Praggnanandhaa takes on a strong field at Grand Swiss, eyes Candidates berth
Praggnanandhaa can take heart from the fact that he goes in to the candidates as the top rated Indian slated to be held in about four weeks from now in Toronto.
Vaishali knew she had to win to remain in contention and her approach right from the start was in sync with the requirement of the tournament situation.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated overnight sole leader Nodirbek Abdusattarov of Uzbekistan to stake his claim for the top honours at the Prague Masters chess tournament.
Gujrathi settled for a draw against Russia's Andrey Esipenko to stay in the lead with three points
D Gukesh played out a creditable draw against top seed Fabiano Caruana but slipped a rung to the joint second position.
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.
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.
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 suffered his second straight defeat at the FIDE Grand Swiss, losing to Greece's Nikolas Theodorou in the sixth round in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
Inspired by the iconic trophy lift of cricket captain Rohit Sharma during the 2024 T20I World Cup in June, the chess players replicated the gesture.
India men dropped their first point, but carried enough steam to beat Hungary to maintain a clean slate in the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad.
Neither current World Champion D Gukesh nor former world champion Vishy Anand are the top rated Indian chess player.
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.
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.
Sitting at tied fourth, Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh will have some catching up to do if they want to finish on the podium with four rounds remaining in the ongoing Prague Masters Chess tournament in Prague.
World Champion D Gukesh went down to world's youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra of the US in the fifth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss.
India was held to a 3-3 draw by lower-ranked Mongolia in the sixth round as favourites China grabbed the top spot in Pool A in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad on Saturday.
Uzbekistan's young grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged sole leader in the open section of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.
India's D Gukesh bounced back with a finely crafted game to outwit compatriot Vidit Gujrathi and regain his joint lead with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia after the eighth round in the Candidates chess tournament in Toronto on Friday.
Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh caused the biggest upset of the World Chess Cup, ousting former world championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia after winning the second game of the second round, in Panjim, on Wednesday.
Mumba's only win came on the prodigy board. Jonas Bjerre of American Gambits launched an all-out attack against Raunak Sadhwani, even sacrificing a piece.
Praggnanandhaa blundered for the second day running and lost to Richard Rapport of Romania in the third round
Viswanathan Anand had to be content with a joint third place finish following a draw with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi in the 13th and final round of the Tata Steel Masters, in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherland.
Carlsen, whose form has been up and down in the preliminary phase, took the fifth place with 26 points. He tripped Duda in the final round after settling for draws in rounds 13 and 14 against Daniel Naroditsky and Giri.
With the top spot assured in the pool with a round to go, India was held to a 3-3 draw by a fighting Slovenia.
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.
Gukesh Dommaraju played black but managed to hold on for a gutsy draw to split points in the Prague Masters Chess tournament.
The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa committed a time-pressure blunder as he suffered defeat at the hands of Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran in the second round of Prague Masters Chess tournament in Prague.
Indian GM D Gukesh overwhelmed Dutch player Max Warmerdam for his third victory on the trot and elevated himself to a joint lead after the seventh round of the Tata Steel Masters Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands on Sunday.
Three of the four Indian Open team players are in line for gold and silver medals for the individual performance.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
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.
After the draw with Iranian turned French player Firouza, Gukesh has seven points for his sole second spot.
In a surprising turn of events, Mumba Masters defeated tournament leaders PBG Alaskan Knights, denying them direct qualification to the finals of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London on Wednesday.
The Indian challenge in the women's section might already have ended as Zhongyi stood firmly ahead on five points while Goryachkina had 4.5 points in her kitty.
Gukesh to clash with Alireza on what promises to be a photo finish
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Canadian Grandmaster Anton Kovalyov to leave the Indian on the verge of an early exit at the FIDE Chess World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia.
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