World Champion D Gukesh suffered a rare setback in normal time control, losing to USA's Fabiano Caruana in the first game of the quarterfinals of the Freestyle Grand Slam chess tournament.
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.
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.
The image of a smiling D Gukesh standing with outstretched hands will forever be embossed in the memory of a nation of billions.
World champion D Gukesh played out a hard-fought draw with Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the first game of the 5-8 place play-offs.
The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The winner of this event will qualify for the $US300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9 to 20.
Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand lost to World champion Magnus Carlsen from a winning position to finish fifth in the blitz event that acts as a curtain raiser for the Norway Chess tournament which begins in Stavanger, on Tuesday.
Talking about his journey, Vishwanathan Anand said he had to work hard to become the player he is today.
The 44th edition of the prestigious event will witness a record 188 teams in the Open section and 162 in the women's side.
It is not immediately clear if other delegations had been excluded but players from Qatar have suggested they may have been rejected.
Chess has applied for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a final decision is expected to come next summer.
Fabiano Caruana defended his Superbet Classic title by winning all three rapid games in a thrilling four-way tiebreaker
Anand got off to a good start and won the first game of the best-of-four contest. The next two games were drawn before Leko levelled by winning the fourth.
American Hikaru Nakamura also finished with 5.5 points, 1.5 points ahead of local representative Vincent Keymer, who placed sixth.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand played out a draw with Anish Giri of Holland to finish ninth in the London Classic while Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the event. Reigning world champion Carlsen also won the Grand Chess Tour after winning the Classic on a lucky final day for him.
Arjun prevailed over Abdusattorov 1.5-0.5 while Praggnanandhaa lost an intense battle 3-4 against Caruana.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand had another disappointing final day as the Indian finished on ninth spot in the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess tour.
The 47-year-old former World champion is taking some time off before he gets down to tournament play in St. Louis, United States, where the focus would be on Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov, who is making a surprise return to the game.
In the women section being held alongside, Indian women played out a hard-fought draw against experienced Georgia 1 team. All the games were drawn.
Anand, who had finished third in the penultimate leg in Bucharest, concluded with a seventh-place finish
D Gukesh started off on a positive note, beating Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa took down World No 1 Magnus Carlsen to advance to the top-bracket quarter-finals along with Arjun Erigaisi at the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour.
Viswanathan Anand would become the deputy president of the world chess federation (FIDE) if the incumbent Arkady Dvorkovich is re-elected as the president in the elections scheduled during the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai in July-August.
Viswanathan Anand defeated an out-of-sorts Alexander Grischuk while Magnus Carlsen sealed the title at the Altibox Norway chess tournament with a round to spare, in Stavanger. Anand's chances to be in top three had ended after he lost to American Fabiano Caruana in the previous round.
Anand needs to finish in a minimum sixth place in Kolkata, in order to qualify for the grand finale
R Praggnanandhaa navigated his match against the reigning world champion Ding Liren with remarkable ease
Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand played out a draw againt Peter Svidler of Russia in the eighth round of Tata Steel Masters underway, in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, on Sunday.
Garry Kasparov, arguably the greatest player ever, returns to competitive chess after 12 years.
The Chennai-based Anand, who is making his maiden appearance at the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, settled for a 82-move draw in the opening game of the best-of-four contest.
Over the past few months, the overall interest in chess is reported to have doubled, with more players than ever coming together to participate in chess events that are being increasingly held through online platforms
Anand, who first made it to the World's top-10 in July 1991, has remained India's top-ranked player in all published lists since January 1987.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a second straight draw by holding Fabiano Caruana of the United States easily in the fourth round of the Sinquefield Cup, which is part of the Grand Chess tour.
Since 2012, 44 Indians have been anointed as grandmasters -- the highest achievement in chess, points out Arvind Subramanian, economist and former chief economic adviser to the government.
'Compared to three or four years back, I have cut down on my time as an active chess player. I have long aspired to come into the chess administration and this opportunity as the deputy president will be a huge learning curve for me'.
Viswanathan Anand on Saturday described 17-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh overtaking him as the highest-rated Indian player in FIDE rankings as a "historic" achievement.
Anand did not quite re-work his energy and lost to Carlsen in the first game of the third day and then made a draw with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi.
Local hero Vincent Keymer was at his best as he drew the first blood against Fabiano Caruana of the United States. Going in with 1-0 lead with one game to go, the onus is now on Caruana to draw level that will force a tiebreaker.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand got off to a good start with an easy draw against World No.2 United States' Fabiano Caruana in the first round of the London Chess Classic, the final leg of the Grand Chess tour.
Playing as a wildcard in the tournament, the Indian ace had on Thursday defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland in the first round, before getting the better of American Wesley So and Anton Korobov (Ukraine).
