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.
China's Ding Liren was crowned on Sunday as the 17th world chess champion in a tense match against Russian-born Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the last chapter of an odds-defying sequence of events.
Humpy excited about young Indian chess brigade, says 'can be worthy successor to Anand'
The Indian team includes country's number two Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy. B Adhiban and D Harika are the the reserves members. The field for the event includes six former world champions, plus 12 others who have been Candidates to the throne at some point.
Chess will crown a new world champion when Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren begin their battle on Sunday.
The Indian needs just a draw in the second game against Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia to qualify for the semis.
Grandmaster D Harika missed out on some chances to settle for a draw with Georgia's Sopiko Guramishvili, while Padmini Rout survived a scare before enforcing a draw with China's Tan Zhongyi in the first game of the third round of World Women's Chess Championship in Tehran.
After the first game against the same opponent ended in a draw, Harika was with black pieces in the second and she employed a French defence and Kosteniuk did not have many answers.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand will lead India's charge at the online Nations Cup beginning on Tuesday, where some of the world's best players will face off amid the coronavirus pandemic which has thrown the sporting calendars out of gear. The six-team event, touted to the richest online team tournament, features all the big names in the game with World champion Magnus Carlsen being the only big gun missing from the line-up.
Koneru Humpy secured a much-needed draw against China's Ju Wenjun in the second game of the quarter-finals to enter the semi-finals of the World Women's Chess Championship in Hatay, Turkey on Wednesday.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy took an early lead against Ju Wenjun of China while GM norm holder D Harika played out a draw with another Chinese, Ruan Lufei, in the first game of the quarter-finals of the World Women's Chess Championship in Hatay, Turkey. With another victory in the first game itself, Humpy now needs just a draw in the return game to make it to the last four stage that has been her performance till date in a World Championship.
The Indian Grandmaster-norm holder beat China's Lufei Ruan to the title on a better tie-break score after both were tied on points.
Young Indian Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu on Thursday beat International Master Munkhzul Turmunkh of Mongolia to storm into the semi-finals of the first leg of FIDE chess.com Women Speed Chess Championships but the country's top player Koneru Humpy bowed out in the opener.
India suffered a double blow, losing its third and fourth round matches to Europe and top-seeded China by similar 1.5-2.5 margins, on the second day of the FIDE-Chess.com Online Nations Cup on Wednesday. Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand came up against a strong opponent in Ding Liren and the two agreed to sign peace in 54 moves. P Harikrishna held higher-rated Yu Yangyi to a draw while long-time rivals Koneru Humpy and Hou Yifan drew their game.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
Harika had carried the Indian hopes nicely till the tie-breaker of the third round. However, she got a jolt in the first game of the rapid tie-break where both players had 25 minutes on their clock.
Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli came out strongly yet again in the rapid tie-breaker as she outclassed Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia to enter the semi-finals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Championship for the third time in a row.
Women's World chess Champion Hou Yifan of China left everyone stunned at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess tournament when she resigned in a controversial fashion after just five moves in her 10th and final round game against India's Lalith Babu.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
Back in chess just before the Olympiad after a nearly two-year hiatus, Humpy, who has been among the top women players for a long time, will now have to wait for another two years to have a go at the next world championship cycle.
Grandmaster and former national champion B Adhiban crashed through the defences of former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria to remain in joint lead in the Masters section of Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival.
