World champion Viswanathan Anand played out two draws with Bulgarian world number one Veselin Topalov in the ninth round to surrender his sole lead in the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Nice on Wednesday. Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Levon Aronian of Armenia caught the Indian in lead with an identical 1.5-0.5 victories over Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine and Alexander Morozevich of Russia respectively.
Australia has restricted the usage of saliva and sweat to shine the cricket ball in wake of the coronavirus pandemic which has spread rapidly around the world. This decision has been taken under a framework released by Australia's federal government about the staged return of professional and recreational sport amid the coronavirus pandemic.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah was more than happy to take advantage of the helpful conditions with ball in hand and the 25-year-old took great pains to ensure the magnitude of the occasion didn't adversely affect him.
The organisation of the Indian Premier League will largely depend on India's COVID-19 situation during that time but with the central government trying to bring in normalcy, the cash-rich league could get a five-week condensed window to go ahead.
A rare queen blunder against Russian Alexander Morozevich cost World champion Viswanathan Anand dearly as he went down in the blindfold game and lost the lead in the 10th and penultimate round of Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament in Nice. The Indian ace drew the return rapid game and remained in contention for top honours even as Levon Aronian of Armenia jumped in to sole lead at the expense of Chinese Wang Yue by a 1.5-0.5 margin.
World number two Andy Murray is planning to participate in the forthcoming Rio Olympics in order to defend his Olympic gold medal despite growing concerns over the rapid spread of Zika virus in Brazil. Earlier, in an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 150 health experts had said that the current plans for the prestigious event need to be revised while citing several scientific studies that revealed the adverse effects of the virus. The WHO, however, turned down calls to move the Olympics venue, saying that moving the games would "not significantly alter" the spread of the virus. Murray, however, would head into the tournament after taking appropriate guidance from the Foreign Office and the British Olympic Association about the danger that the virus poses, the Guardian reported.
The Indian GM is now only 0.5 points behind the combined leader Alexander Morozevich at Amber chess
The Indian grandmaster maintained his slender lead in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament with a clinical 1.5-0.5\n\nvictory over Zoltan Almasi.
Images from Day 9 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Monday.
The Indian GM beat Francisco Vallejo Pons to keep joint lead in rapid chess event of the Amber tournament
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Australia captain Aaron Finch expects New Zealand to fight and scrap in their remaining games to seal a place in the semis.
Quinton de Kock scored a rapid half-century as South Africa defeated Pakistan by seven wickets at Newlands to claim the five-match one-day series 3-2.
World champion Viswanathan Anand crushed Vladimir Kramnik in the blindfold section and romped home with a 1.5-0.5 victory in the crucial eighth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament, in Nice, France on Monday.
World champion Viswanathan Anand struck form in the rapid game to beat Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk 1.5-0.5 in the fifth round of the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Nice on Friday. Anand slipped a bit in the blindfold game after getting a few chances but came back strongly to stir tactical complications in the return game and post victory.
World champion Viswanathan Anand's third successive loss has put him out of the title race in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament as he went down 0.5-1.5 against Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the ninth round in Nice.
World champion Viswanathan Anand thumped Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine in the blindfold and won his sixth round game 1.5-0.5 in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament in Nice. With five rounds still to go, Levon Aronian of Armenia is at the top of the combined points table on 7.5 while Anand is now close behind with seven points in his kitty.
World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered defeat at the hands of Alexander Morozevich of Russia in the blindfold game of the fifth round in Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Nice (France).
World champion Viswanathan Anand played two draws with Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the second round to occupy joint fourth spot in the 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament in Monaco.
'We don't want the year 2020 to finish without an IPL. Our first priority is India and even if we get 35 to 40 days, we will host it. But we don't know where'
Among the 11-point agenda, is a discussion on domestic cricket season, which is likely to be a curtailed one considering the rapidly rising COVID-19 case load in the country.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann has turned to experience for next month's Copa America Centenario on home soil, but said he had to make some "very close, tight decisions" before announcing his 23-player squad on Saturday.
A South African court handed rapid punishment to two men who robbed World Cup journalists from Portugal and Spain, sentencing them to 15 years in jail, police said on Saturday.
With the coronavirus pandemic turning daily life upside down and confining people indoors, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams shared an increasingly common sentiment on social media - "Every little thing makes me really crazy".
The World Archery on Friday wrote to the Indian Olympic Association, stating the Archery Association of India suspension might be lifted by the end of this month if a clear roadmap is established.
Inside the shooting range, his confidence rivals a seasoned campaigner but the moment Anish Bhanwala steps out of it, he becomes the average 15-year-old worried about his maths exam. It's just that he now happens to be India's youngest Commonwealth Games gold-medallist.
World champion Viswanathan Anand started his campaign with a draw in blindfold game against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the first round of Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament in Nice, France. Bulgarian Veselin Topalov emerged winner against Peter Leko of Hungary.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand finished joint second after playing out a draw with Wesley So of United States in the Sinquefield Cup, which concluded in St Louis, USA.
Viswanathan Anand mantained his composure and played out an easy draw against reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the fifth and final round of classical section at the Zurich Chess challenge on Tuesday.
Shikhar Dhawan termed skipper Virat Kohli as the 'best current Indian batsman'. Dhawan also praised Rohit Sharma for his phenomenal performance
World Champion Viswanathan Anand outclassed Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan 2-0 in the sixth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament in Nice, France on Saturday.
Indian team's young brigade including Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed says the high fitness levels maintained by seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have inspired them to match their lofty standards.
Deepa Malik produced her best effort in her fourth attempt, a 9.67 metre throw to win the bronze medal.
Curran had a lengthy chat with his English teammates and IPL regulars before coming to India, giving him a fair idea on the pressures and expectations involved in the lucrative league.
The Indian ace easily beat Ljubomir Ljubojevic in the fifth round in the Amber tournament.
Victory eluded world champion Viswanathan for the third day in a row as he played two draws with Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the seventh round to be sole third in the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Monaco.
Placed fourth after the first leg on Tuesday, the 48-year-old had a dream run on the final day to secure six wins and three draws in the nine rounds to draw level with the world No 3 American Nakamura to force a play-off.
The world champion took the sole lead after playing a couple of draws with Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the third round of the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament. Anand took his combined tally to four points and is now half a point ahead of nearest rivals Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Topalov who all have 3.5 points apiece.
England are the favourites to win their World Cup last 16 clash against Germany and, despite their poor form in the tournament so far, they will improve rapidly, the German camp said on Thursday. 'They have so many stars in their team and in our match they are the favourites,' said Germany assistant coach Hansi Flick. 'They play modern football, have gained a lot in tactical matters under Fabio Capello and can beat any team.'