R Praggnanandhaa outclassed world champion D Gukesh in sudden death to win Tata Steel Masters chess title.
Praggnanandhaa will meet pre-event rating favourite Fabiano Caruana of United States while Abdusattorov has to tackle the solid defences of Vincent Keymer of Germany in the other key clashes of the 11th round.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a victory over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the third round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
Interestingly, all of R Praggnanandhaa's victories have come at the expense of the Indians so far in the tournament.
Erigaisi may have had to work harder but the Indian youngster, who is currently World number four, was never quite away from winning his game.
D GukeshGrandmaster R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal put up impressive performances as Indian women defeated Georgia while World Championship challenger D Gukesh led the men to victory over China in the seventh round as both teams continued their unbeaten streak in 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
The victory and a full point took Gukesh to 3.5 points and gave him a clear lead in the eight-man field.
The Indian men's team got off to another 3-0 start, led by Dommaraju Gukesh's triumph over H Stefansson of Iceland, in the second round.
The image of a smiling D Gukesh standing with outstretched hands will forever be embossed in the memory of a nation of billions.
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh won the Chennai Grand Masters Chess Championship title in Chennai on Thursday, edging out compatriot Arjun Erigaisi on the tie-break after they finished equal on 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.
Erigaisi posts 1st win in Chennai GM chess championship
'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.'
Koneru Humpy's non-participation in the event has not hampered the team's chances much as Vaishali has jumped significantly in rankings and is a force to reckon with in the women's circle.
India's Arjun Erigaisi defeated top-seed Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran with black pieces in the sixth round of the Chennai Grandmasters Chess Championship in Chennai on Wednesday to move into joint second spot in the standings.
Playing chess all year round can take a huge toll on the physical and mental aspects of a player and Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa acknowledged that sometimes he has to completely take his mind off the sport to prepare for the upcoming challenges.
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".
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
D Gukesh put it across Serbia's Alexandr Predke in the fourth round for his first win in the Chennai Grand Masters chess
International Master, renowned trainer and a mentor to many aspirants, Varugeese Koshy, has passed away. He was 66.
Indian men's team was held to a 2-2 draw by Iran in the fifth round of the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Tuesday.
The men's team comprises Grandmasters D Gukesh, Gujrathi, Erigaisi, P Harikrishna and R Praggnanandhaa.
The India No.1 D Gukesh scored his first win of the event, beating GM Rinat Jumabayev.
India continues to occupy the second spot with 9 match points (2 match points for a win and 1 for a draw) behind Iran (10 MPs).
Arjun Erigaisi's win over In-Jung Gu came after a stiff fight with the Korean having gained an advantage before slipping up.
After six draws in a row, Praggnanandhaa was relieved after the victory, a result of Gupta's blunder under time pressure.
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.
Harika lost 1-0 to China's Hou Yifan
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has replaced the legendary Viswanathan Anand as India's top chess player after more than three decades.
Carlsen, whose form has been up and down in the preliminary phase, took the fifth place with 26 points. He tripped Duda in the final round after settling for draws in rounds 13 and 14 against Daniel Naroditsky and Giri.
Apart from a place in the Candidates to be played in April next year in Canada, Vaishali got richer by US$25000 (Over Rs 20 Lakhs) while Vidit took home a whopping prize purse of US$80000 (Over Rs 66 Lakhs).
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
The Indian men's and women's chess teams won silver medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday.
Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States to join the leaders' pack on 4.5 points.
In the Open section, the India 'B' team, which has been in sparkling form, had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan as the in-form D Gukesh lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the reigning world rapid chess champion.
The Indian team includes country's number two Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy. B Adhiban and D Harika are the the reserves members. The field for the event includes six former world champions, plus 12 others who have been Candidates to the throne at some point.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lavished praise on Indian chess players, including former World champion Vishwanathan Anand, for coming up with an "innovative" way to raise funds for the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Five leading players Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna and B Adhiban, Koneru Humpy and Dharika, alongside Anand had participated in an online chess exhibition and helped raise Rs 4.5 lakh for the PM-CARES Fund.
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh shocked world number 5 Fabiano Caruana as India 'B' pulled off a superb 3-1 win over number 2 seeds USA in the eighth round of the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai on Saturday.
With the Indian teams doing well so far, they can run into one another in the competition.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances