'It was 2 am, my parents were asleep. I woke my dad up and said: 'I won'.' 'He said, 'Good' and then went back to sleep because he had to go to office the next day.'
American Hikaru Nakamura also finished with 5.5 points, 1.5 points ahead of local representative Vincent Keymer, who placed sixth.
Chess960, created by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996, has been gaining in popularity after an invitational tournament played last year at the Weissenhaus Luxury Resort, which hosted the G7 Foreign Minister summit in 2022.
India's Arjun Erigaisi delivered a commanding performance against American Awonder Liang, while compatriot Nihal Sarin lost to Germany's Vincent Keymer in the opening round of the Chennai Grandmasters Chess tournament on Thursday.
Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi play out draw, Awonder beats Pranav in wonderkid clash
'Again this year was not going well, I was working very hard but somehow the results were not going my way, this win is very crucial.'
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa kept himself in hunt for an overall top four finish in the Grand Chess Tour after a draw with Wesley So of the United States in the eighth and penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis (USA).
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi is excited about the upcoming Global Chess League, which he calls the "IPL of chess". The League has an innovative format which is to give four points for a win while playing with black and three points while playing with white pieces.
Gukesh draws with Wei Yi; Praaggnandhaa outwits Caruana
Erigaisi in second place, German GM Keymer leads after three rounds of Chennai chess
R Praggnanandhaa, who drew with Wei Yi of China in the sixth round, is the joint leader in the Tata Steel chess tournament.
Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.
Kasparov, who held the record for being the youngest world championship contender before Gukesh broke the record as a 17-year-old by winning this year's Candidates tournament, supported Carlsen's decision to forfeit his title.
Abundantly talented but more significantly, incredibly cool in crunch situations, that's how India's 88th Grandmaster and World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh was described by her formative coach Srinath Narayanan, who feels the 19-year-old chess wizard's composure is comparable only to cricket great Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet, under whose leadership India won a second successive bronze medal at the Olympics, said the honour is a recognition of his "fascinating" journey in which he still has plenty more to achieve.
The likes of Arjun Erigaisi on the top board will be assisted by P Harikrishna on the second board.
'Chess and cricket are similar, but in cricket, you can show your aggression, but in chess, you can't. It is all about how calm you are in chess.'
Nine-year-old Delhi boy Aarit Kapil has become the youngest Indian to beat a chess Grandmaster.
'There are several talented players like R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, so the future is certainly bright.'
'I like to be challenged by the strongest players on the planet, even though it's going to get more difficult with this young Indian generation coming up. But I am not entirely depressed.'
Divya Deshmukh came to the star-studded FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, as an underdog, hoping to at least win one Grandmaster norm in her journey to become a GM in the future.
India's former World Rapid Chess Champion Koneru Humpy highlighted the need to organise more chess events for women in the country to ensure a greater pool of players.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaise secured the WR Chess masters title after defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the Armageddon game following two draws in Classical chess during the final.
World Championship challenger Dommaraju Gukesh survived by the skin of his teeth against compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
Slowly but surely emerging as one of India's key players, International Master Divya Deshmukh stunned higher-ranked compatriot Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in the tiebreaks to enter the semifinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia.
Carlsen to fight for third place after wins over Arjun and Praggnanandhaa
The stars competing at the Norway Chess event were in for an authentic Wild West surprise when they had to don cowboy hats, roper boots, well worn-out jeans to indulge in some rodeo activity.
Rematch will be primarily enjoyed by chess lovers, but the series is sprinkled with a massive dose of drama and intrigue to keep everyone hooked through all six episodes, observes Norma Godinho.
Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh made a huge stride forward, defeating second seed Jiner Zhu of China in the first game of the pre-quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Gukesh's triumph was celebrated far and wide across the country with the PM joining the sports fraternity and others in lauding his incredible achievement.
He also spooke about the routine he does between moves -- closing his eyes between moves .
This marks the first time that four players from a single country have reached the quarter-finals of the FIDE Women's World Chess Cup.
Nihal Sarin lit up Round 4 of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025 with a hard-fought win over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi
D Gukesh credited mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton for helping him tame the 'emotional pressure' of competing at the World Chess Championship.
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.
Magnus Carlsen banged the table while his game against World Champion D Gukesh was still in progress, an act that violated chess conduct rules.
Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, who has also qualified for the Women's Candidates, has opted out of the women's section to compete with the best in business.
Team MGD1, with Grandmaster Arjun Erigiaisi playing on the top board, had earlier made it to the 16-team knockout and beaten Generation XYZA 4-0 in the first round.