Vidit Gujrathi was around six when he was advised to put his ambition of playing cricket on hold till he was older by a local club.
In a surprising turn of events, Mumba Masters defeated tournament leaders PBG Alaskan Knights, denying them direct qualification to the finals of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London on Wednesday.
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.
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.
Indian chess Grandmaster R Vaishali has set her sights on two key objectives this year: delivering consistent performances and securing a spot in the prestigious Candidates Tournament.
'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.'
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.
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.
In the women's event, Padmini Rout, R Vaishali and Bhakti Kulkarni posted wins in the first round. D Harika will be joining them in the second round, courtesy a bye in the first round.
Anand and Radjabov drew their Classical match in 42 moves in a Guicco Pianissimo game.
Having watched the 2013 World Championship match between the legendary Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen, Erigaisi is delighted to get a chance to be on the same as the two veterans.
In the blitz event played prior to the Classical, Anand had shocked world champion Carlsen in round seven on the way to a fourth-place finish.
Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh sealed a remarkable Chess Olympiad campaign with a decisive victory over GM Vladimir Fedoseev on Sunday in Hungary.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa got off to a flier and defeated Firouzja Alireza of France in the Armageddon game in the first round of Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger on Tuesday.
Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh finished fifth while his illustrious compatriot Viswanathan Anand could only manage a tied seventh place in the third leg of the 2023 SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament.
Arjun also remained unbeaten through all the nine rounds and finished half a point ahead of Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov.
A former school principal of newly crowned chess champion from Nagpur Divya Deshmukh remembers her as a student with calm composure who started playing the board game when she was just five and also excelled in studies.
International Master Divya Deshmukh stormed into the final, defeating former world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the second game of the semifinals and winning the mini-match 1.5-0.5 in the FIDE Women's World Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi and Vaishali have trained at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) that the bespectacled chess wizard set up four years ago in Chennai. The 18-year-old Gukesh and the 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa have often stated that they would not be where they are without "Vishy sir".
Russians Volodar Murzin and Alexander Grischuk, along with Duda Jan-Kryzstof of Poland, share the lead with Arjun on seven points after the end of the second day and Round 9 of the championship, which will decide the best player of the planet after 13 games.
Mumba Masters secured a vital 14-5 win over Alpine Sg Pipers on day six of the Global Chess League here on Tuesday, dealing a major blow to the Pipers' chances of closing in on the top two teams.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Aryan Tari in the ninth and final round to finish third in the Norway Chess tournament, which was won by world number one Magnus Carlsen.
Vaishali becomes India's 84th Grandmaster, joins brother Praggnanandhaa in elite club
With seven rounds still to come in the first super tournament of the year, Anish Guru maintained his sole lead on 4.5 points out of a possible six and he is now trailed by Iranian turned Frenchman Firouza Alireza who is on 4 points.
Arjun Erigaisi briefly reached a career-high live rating of 2771.2 earlier this week and is the only Indian since Vishwanathan Anand to do so.
Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa on Friday called for a robust financial backing for chess, debunking the common concept that players require minimal monetary support to train and excel in the sport.
'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.'
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
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 came up with a fine exchange sacrifice maintaining parity, and after 49 moves the draw was a just result giving the best player in the world a deserving 1.5-0.5 victory.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi prevailed over Russia's Daniil Dubov in the third round to become the sole leader with 2.5 points in the prestigious Tata Steel Masters chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
World No 1 Magnus Carlsen narrowly avoided forfeiting his third-round game against Roberto Garcia Pantoja at the Chess Olympiad due to a late arrival.
The likes of Arjun Erigaisi on the top board will be assisted by P Harikrishna on the second board.
Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.
Reigning champions Triveni Continental Kings secured a 10-8 win over upGrad Mumba Masters in the opening match on day five of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London on Monday.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
Day two at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 2 featured a highly anticipated duel between league favorites, the Alpine Sg Pipers, and reigning champions, the Triveni Continental Kings.
Gukesh had another eventful game in a Queen pawn opening with black pieces.
World Championship challenger Gukesh Dommaraju played out a hard-fought draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.
Indian IM Divya Deshmukh alleges sexism by spectators at Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee
