R Praggnanandhaa outclassed world champion D Gukesh in sudden death to win Tata Steel Masters chess title.
'Scrapping titles like WIM, WGM and a separate women's category will kill women's interest in chess.'
Tania Sachdev on Monday lamented the "lack of recognition" from the government of Delhi, prompting chief minister Atishi to reach out to her
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded India's young chess players for their historic achievement at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, where both the men's and women's teams clinched their maiden gold medals.
While GM Praggnanandhaa was an integral part of the men's team, his elder sister Vaishali also played a key role in the women's title triumph.
India men dropped their first point, but carried enough steam to beat Hungary to maintain a clean slate in the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad.
Gukesh was in control with his white pieces giving nothing away to Keymer, one of his seconds, in a Nimzo-Indian defense game.
World number four Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi registered his sixth victory in as many games as the Indian team was poised to score its sixth straight win in the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary on Monday.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
Erigaisi may have had to work harder but the Indian youngster, who is currently World number four, was never quite away from winning his game.
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.
Newly-crowned world chess champion D Gukesh is looking forward to the day when the sport will become a part of the Olympic curriculum, which, he said, would take it to an altogether different level not just in India but across the world.
The All India Chess Federation announced a whopping Rs 3.2 crore in rewards for the historic 45th Olympiad-winning Indian teams during a felicitation ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday.
This is Koneru Humpy's second World Rapid title after she had triumphed in the 2019 edition in Moscow.
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.
Praggnanandhaa did not have to sweat hard to hold Caruana under Classical but in the Armageddon the American was a transformed player as he took advantage of his white pieces.
Vaishali stretched her lead to 2.5 points following her second win under classical time control.
With Georgia likely to post a victory against overnight leader Kazakhstan, it seemed that the Indian eves were likely to regain the top position and become the firm favourites for the gold medal again.
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.
Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their previous three encounters in this format.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa scored a massive, hard-earned victory over world number two Fabiano Caruana of the United States and made his way to the top 10 of world rankings after the end of fifth round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger.
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.
The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.
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.
Shami was there to receive the honours. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.
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.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Women's candidates' chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto, Canada from Wednesday.
As per the Ministry sources, a special request was made by the BCCI to the sports ministry to include Shami's name as he didn't originally feature in the list of the country's second-highest sporting honour.
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi after they played out an easy draw in the 10th round of the Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
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.
Vantika Agrawal delivered when it mattered most as she defeated Grandmaster Irina Krush, helping India secure a 2-2 draw against United States.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
After scoring their fifth victory on the trot, the Indian men maintained their joint lead with 10 points along with China, Vietnam and Hungary.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commended the outstanding performance of chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa
Pragg, Gujrathi out of contention
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".
Vidit Gujrathi also put an end to his losses by settling for a draw with Caruana.
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.
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.
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