second round of the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament here with two each in the men's and women's sections registering victories.
India 'B' played out a 2-2 draw against Azerbaijan in the 9th round of the open section, while India 'A' and 'C' teams registered identical 3-1 wins in the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai, on Sunday.
Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States to join the leaders' pack on 4.5 points.
India 'B' defeated Germany 3-1 in their final round match to end at third position.
In the Open section, the India 'B' team, which has been in sparkling form, had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan as the in-form D Gukesh lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the reigning world rapid chess champion.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances