Hockey star Hardik Singh lone recommendation for Khel Ratna; Divya, TJ & Mehuli for Arjuna
Wesley So showed remarkable consistency to clinch the title in the Open category with a round to spare
World number one Magnus Carlsen says he is struggling to enjoy chess after suffering a second consecutive defeat to reigning World champion D Gukesh.
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 terms of format, there are constant shifts which is happening. I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but as a player, I think it is sometimes difficult to adjust to each format.'
FIDE World Cup 2025: Praggnanandhaa survives scare; Arjun, Karthik, Harikrishna also draw first game of Rd 4
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.
The super Grandmaster said the chess scenario has grown rapidly in the last 10 years, thanks to computers.
Nine-year-old Delhi boy Aarit Kapil has become the youngest Indian to beat a chess Grandmaster.
Five-time World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway got the better of D Gukesh in the opening round of Norway Chess.
World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi of India started off with a draw against Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the first game of the quarterfinals of Freestyle chess tournament in Paris on Wednesday.
In 2002, she became the first Indian woman to achieve the GM title, securing her place in chess history. Today, she remains India's top ranked women's player in the country.
World Junior champion Pranav Venkatesh scored a crushing victory over Grandmaster Alan Pichot of Spain to win the Fujairah Global Superstars chess tournament.
Reigning World champion Dommaraju Gukesh's roller-coaster ride continues. The Indian Grandmaster suffered defeat in an Armageddon tie-break and slipped to tied-fifth place, while Arjun Erigaisi upset American world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura to maintain fourth position in the Norway Chess tournament.
The sight of the Tricolour fluttering in the stands sharpens the resolve of the players. It feels as though the flag has been stitched out of the hopes and heartbeat of Indian fans.
India men dropped their first point, but carried enough steam to beat Hungary to maintain a clean slate in the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad.
In 2019, World Champion Magnus Carlsen was asked to guess the nationality of the reigning world champion in 2050. He responded: 'India will have had many by then!'
Gukesh is currently sharing the 8th spot on 1.5 points along with Abdusattorov and Duda.
India's Narayanan, Diptayan, Aronyak advance to second round
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.
Young Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin emerged champion at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament on Friday, clinching the Rapid title just a day after the passing of his maternal grandfather, who had introduced him to the sport.
'Scrapping titles like WIM, WGM and a separate women's category will kill women's interest in chess.'
Magnus Carlsen didn't hide behind the veneer of niceties and asserted that he was here to win the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship, and that fatherhood or the emergence of youngsters hadn't diminished his hunger for success.
'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.'
Chess icon Viswanathan Anand feels the current crop of Indian players, that he has had a role in shaping, has turned out to be "great" in grabbing crucial opportunities.
Reigning world champion D Gukesh continued to turn adversity into opportunity as he wriggled out of a virtually intractable position to beat compatriot Arjun Erigaisi for the first time ever in a classical game and jump to sole second position after round 7 of the Norway Chess.
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.
World junior champion V Pranav of India lost to seasoned Grandmaster Jan Emmanuel Garcia of Philippines in the first round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship.
Asian Individual Chess: Nihal Sarin finishes second
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.
Many fans hadn't even bothered to change their Team India jerseys with which they watched the match. A few wanted to carry on the stadium atmosphere into the train singing songs like Chak De India and Vande Mataram. They played them so loudly and ensured no one got a wink of sleep. Of course, the main topic of discussion was Sanju Samson.
'It is not just D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi.' 'There are another 20 players just behind them. Nobody imagined this was possible 5 years ago.'
For a long time, Viswanathan Anand was the lone flag-bearer of Indian chess, taking the world by storm with his exploits.
'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.'
On pure experience of playing big games, Humpy goes in the final as the favourite against compatriot Deshmukh.
The likes of Arjun Erigaisi on the top board will be assisted by P Harikrishna on the second board.
Gujrathi, who was a part of India's gold-winning campaign in the Chess Olympiad recently, says the sport's ecosystem needs a major overhaul to ensure players have more balance in life.
'...There's nothing to say about the chess aspect... One of those places that you don't feel sad about leaving.'
Vaishali becomes India's 84th Grandmaster, joins brother Praggnanandhaa in elite club
