Without Carlsen, the GCT was announced and this is the culmination point wherein the players would qualify for the grand finale slated later this year.
Praggnanandhaa wins UzChess Cup Masters, becomes top-ranked Indian and World No.4
Gukesh had another eventful game in a Queen pawn opening with black pieces.
India hosts the event from a position of unprecedented strength with a string of titles under its belt.
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).
Aronian sits on six points, followed closely by compatriot Fabiano Caruana on five after two wins and a draw. Gukesh shares the third place with another American, Wesley So, while Vachier-Lagrave and Leinier Dominguez Perez are tied for fifth with three points each.
Grand Chess Tour: Teenaged GM Gukesh defeats idol Anand in Rapid segment
Aravindh Chithambaram defeated D Gukesh at the Prague International Chess Festival, while Jorden van Foreest maintains his lead in the tournament.
With nine rounds still to come in the blitz event, Wei Yi has amassed 20.5 points with seven wins on the first day of blitz. Ending the day with 7.5 out of a possible nine, Yi, seems like a man possessed and unless a hurricane hits him, is poised to win the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa bounced back from a poor start in the rapid section to climb to second place in the overall standings at the end of the first half of the blitz section in the Superbet Rapid & Blitz tournament.
World champion GM D Gukesh finished tied sixth as Levon Aronian of USA convincingly won the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz that concluded in St Louis.
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.
Winning three and drawing the remaining six games, Firouzja remained undefeated throughout the event.
Indian GM Aravindh Chithambaram did not see any change in his fortunes in the blitz section and had to be content with a tie for seventh place in his maiden outing in the GCT.
The years of sacrifice and hard work is finally paying dividends. The iconic Vellamal School, which is the alma mater of World champion Gukesh, now has another international player of repute to boast about. After all, Aravindh is Gukesh's senior.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand failed to press hard with his white pieces and had to settle for a draw with Michael Adams of England in the first round of the London Chess Classic that got underway in London.
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.
D Gukesh played out a draw with tournament leader and top seed Fabiano Caruana
Gukesh had an exciting match against Nepomniachtchi out of a Catalan opening game on Tuesday.
The Chennai-based Anand is making his maiden appearance on the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour.
D Gukesh and R Praggnanadhaa played out their eighth draw in as many games at the Sinquefield Cup.
Aravindh Chithambaram had a good second day as he beat former World champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and drew the last two games to find himself on the sole third spot in the Superbet Rapid and Blitz chess tournament.
Playing white in a Tarrasch variation, former World champion Anand settled for a draw in 40 moves, to win the match 2.5-1.5.
Going into the match against the Chinese after ending his six-match losing streak, Anand surrendered the first game in just 22 moves late on Tuesday.
World champion D Gukesh was held to a draw by the lone wild card Samuel Sevian, while fellow Indian R Praggnanandhaa also split the point with Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Viswanathan Anand ended his stint with a draw against World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and finished at ninth position in the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis.
Viswanathan Anand played out a quick draw with eventual champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to finish second in the Norway chess tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour.
Caruana became the sole leader and also got back to number two in live world rankings.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won the Superbet Chess Classic after defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with white pieces in the final Blitz play-off game on Friday.
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.
Anand, who had finished third in the penultimate leg in Bucharest, concluded with a seventh-place finish
D Gukesh did not last long against Fabiano Caruana in a must-win tie with the American winning in a mere 18 moves.
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.
Carlsen accuses FIDE chief of broken promises.
D Gukesh struck back after recovering from a sedate start to defeat compatriot R Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer in the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament
In a solid start, the Indian ace started off with as many as six drawn games and ended with three decisive games in a row. But for his loss against Fabiano Caruana of United States in the previous round, the Indian ace could have been at the helm in the strongest chess tournament of the year.
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.
Praggnanandhaa draws with Aronian, shares top spot at Superbet Classic
Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram finished joint first with 11 points after the end of the rapid section of the Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour.
India chess captain Vidit Gujrathi shared a memory of beating the legendary Viswanathan Anand for the first time and termed it as a special moment of his career.
