Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
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.
Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States to join the leaders' pack on 4.5 points.
WGM Dronavalli Harika was held to a draw by Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia in the 8th round of the under 14 girls section of the World youth Chess Championships.
The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.
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.
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.
World No 4 Koneru Humpy pulled off a great win using an unusual opening move with black and rounded off a very successful tournament with a share of the first place at the FIDE Women Grand Prix Chess in Kazan, Russia. She was tied at 7.5 points with the higher rated Anna Muzychuk of Slovakia.
The Indian needs just a draw in the second game against Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia to qualify for the semis.
Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout was the lone Indian to sign off with a medal when she notched up the bronze after drawing her 13th and final round game with Deysi Cori of Peru in the World Junior Girls' Chess Championship in Chotowa-Czarna, Poland.
Dronavalli Harika proved her superiority in the endgame to outplay Anna Muzychuk in the second rapid tie-breaker and sail into the third round of the ongoing World Women's Chess Championship in Nalchik (Russia).
Vaishali fell behind early and could not catch up against Gunina, who had finished runner-up in the first leg.
With just two rounds left in the World Youth chess championship, the Indian lass need just a victory and a draw to secure the girls' under-14 title.
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh shocked world number 5 Fabiano Caruana as India 'B' pulled off a superb 3-1 win over number 2 seeds USA in the eighth round of the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai on Saturday.
The Grand Prix consists of four legs, with a total of 21 participants. Each of the 21 players participates in three out of four Grand Prix legs. Each GP is a 16-player knockout event.
India played out a 2-2 draw against Europe in Online Nations Cup chess tournament in the eighth round, a setback after their first win in the event notched up against the Rest of the World. Vidith Gujrathi ended his barren spell with a win over Levon Aronian of Europe with white pieces while Jan-Krystozf Duda beat P Harikrishna to level the scores in the match on Friday.
Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika staged a great comeback in the FIDE World Women's Chess Championship in Tehran, winning the second game against Tan Zhongyi of China to take the semi-final into a tie-breaker.
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.
Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli had to settle for the bronze medal after a heartbreaking defeat against Tan Zhongyi of China via the tie-breaker in the semi-finals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Championship in Tehran.
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.
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.
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.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
India went down to Rest of the World 1.5-2.5 in the second round of the FIDE-Chess.com Online Nations Cup. Earlier in the opening round, India split points with USA with Humpy posting a win over Anna Zatonkish while the legendary Anand drew with the highly-rated Hikaru Nakamura.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy's crucial victory helped last-minute entrant Indian women's team settle for a 2-2 draw with Ukraine in the first round of the ongoing World Women Team Chess Championship in Mardin, Turkey.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy of India made it to the quarter-finals of the World Women Chess Championship after she split point in the second game of the third round against Anna Zatonskih of the United States.
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