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 overcame a loss against Leinier Dominguez Perez to beat the American duo of Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana to stand at fourth spot.
Reigning world chess champion D Gukesh has stated that he is open to competing in all formats of chess, including the newly popular freestyle format, but believes that classical chess, with its rich history, will always hold the greatest significance. Despite concerns of a potential split in the sport between supporters of freestyle and classical chess, Gukesh sees no reason for division, highlighting the excitement of freestyle while acknowledging the importance of the traditional format's legacy.
'He was like a sponge. He soaked up everything we taught him -- and when it came time to play, he'd squeeze out exactly what was needed on the board during tournaments.'
Koneru Humpy edged Chinese GM Lei Tingjie in the tiebreaks in the semis to set up an all-Indian final against compatriot Divya Deshmukh in the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
'I have no idea about such a medal. Never got one,' says Surya Shekhar Ganguly, the national chess champion between 2003 and 2008.
'Scrapping titles like WIM, WGM and a separate women's category will kill women's interest in chess.'
'Right now, I'm happy with the game that I played today. Tomorrow (Friday), hopefully, another good game I can play. And whatever the result will be, we'll see later. But yeah, just focusing on playing the game.'
Asian chess: Srija Seshadri in joint lead
Reigning World champion D Gukesh finally got his revenge on Magnus Carlsen as he pounced on a blunder by the World No 1 to defeat him for the first time in a classical game.
Nine-year-old Aarit Kapil from Delhi came close to defeating World No 1 Magnus Carlsen before settling for a draw in the 'Early Titled Tuesday' chess tournament on a leading online platform.
R Praggnanandhaa outclassed world champion D Gukesh in sudden death to win Tata Steel Masters chess title.
Defending champion Ding Liren says the in-form Dommaraju Gukesh is the big favourite to win their World Chess title showdown in November.
Asian Individual Chess: Nihal Sarin finishes second
Gukesh is currently sharing the 8th spot on 1.5 points along with Abdusattorov and Duda.
World Champion D Gukesh suffered his second straight defeat at the FIDE Grand Swiss, losing to Greece's Nikolas Theodorou in the sixth round in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
World champion D Gukesh will take on Fabiano Caruana of the United States in the two-game quarter-final after the latter picked the Indian in a unique format typical of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, in Hamburg, Germany.
For Aravindh, the opening was not a problem as black, as Shankland was not too optimistic against the Indian.
World champion D Gukesh finished last after losing to Iranian-French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja in the second game of their seventh place play-off match at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
Former World Rapid Chess champion Koneru Humpy wants the All India Chess Federation to increase women's tournaments.
'Last year, I messed up some good positions against him, I think I did not beat him (in classical) for almost two years now, so finally it's good to get a win.'
R Praggnanandhaa, the newly-crowned Tata Steel Chess champion, was given a warm reception upon his return to Chennai. The 19-year-old made history by defeating reigning World Champion D Gukesh in the final, marking the biggest win of his career. Fans, officials from the Tamil Nadu government, and the national federation gathered at the airport to welcome the young chess prodigy. Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the Tata Steel Chess title.
Praggnanandhaa will meet pre-event rating favourite Fabiano Caruana of United States while Abdusattorov has to tackle the solid defences of Vincent Keymer of Germany in the other key clashes of the 11th round.
The image of a smiling D Gukesh standing with outstretched hands will forever be embossed in the memory of a nation of billions.
Vaishali defeated Muzychuk for the second time in the event in the Armageddon. It was a finely played Classical game wherein neither players could reach an advantage but in the Armageddon Vaishali took advantage of her better placed rooks to call the shots.
Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram crashed through the defenses of super-solid Anish Giri to jump in to sole lead after the end of the seventh round of Prague Masters.
With her family in tow, Humpy met the PM and described it as a "once-in-a-lifetime privilege."
'I see an unjust personal attack by some players, probably due to sheer jealousy.'
Five-time world champions Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen played out a draw in the top duel of the opening day as the second edition of the Global Chess League began with players from around the world squaring off in London on Thursday.
India has a bright future in chess as we have many players in top 10 rankings: Humpy
Caruana kept his slender half point lead going in to the final round in the 10-player round-robin tournament, a part of the Grand Chess tour.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is still third on 9.5 points in the Norway Chess tournament.
D Gukesh played out a draw with tournament leader and top seed Fabiano Caruana
'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.'
Anish's emergence comes as India witnesses an exciting era in chess, with young talents like Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, and D Gukesh shine internationally.
With just 16 players out of 206 participants that started the event remaining in the fray, most of the players decided against taking undue risk and decided to wait for the next game.
D Gukesh put his opening-round blues behind him and scored an excellent victory over former world rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the second round of the Sinquefield Cup.
American Abhimanyu Mishra, 16, became the youngest-ever player in the history of chess to beat a reigning World Champion in the classical format.
Months after a dress-code controversy involving five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced a new dress code for the FIDE Grand Swiss and FIDE Women's Grand Swiss.
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