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Tag: chess world champion

Sports

What lies ahead for Praggnanandhaa and pack?

India’s 18-year-old Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa created history by becoming the youngest player to reach the final of a FIDE World Cup earlier this week. He may have lost the final to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in tiebreakers, but it was undoubtedly his best-ever performance at a major tournament.It was also a breakthrough tournament for India’s ‘Golden Era’ of chess prodigies, with four of them making it to the quarterfinals.Winning the World Cup would’ve been a sensational result for Praggnanandhaa but by just making it to the final, he’s done what no other Indian since five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has managed to do — secure a spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. What level is the World Cup? The World Cup term may seem like it’s the highest tournament for chess playe...
Sports

Meals turn into mentoring sessions as Magnus Carlsen takes India’s teenaged trio under wings

On Friday, after the SG Alpine Warriors had lost a game in the Global Chess League against the Viswanathan Anand-led Ganges Grandmasters, a message buzzed on the team’s WhatsApp group chat which has not only all the team players but also people from the ownership group. It was from Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian World No 1 wanted the team to catch up for a meeting over dinner in the team hotel. The message was more than a dinner invitation. It was a step taken by the team’s enigmatic superstar to put the rest of the team, particularly the three young teenage prodigies — Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa — into their comfort zone in a franchise-based mixed-team environment, that not many of them had played in before. It was Carlsen’s way of breaking the ice. Gukesh, talking to...
Sports

World Chess Championship: Of knights facing sideways, a game of chairs and power-walking contenders

Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi claimed victory in Game 2 of the World Chess Championship after 29 moves as he forced Ding Liren to resign with the Chinese under the pressure on the board and on the clock. Unlike the first game, Game 2 packed quite a few surprises. The first one, at least for FIDE commentators Viswanathan Anand and eight-time US Women’s Champion Irina Krush, was the fact that Ding is a “sideways knight” player (a player who has their horse-shaped knight pointing sideways rather than facing the opponents’ pieces). “I didn’t even realise that (keeping the knight facing) sideways was an option! Have you ever seen a horse facing sideways to its own army? It’s got to face the other one right? It’s got to charge that way? But yeah, Garry (Kasparov) would always turn it sideways,”...