First-time challenger D. Gukesh on Tuesday insisted he is not weighed down by the favourite's tag heading into the World Championship clash against China's Ding Liren, having enjoyed a purple patch after overcoming a rough phase.
Playing chess all year round can take a huge toll on the physical and mental aspects of a player and Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa acknowledged that sometimes he has to completely take his mind off the sport to prepare for the upcoming challenges.
Joining the elite 2,800 rated chess players club will get Arjun invites for top chess tournaments as well as better appearance fees.
He bagged the Menorca Open crown in April, finished second in TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament in May and also finished joint-fifth in the Sharjah Masters Open tournament.
Former World Rapid Chess champion Koneru Humpy wants the All India Chess Federation to increase women's tournaments.
Erigaisi posts 1st win in Chennai GM chess championship
Caruana kept his slender half point lead going in to the final round in the 10-player round-robin tournament, a part of the Grand Chess tour.
After scoring their fifth victory on the trot, the Indian men maintained their joint lead with 10 points along with China, Vietnam and Hungary.
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.
'It is not just D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi.' 'There are another 20 players just behind them. Nobody imagined this was possible 5 years ago.'
D Gukesh played out a draw with tournament leader and top seed Fabiano Caruana
Vaishali completed the requisite 2500 ELO points Llobregat Open tournament in Spain to become only the third Indian woman after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli to become a GM.
India made history as both its men's and women's teams clinched their first-ever gold medals at the 45th Chess Olympiad. The men's team defeated Slovenia and the women's counterparts overcame Azerbaijan in the final round.
The upGrad Mumba Masters climbed to third place, while the Titans improved their position from the bottom of the scoreboard.
Grandmaster R Pragnanandhaa held tournament leader and defending champion Anish Giri of Holland to a draw on the day.
D Gukesh started off on a positive note, beating Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania
Top seeded Grandmaster Erigaisi Arjun played out a draw with eventual winner Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran in the ninth and final round to finish in the top 10 at the Sharjah Masters International chess tournament in Sharjah.
Hundreds of students from the Velammal Vidyalaya, the school where Gukesh studies, lined up at the airport at least one hour before his flight landed to greet the 17-year-old chess prodigy.
Another Indian, Arjun Erigaisi could not crack the solid defences of Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran and had to settle for a draw.
India's Arjun Erigaisi defeated top-seed Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran with black pieces in the sixth round of the Chennai Grandmasters Chess Championship in Chennai on Wednesday to move into joint second spot in the standings.
India's R Vaishali crashed through the defenses of former World champion Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine to move to 3.5 points after the fourth round of FIDE women's Grand Swiss, a part of the World Chess Championship cycle.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Women's candidates' chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto, Canada from Wednesday.
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."
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi was stunned by Nikolas Theodorou of Greece in the second round of Sharjah Masters chess tournament in Sharjah.
Gukesh never got a chance against Mamedov who is known as a theoretician.
Chess icon Viswanathan Anand feels the current crop of Indian players, that he has had a role in shaping, has turned out to be "great" in grabbing crucial opportunities.
Vaishali becomes India's 84th Grandmaster, joins brother Praggnanandhaa in elite club
Erigaisi Arjun was held to a draw by Alexey Sarana of Serbia
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.
'The Indian earthquake in Toronto is the culmination of the shifting tectonic plates in the chess world.'
Seventh-round loss gave me energy, motivation to aim for title: Gukesh
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.
Here's hoping that 2024 is a wonderful year for Sindhu. May she win title after title and may she add to her Olympic medal kitty.
A lot has been written about Gukesh but have you wondered about how it is to be the parents of a genius and budding World Champion.
Caruana became the sole leader and also got back to number two in live world rankings.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
With all games ending in draws, the lead positions remained unchanged and Gukesh continued to be at the top of the tables along with Fabiano Caruana of United States who drew a keenly contested game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Chess sensation R Praggnanandhaa along with his parents meet PM Modi
Magnus Carlsen of SG Alpine Warriors defeated Viswanathan Anand and launched his team to the top of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in Dubai on Wednesday.
The chess champ loves to dress her nails and hair.
