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India's reigning world champion D Gukesh climbed to a career-high number three ranking, while compatriot R Praggnanandhaa broke back into the top 10 in the latest FIDE classical ratings released on Saturday. The 18-year-old Gukesh, who has been in sublime form ever since he beat China's Ding Liren to clinch the world title in Singapore in December, has gained 10 points and now has a 2787 rating. Gukesh, who lost the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee to Praggnanandhaa on tiebreak, is behind second-placed Hikaru Nakamura (2802) while and Norway's Magnus Carlsen (2833) continues to be the top-ranked chess player in the world. The Indian Grandmaster has overtaken compatriot Arjun Erigiasi and USA's Fabiano Caruana. Erigiasi, who was the highest-ranked Indian for a long time, has moved down to fifth with a rating of 2777. Praggnanandhaa, who is currently competing in the Prague Masters, is back in the top 10 for the first time since July last year thanks to his win at the Tata Steel .
World champion D Gukesh bowed out of Freestyle Grand Slam chess after losing his second straight quarterfinal game against Fabiano Caruana of the United States here on Monday. Having lost the first game with white pieces, Gukesh did not last long against the American Grandmaster in a must-win tie with Caruana finishing the contest in a mere 18 moves. Gukesh will now fight for the last-four spots. The freestyle chess is built around 960 random positions, shifting the initial position of the pieces from the base rank while the pawns remain intact. The term came from an idea by former great Bobby Fischer who was the first to advocate it. Given the money that has come in to support the new format, it could well be the future of chess. Gukesh blundered a pawn out of the opening. Caruana is someone who has played this variant for a while, and it took the Italian-turned-American 15 moves to find his way into normal chess position, where he was a pawn plus. Gukesh decided not to challen
World champion D Gukesh will have his task cut out as he looks to stage a comeback against Fabiano Caruana of the USA in the Freestyle Grand Slam chess tournament here. Gukesh suffered a rare setback in normal time control on Sunday, losing to Caruana in the first game of the quarterfinals. The Indian is now under pressure to perform with his black pieces and draw level with Caruana who has been dreaming to be a world champion for a few years now. The freestyle chess is built around 960 random positions shifting the initial position of the pieces from the base rank while the pawns remain intact. The legendary Bobby Fischer was the first to advocate freestyle chess, and given the support the new format has received, it could well be the future of the sport. Gukesh will have to fight hard, as his opening choices have come under scrutiny already while a whole new repertoire needs to be built. Caruana was almost staring at a defeat in the opening game of the quarters but will be looki
World Champion D Gukesh qualified for the knockout stage in the first event of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour, despite losing to the world's highest-rated player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, in the ninth and final round of the qualifiers. With a total of 3.5 points, Gukesh finished a rare event without a single win, drawing seven matches and losing two. However, this was enough for him to secure eighth place in the ten-player format, which could be described as one of the strongest chess events, albeit with a twist as the initial piece positions were altered. Playing with white against Carlsen, Gukesh had several opportunities for a draw but, as ambitious as ever, he pushed for more and eventually lost. Carlsen said, He (Gukesh) made seven draws, he was winning some and losing some, and it needs to be studied. Iranian-turned-French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja and Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan topped the table with 6.5 points out of a possible nine in the round-robin rapid format,
The Indian juggernaut in international chess remained unstoppable as Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa fought through exhaustion and nerves to defeat world champion D Gukesh in a clash of compatriots to clinch the Tata Steel Masters title for the first time in his prolific career. The bespectacled 19-year-old from Chennai, a city that has become the cradle of Indian chess, came from behind to upstage the 18-year-old world number three 2-1 in the tiebreaker of the event's 87th edition here on Sunday. This was after both players ended up tied on 8.5 points after losing their 13th-round games. While Gukesh lost to fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany. In the tie-breaker, there was huge drama typical of two young players looking to win each and every game they played in the tournament as they played the tie-break. "I am still shaking, it was such a crazy day. I don't know how to express. I didn't really expect to win. Somehow things went my way
World Champion D Gukesh crashed through the defenses of compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca in the ninth round to jump into sole lead at the Tata Steel Master here. On a day when R Praggnanandhaa lost his first game against Dutch GM Anish Giri, veteran P Harikrishna also found himself under the spotlight, falling to Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev. "I'm happy that I played a good game today and there are still four rounds left so I'm not thinking much about the standings. I'm just happy as to how I am playing," Gukesh said after his game. With the win, Gukesh took his tally to 6.5 points out of a possible nine and a half points ahead of Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Russian turned Slovenian Fedoseev, who are both on 6 points. Praggnanadhaa on 5.5 points shares the fourth spot and it remains to be seen if things are going to get better for the Indian. Results round 9 Masters: Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 5.5); D Gukesh (Ind, 6.5) beat Leon Luke Mendonca
