Reigning classical World champion D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and world No.1 Magnus Carlsen were among the leaders after the first five rounds on the opening day of the FIDE World Rapid Championships in Doha on Thursday.
Anish's emergence comes as India witnesses an exciting era in chess, with young talents like Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, and D Gukesh shine internationally.
The Indian women chess masters will continue to keep the country's flag flying at the on-going FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 at Batumi, Georgia.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 is coming to Goa from October 30 to November 27, 2025!
India's R Vaishali wins the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026 in Cyprus, earning the right to challenge world champion Ju Wenjun and drawing praise for her historic achievement.
Praggnanandhaa wins UzChess Cup Masters, becomes top-ranked Indian and World No.4
Indian great Viswanathan Anand will revive his iconic rivalry with Russian stalwart Garry Kasparov, while world champion D Gukesh will go up against familiar foe Magnus Carlsen in Clutch Chess exhibition matches come October in St Louis, USA.
Former women's World champion Susan Polgar believes Indian chess is riding a wave of success and predicted a bright future for the sport in the country.
'I always prefer to just play a single tournament and go back home, spend time with my family and have a one-month break and then take part in another one.'
Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan clinched the Tata Steel Masters title with a black-piece victory against out-of-form Arjun Erigaisi while world chess champion D Gukesh emerged as the best Indian with a joint eighth finish as the tournament concluded Wijk Aan Zee on Monday.
'There are several talented players like R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, so the future is certainly bright.'
'My next aim is to go past 2700.'
Tamil Nadu has been been churning out top-tier chess for decades at an unrivaled rate. Out of the 85 Grand Masters in India, 31 are from the southern state.
Arjun Erigaisi will start as the favourite against veteran Hungarian Peter Leko, while R Praggnanandhaa faces the inventive Daniil Dubov.
Harikrishnan A Ra earned his third GM-norm at the La Plagne International Chess Festival in France on Friday.
'There is a fortune in stolen money, counterfeit notes floating around, and political skullduggery afoot, along with treachery, double dealing, kidnapping and all manner of wickedness packing the series so densely that the pace never flags and a profusion of twists keeps the story engaging even when it strains credibility,' notes Deepa Gahlot.
World Junior champion Pranav Venkatesh scored a crushing victory over Grandmaster Alan Pichot of Spain to win the Fujairah Global Superstars chess tournament.
'It will bring the next wave of awareness and pursuit of excellence from people who want to take chess as a game or a competitive sport or even as a career.'
Riteish Deshmukh's Shivaji may not be a flawless portrayal, but still remains engaging throughout, applauds Mayur Sanap.
This is the one of the strongest line-ups in a chess tournament ever, with four of them with a rating over 2800.
The image of a smiling D Gukesh standing with outstretched hands will forever be embossed in the memory of a nation of billions.
Arjun Erigaisi became only the second Indian player to cross the 2800 mark, after five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand.
India has a bright future in chess as we have many players in top 10 rankings: Humpy
Humpy settles for bronze after coming close to World Rapid title; Erigaisi finishes third
'This introduction that has now been in place for sometime could well give that additional flavour for the chess players as they will be able to guess the pressure that a certain player is feeling during the course of a game.'
'Scrapping titles like WIM, WGM and a separate women's category will kill women's interest in chess.'
Divya Deshmukh not only became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women's World Cup, she also instantly secured the prestigious Grandmaster title.
Viswanathan Anand is the third Indian in the top 10, occupying the 10th spot with an ELO rating of 2750.
Grandmaster Vantika Agrawal outclassed Lela Shohradeva of Turkmenistan in the return game of the first round to progress to the round of 64 of FIDE World Women's Chess Cup.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi believes the government's recent decision to stop cash rewards for attaining GM and International Master titles is 'not ideal' for the parents of chess players.
The youngest-ever world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju will take on Magnus Carlsen, the world's highest-rated player, in a highly-anticipated contest at next year's Norway Chess.
Seeking to qualify for the Candidates' event, India's top-rated Arjun Erigaisi walked off with an easy draw with his Chinese counterpart Wei Yi in the first game of the quarterfinals, in Panaji on Monday.
World champion D Gukesh stayed in the hunt with a clinical endgame win in Round 10 of the Tata Steel Masters, while Arjun Erigaisi slipped to another defeat and slid down the standings at Wijk Aan Zee.
To be sure, Trump is furious, as the trajectory of the war is in a state of Zugzwang, as chess players call it. Trump and Netanyahu stare at two choices -- retreat in humiliation and concede Tehran's demands -- recognition of its rights, reparations, and binding security guarantees -- or perish in a quagmire, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a groundbreaking moment for Indian chess, Arjun Erigaisi has become the second player from India and the sixteenth player globally to surpass the 2800 live rating mark.
Magnus Carlsen was held to a draw by more than 143,000 people worldwide playing against him in a single, record-setting online game, on Monday.
Grandmaster D Gukesh will face his first major challenge since becoming world champion when he begins his campaign in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, which starts on Friday in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
World Champion D Gukesh's quest for a victory continued as Hikaru Nakamura defeated him in the tie-breaker of the 5-8 place play-off at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
'The Indian Open team was extremely well prepared and motivated to win the gold medal.' 'With two players in the world top 10 club, and four players with over 2,700 ELO points (GMs Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, all below 20) and Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna, it was a solid team.'
