Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a fourth consecutive draw after signing peace with Peter Svidler of Russia in the seventh round at the Candidates Chess tournament in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, on Friday. At the half-way stage of the tournament, Anand has 4.5 points out of a possible seven.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on sports calendars across the globe, resulting in cancellation and postponement of events, but it has also provided sportspersons a rather unexpected break. Indian sportspersons including some chess players plan to use the time to train and also be with their families.
India's Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna dished out a stellar performance to beat world No. 4 Levon Aronian of Armenia in the sixth round to climb to top of the leaderboard at the Geneva FIDE Grand Prix chess tournament.
'All the tournaments I played in recent times had a lot of bad moments, but the Candidates was a perfect tournament... Everything about the World Championship was very depressing.' Enjoying a break at his Chennai home, Viswanathan Anand, the former World chess champion, speaks to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
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.
Vishy Anand face world champion Magnus Carlsen for the first time in India since his 2013 World Championship defeat in Chennai, during the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz tournament to be held in Kolkata from November 22 to 26.
Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand set to return to FIDE World Cup after 15 years with an aim to seal a berth at the 2018 Candidates tournament.
Chess grandmasters resume COVID-delayed tournament in Russia
Anand, who had finished third in the penultimate leg in Bucharest, concluded with a seventh-place finish
World rapid champion Koneru Humpy claimed her second title in the last two months by emerging triumphant at the Cairns Cup chess tournament following a draw against compatriot Dronavalli Harika in the ninth and final round, in St Louis, United States. Humpy, who was crowned World champion in December, finished the tournament with six points. The icing on the cake was that Humpy will gain five ELO rating points (the basis for international rankings) and move to second place in the world rankings.
Vinesh, Dutee, Bhaker also among nominees for 'BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year'.
'But the coldness between the two is definitely melting.'
Dronavalli Harika stunned world champion Ju Wenjun in the third round to grab a share of the top spot in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix
'In the course of my interactions with him, Modi insisted that he does not believe charisma alone can sustain people's trust for long.' 'That is why Modi consistently refers to Mahatma Gandhi to contextualise his politics.' 'He believes in taking his ideas to the masses and getting their acceptance as an index of approval.'
A revealing excerpt from Ajay Singh's The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party.
I cannot think of another Hindi movie that has, without so much as a hint of cynicism or speechifying, brought out that fundamental fact of Muslims being an integral part of the Indian culture while being at the same time a subculture with its own polite niceties, observes Sreehari Nair.
Wesley So of the United States expectedly won the tournament with an easy draw with white pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the final round.
With favourable results under his belt this year, five-time World champion Vishwanathan Anand is approaching the forthcoming World Chess Championship at Sochi with a quiet confidence and a positive frame of mind but termed his opponent Magnus Carlsen as "tenacious".
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand inched closer to clinching the Candidates Chess tournament title after settling for an easy draw as black against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the 11th round in Khanty Mansiysk.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by rising Chinese star Ding Liren in the third round of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna ended his campaign at Moscow FIDE Grand Prix with a draw against GM Teimour Radjabov.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand will find himself in the unfamiliar position of starting as the lowest-ranked player when he takes on a tough field in his first Classical tournament since losing the world title, in the Zurich Challenge in Zurich at the Savoy.
The much-anticipated World Championship rematch between Indian veteran Viswanathan Anand and title-holder Magnus Carlsen will be staged from November 7 to 28 in Sochi, Russia.
Unfazed by Yeddyurappa's unceremonious exit, the BJP on Thursday fielded its senior leader S Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA, for the post of the Speaker whose election will precede the trust vote.
India's second Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua welcomed the government's decision to bestow the Bharat Ratna on Sachin Tendulkar but added that five-time World chess champion
Alexander Goloshchapov, Ashot Anastasian and Aleksej Aleksandrov share the lead in the Masters' section at the Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival.
At 12 years, seven months and 17 days, Dommaraju Gukesh is the second youngest Grandmaster of all time.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Last year, Nikhil Kamath and his brother Nithin jettisoned into a club of the country's 100 wealthiest with their net worth pegged at around Rs 24,000 crore
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand named Grzegorz Gazewski of Poland as the lone new inclusion in his team, putting to end speculations that he had made big changes for the World Chess Championship match against Magnus Carlsen, starting in Sochi on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Raju Bist from Thane tells us how he spent the last two months of lockdown.
Sonia wanted to know what happened to the institution of Lok Pal, the anti-graft watchdog that was proposed to be set up.
It would be a battle between Viswanathan Anand's wealth of experience and Magnus Carlsen's ability to play in any position when the two greats of the game face-off in the much-anticipated World Chess Championship beginning this month, feel a majority of Indian Grand Masters.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will look to avenge last year's championship defeat and clinch his sixth world title when he takes on Magnus Carlsen in the first game of the World Chess championship in Sochi, on Saturday.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand continued to struggle with form and had to be content with a fifth-place finish after a poor show in the rapid section of the Zurich Chess Challenge that concluded in Zurich on Tuesday.
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