'Skating was just something I did for fun. It was only after I took a long sabbatical and came back to skating that I considered pursuing it seriously. By then, I already had an Indian passport.'
Russian chess Grandmaster Boris Spassky, who took French nationality in 1978, was the 10th World chess champion, holding the title from 1969-1972, when he lost it to American Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik in a contest later dubbed as the "Match of the Century".
The Indian ace settled for a quick draw with Grandmaster Gabrielo Sargissian in the ninth and final round of the Reykjavik International chess tournament.
Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta finished joint first at the Reykjavik International Open Chess Tournament after playing out a quick draw with local star Hannes Stefansson in the ninth and final round in Iceland on Thursday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning late goal as Portugal beat Iceland 1-0 in Reykjavk on Tuesday to extend their perfect record in Euro 2024.
Indian teenager Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa stunned world champion Magnus Carlsen for the second time this year as he claimed victory over the Norwegian at the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament on Friday.
Praggnanandhaa turned things around in the all-Indian battle after his opponent blundered
The story of Iceland is the story of life, notes Payal Singh Mohanka after a recent journey to that fascinating land.
Reagan, who denounced the then USSR as the 'evil empire', was won over by the charm of the Soviet Union's final leader, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev.
In India, 39 per cent of the sample of a survey said 'very comfortable' for a woman heading the government, higher than 34 per cent who replied with 'very comfortable' for a woman heading a company. However, men are less accepting of such appointments.
There's more to this country than just the Northern Lights.
'It would be a huge mistake to think that Gorbachev's reforms did not achieve anything.' 'We all live in the world, which is in many respects a result of Glasnost and Perestroika.'
An inhospitable climate and the smallest population of any World Cup nation have failed to dampen Iceland's burning desire
The low fares will come with a discernible sea-change in service quality and minus the luxury which comes as an essential part of any long-haul travel
With Indian travellers getting more eager to venture out in the uncharted territory, travel agencies are offering attractive discounts on several such unheard-of destinations.
Having missed out on qualifying for the Rio Games in 2016, C A Bhavani Devi said she had put too much pressure on herself before realising the importance of staying in the moment.
Luxemburg's FC Dudelange produced a stunning upset in the Champions League qualifiers with a 1-0 home win over Austrian double winners Salzburg on Tuesday.
From yacht cruise to jet skiing, get a taste of adventure this summer.
In the final, she beat Sarah Jane Hampson of Great Britain 15-13 on points.
Former West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson has sued the Premier League club and its owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson for breach of contract, Icelandic state television reported.
A study has shown that closely related cousins who marry tend to have more children and grandchildren than others.
The orange-clad army of Dutch fans can start booking flights for South Africa after the Netherlands became the first European nation to qualify for next year's World Cup finals with victory in Iceland on Saturday.
The American-born chess ace, who settled in Iceland in 2005 and was later granted Icelandic citizenship, died of an unspecified illness at the age of 64.
Only goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, who made 126 appearances between 1986 and 1998, has played more games for Spain than the 29-year-old.
Spain showed their remarkable potential under new coach Luis Enrique by destroying World Cup runners-up Croatia 6-0 on Tuesday to hand the visitors their biggest ever defeat and take control of their Nations League group.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Postal service worker Kristbjorn Hilmir Kjartansson and his friend Gretar Jonsson, a film student, took 14 days to make the trip from Reykjavik to Volgograd.
'The China Pakistan Economic Corridor is Pakistan's number one preoccupation today -- and tensions with India and the $46 billion projects simply do not go together,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Joe Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, violence against public employees and attempted bribery. Sharman was found guilty of insult, repeated bodily harm and violence against public employees.
In September 1998, the France players nearly created a diplomatic incident before a game against Iceland when several of them burst out laughing during the national anthems. Eighteen years on, the topic resurfaced at a news conference before Sunday's European Championship quarter-final between the two teams.
Iceland must beat group leaders Croatia and hope the result of Argentina against Nigeria goes their way too.
He possessed an IQ of 180, higher than Albert Einstein's, but his life and career took unexpectedly bizarre routes. Dhruv Munjal salutes the strange genius of Bobby Fischer.
Organizers of the World Chess Championship sued on Monday to block a trio of website operators from broadcasting chess moves at the November 11-30 match in New York, which is expected to draw millions of online viewers.
Victory for the Netherlands in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier in Latvia would have been seen as practically guaranteed after a successful World Cup in Brazil but a faltering qualifying campaign has precipitated a confidence crisis.
Hrithik Roshan co-owned Indian Super League team FC Pune City on Tuesday announced former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen as their marquee player for the 2016 edition of the league.
A summary of the Euro 2016 qualifying group matches, played on Friday.
Two brilliant strikes from Isco and a late goal from Alvaro Morata gave Spain a spectacular 3-0 win over Italy, their nearest challengers in Group G, to move into the driving seat for automatic qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
Germany was the fourth best place for older people to live.
'It was a big relief to get it out of the way. Now he can concentrate on future progress.'
According to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent, think tank dedicated to shifting the world's focus to peace as a positive and tangible measure of progress, India ranks 143rd
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances