Pragg, Gujrathi out of contention
'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.'
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi scored crushing victories, while D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with a draw in a brilliant sixth-round outing for the Indian men's team at the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto.
Ding, who could become the first Chinese male to win the world title, began the tournament admitting he felt like there was "something wrong" with his mind.
China's Ding Liren was crowned on Sunday as the 17th world chess champion in a tense match against Russian-born Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the last chapter of an odds-defying sequence of events.
'The Indian Open team was extremely well prepared and motivated to win the gold medal.' 'With two players in the world top 10 club, and four players with over 2,700 ELO points (GMs Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, all below 20) and Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna, it was a solid team.'
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
Teen sensation R Praggnanandhaa will enter as the favourite among the three Indian participants in the Candidates chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto from Wednesday to decide the challenger for the next world championship match.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen was in stunning form, winning all nine of his games to take a significant lead. He has 20 points out of a possible 27 going into the second half of the blitz on Sunday.
Gukesh had a fine run, beating Constantin Lupulescu and Saric after drawing with Richard Rapport in the day's first game.
'Shameful action by the chief arbiter Marghetis towards me during the game. Middle of the game during the most intense moment when I was walking during Ian move... he came to me and told me not to walk anymore because my shoe is making noise on the wooden floor.'
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is still third on 9.5 points in the Norway Chess tournament.
Grand Chess Tour: Teenaged GM Gukesh defeats idol Anand in Rapid segment
With five points in his kitty from eight games, D Gukesh jointly leads the standings with Anish Giri of Holland.
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.
Viswanathan Anand shot into the lead at the end of three rounds of the Rapid segment in the third leg of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour
Seventh-round loss gave me energy, motivation to aim for title: Gukesh
The 18-year-old also created history as he surpassed the legendary Viswanathan Anand to take the No 1 spot among Indian chess players in the live ratings.
Praggnanandhaa completed a win to book a match against compatriot Erigaisi, making sure an Indian will feature in the semi-final.
The Global Chess League has hit a significant milestone on its fifth day. With half of the matches already in the books, the competition now embarks on the crucial second phase of the round-robin tournament.
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh scored a crushing victory over Alexander Donchenko in the 10th round of Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands on Thursday.
Indian GM D Gukesh overwhelmed Dutch player Max Warmerdam for his third victory on the trot and elevated himself to a joint lead after the seventh round of the Tata Steel Masters Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands on Sunday.
The Norwegian beat Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia on Friday in Dubai.
After the draw with Iranian turned French player Firouza, Gukesh has seven points for his sole second spot.
Young GM R Praggnanandhaa on Friday won both rapid games to eliminate second-seeded Hikaru Nakamura to enter the last 16 of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament in Baku.
Grandmaster D Gukesh endured a heartbreak in the final tie-breaker against Wei Yi of China and had to be content with a joint second place finish at the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
Magnus Carlsen will not defend his world championship in 2023 against Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi as he is not motivated to play another match, the Norwegian five-time champion said in a podcast on Wednesday.
Dubai witnessed a historic moment as the inaugural edition of the Global Chess League was held on Thursday.
'Chess and cricket are similar, but in cricket, you can show your aggression, but in chess, you can't. It is all about how calm you are in chess.'
Top-seed Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) led the field at the end of the Rapid with 11 points. He is followed by Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Duda and Saric on 10 points.
The second day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League witnessed the debut of Magnus Carlsen, the strongest chess player in the world. C
Continuing his good run, India's teen prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa registered wins against fellow Grandmasters Andrey Esipenko and Alexandra Kosteniuk in rounds 10 and 12 of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand started with a fluent win over Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest before faltering against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round of the rapid event in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour tournament, in Zagreb, on Wednesday.
Russian Nepomniachtchi inflicts sixth defeat on Indian
This was the second time this month that the Norwegian has surrendered games or pulled out from a tournament which also featured Niemann.
Playing white, Ganges Grandmasters defeated Balan Alaskan Knights 11-6 in a battle between the two leaders on the scoreboard.
Praggnanandhaa said just talking to the Indian chess wizard (Anand) boosts his confidence.
A title match requires months of preparation and pulling out of other events, putting together a team of seconds, etc. Carlsen just says he lacks the motivation to do this again.
Viswanathan Anand trumped former World champion Garry Kasparov in the much-awaited contest of the Croatia Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb on Saturday.
'It will be special. Looking forward to going to a world championship match without the tension of playing. I am a chess fan too and hope it will be a good match'
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