The stars competing at the Norway Chess event were in for an authentic Wild West surprise when they had to don cowboy hats, roper boots, well worn-out jeans to indulge in some rodeo activity.
Five-time World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway got the better of D Gukesh in the opening round of Norway Chess.
Praggnanandhaa will meet pre-event rating favourite Fabiano Caruana of United States while Abdusattorov has to tackle the solid defences of Vincent Keymer of Germany in the other key clashes of the 11th round.
World Championship challenger Dommaraju Gukesh survived by the skin of his teeth against compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand crashed through the defences of World No 2 Fabiano Caruana in the fifth round and jumped to the joint second spot in the Sinquefield Cup, in St Louis, US.
World Champion D Gukesh has taken the joint lead at the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament after defeating his fellow Indian, P Harikrishna.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 is coming to Goa from October 30 to November 27, 2025!
Having lost three and drawn three coming into the third and final day of rapid, Praggnanadhaa lost to Lenier Dominguez of the US in the seventh round.
D Gukesh started off on a positive note, beating Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania
Viswanathan Anand avenged his defeat against Sergey Karjakin of Russia and came roaring back in lead.
The difference in rating does not count much but going by form and records, India's numero uno player R Praggnanandhaa will start as one of the favourites in the third edition of Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz tournament in Zagreb, Croatia, starting on Wednesday.
Praggnanandhaa wins UzChess Cup Masters, becomes top-ranked Indian and World No.4
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an effortless draw with Fabiano Caruana of Italy to finish second in Shamkir Chess tournament in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, on Sunday.
Caruana became the sole leader and also got back to number two in live world rankings.
World Championship challenger Gukesh Dommaraju played out a hard-fought draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.
Praggnanandhaa takes on a strong field at Grand Swiss, eyes Candidates berth
World champion Dommaraju Gukesh was beaten by compatriot Ramesh Praggnanandhaa and ended up two points behind Magnus Carlsen, with 15.5, in the Super United Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
R Praggnanandhaa, who drew with Wei Yi of China in the sixth round, is the joint leader in the Tata Steel chess tournament.
Gukesh was in control with his white pieces giving nothing away to Keymer, one of his seconds, in a Nimzo-Indian defense game.
D Gukesh played out a creditable draw against top seed Fabiano Caruana but slipped a rung to the joint second position.
The former World champion lost two games - one to Fabiano Caruana (USA) and the other to Richard Rapport (Hungary) while drawing with five others.
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.
Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, who has also qualified for the Women's Candidates, has opted out of the women's section to compete with the best in business.
Reigning world champion D Gukesh continued to turn adversity into opportunity as he wriggled out of a virtually intractable position to beat compatriot Arjun Erigaisi for the first time ever in a classical game and jump to sole second position after round 7 of the Norway Chess.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand opened his account after signing peace with Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the third round of Zurich chess challenge now underway in Zurich at the Savoy.
Vaishali stretched her lead to 2.5 points following her second win under classical time control.
D Gukesh crashed through the defenses of compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca in the ninth round to jump into sole lead at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa continued his strong run at the Tata Steel Masters, winning his third consecutive game to take his tally to 8.5 points after the 12th round.
The Indians were never the favourites in the entire scheme of things but yet, Gukesh has withstood the early storm and so has Praggnanandhaa.
World Champion D Gukesh's quest for a victory continued as Hikaru Nakamura defeated him in the tie-breaker of the 5-8 place play-off at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
World champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Jorden van Foreest of Holland, while Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa beat Alexey Sarana of Serbia as the two Indians shared the lead after a thrilling day at the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands) on Saturday.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand ended his three-game winless streak and drew with Fabiano Caruana of United States in the eight and penultimate round of the London Chess Classic in London on Sunday.
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.
While only one place seems assured for the Indians in the men's section, there are already three in the women's category who have made it to the Candidates.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is still third on 9.5 points in the Norway Chess tournament.
Norway's Magnus Carlsen continues to be the undisputed world No.1 with 2832.5 points, followed by United States' Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (2802) and country-mate Fabiano Caruana (2798).
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.
Grandmaster D Gukesh threw one salvo after another to beat world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Levon Aronian of Armenia and eventually reigning world champion Ding Liren of China on the first day of the Weissenhaus Chess Challenge that got underway in Wangels (Germany).
Neither current World Champion D Gukesh nor former world champion Vishy Anand are the top rated Indian chess player.