Grandmaster R Praggnanadhaa played out a solid draw with World champion D Gukesh in the eighth round of the Tata Steel Masters here. Playing the white side of a Berlin defense, Praggnanadhaa had slightly favourable position optically but Gukesh was always on guard to defend. It was in the early middle game that Gukesh sacrificed a pawn to get his counterplay rolling and even though Praggnanadhaa tried to make use of it, the game was always closer to a draw. As the Queens got traded the players arrived at a rook and minor piece endgame wherein Gukesh found the best resources and even got an outside passed pawn. With Praggnanadhaa's rook having the lone task of working against the pawn, the result of the game was never in doubt. The game was drawn after 33 moves. With the draw, it is likely that both Praggananandhaa and Gukesh will continue to share the lead on 5.5 points as the other overnight leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan was also looking poised to share the point with
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot P Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament here. This was after world champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev while Leon Luke Mendonca lost another game, this time to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. The 19-year-0ld Praggnanandhaa's win over Harikrishna was a master-class on defence and counter-attack. Playing white for the second time in as many days, Harikrishna could not find his magical touch even though he performed slightly better in the middle game. The younger Indian took him to the ropes and eventually the endgame, which should have been drawn. Harikrishna faltered when it was necessary to put up resistance and Praggnanandhaa made the most of it to emerge victorious. Erigaisi pressed hard against local hero Anish Giri, who was almost winning against Gukesh in the opening round. The battle took a steep
World number one Magnus Carlsen on Monday criticised senior FIDE officials, including its deputy president Viswanathan Anand, for mishandling the dress code violation issue, calling them "not grown-ups" and stating that the Indian was "not ready for the job." A couple of days after being disqualified from the Rapid event at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship for refusing to change into formal trousers, Carlsen was confirmed for the Blitz event following FIDE's decision to allow players to compete in jeans. Describing the decision to disqualify him as "draconian," the Norwegian called the officials "robots" who are not capable of making independent decisions. "Well, first of all, let's go back to a couple of days ago. I did have some choice words for FIDE in my interview with you. And I would say that it was a bit imprecise. I definitely mean it when it comes to certain people in FIDE. No question about it," the Norwegian told 'Take Take Take, an app he is co-promoting. "I
Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans. Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he'd let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing appropriate jeans with a jacket, and other elegant minor deviations from the dress code. He said Carlsen's stand which culminated in his quitting the tournament Friday highlighted a need for more discussion to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport. Carlsen, meanwhile, said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play and wear jeans in the World Blitz Championship when it begins Monday. I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side, the .
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand said FIDE didn't want to disqualify Magnus Carlsen from the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, but the Norwegian left them with no choice after refusing to follow the rules. Defending champion Carlsen was fined USD 200 for wearing jeans, which are "explicitly prohibited" under tournament regulations and when he refused the request by chief arbiter Alex Holowczak to change his attire right after the eighth round, he was disqualified. He was not paired for Round 9 of the Rapid championship, taking place at Wall Street. "He simply refused to follow the rules, left us with little choice. Today this decision seemed emotional. Magnus was not willing to compromise," Anand, the deputy president of chess' global governing body, told Chessbase India. "Obviously, it was not a step we wanted to take. We offered several options (to Magnus). The arbiter said that as long as Magnus changed his jeans before the ninth round, it would be fine. "But
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi opened his campaign with four wins and a solitary loss in the World Rapid Chess Championship to be tied fifth even as defending champion Magnus Carlsen endured a frustrating day, managing to log just one victory here. Carlsen of Norway could not find his mojo drew three games and a late loss against Russian Denis Lazavik. Another Indian to impress was 13-year-old Raunak Sadhwani, who provided glimpse of his promise by taking down one of pre-event favourites Alireza Firouzja of France on Thursday. With the first five rounds done and eight more still to come in USD 550,000 championship, Murzin Volodar of Russia, Shant Sargsyan of Armenia and the American duo of Daniel Naroditsky and Lenier Dominguez Perez share the lead on 4.5 points apiece. Arjun and Sadhwani are in the next group of 11 players who share the fifth spot on four points each. It is an impressive list that includes the likes of Hikaru Nakamura of United States, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of .
India ran out of superlatives in hailing history-maker D Gukesh after he became the first teenager world champion in chess on Thursday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing him as an inspiration for "millions of young minds". The 18-year-old Gukesh's triumph was celebrated far and wide across the country with the PM joining the sports fraternity and others in lauding his incredible achievement. He won after prevailing in a tense 14th and last game of the title showdown against holder Ding Liren of China in Singapore. "Historic and exemplary! Congratulations to Gukesh D on his remarkable accomplishment. This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination," PM Modi wrote on 'X'. "His triumph has not only etched his name in the annals of chess history but has also inspired millions of young minds to dream big and pursue excellence. My best wishes for his future endeavours," he added. President Droupadi Murmu said India is "immensely proud" of