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FIDE World Cup 2023 Finals: Praggnanandhaa fights Carlsen to a solid draw

22/08/2023 -

R Praggnanandhaa played confidently in the first game of the FIDE World Cup 2023 Finals against Magnus Carlsen (NOR). He unleashed a rarely played move 7.b4 in the English Opening. It did not seem like the teenager is playing the Finals of a World Cup for the first time in his career. He is oozing confidence, whereas Carlsen has suffered food poisoning as he mentioned in the post-game interview. One key thing which Pragg keeps mentioning is, Carlsen has not played enough tie-breaks, which definitely shows his confidence. If it comes to down to the tie-breaks, one thing is for sure, the recently turned 18-year-old is the favorite in this event. Fabiano Caruana (USA) blundered in a slightly difficult position to lose against the local favorite Nijat Abasov (AZE) in just 26 moves. Finals and 3rd-4th place match, Round 8 Game 2 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

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The life story of Praggnanandhaa in 120 pictures: From a talent to a Candidate

22/08/2023 -

Praggnanandhaa has created history. He has become the youngest chess player in the world to reach the finals of the FIDE World Cup and also the 2nd Indian after Vishy Anand to qualify to the Candidates tournament. He did so with sparkling wins over Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana. In this article we take you down the memory lane with 120 pictures from the life of Pragg from a boy who was few months old to now 18-year-old super talent who is one of the best in the world with a live rating of 2723 and a world ranking of 23.

29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023 R6: Fedoseev and Xiangyu maintain their joint lead

22/08/2023 -

The sixth round witnessed few short draws at the top boards of 29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. The top three games ended in draws in 30 moves or less. Thus, GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) and GM Xiangyu Xu (CHN) maintained their lead 5/6. 13 players are in pursuit at 4.5/6 each. GM Pranav Venkatesh, IM Rathanvel V S, GM Aryan Chopra and GM Aravindh Chithambaram are the four Indians among them. GM Sandipan Chanda drew against the third seeded GM Maxim Matlakov in a well contested battle. IM Nitish Belurkar suffered a tough loss against GM S L Narayanan in a four vs three pawns, rook endgame. IMs Ajay Krshna S and Rakesh Kumar Jena defeated GMs Swapnil Dhopade and Sankalp Gupta respectively. Round 7 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

60th National Championship 2023 R6: Sethuraman emerges sole leader 6/6

22/08/2023 -

GM Sethuraman S P (PSPB) defeated GM Deep Sengupta (PSPB) to emerge sole leader 6/6 at 60th National Chess Championship 2023. The other coleaders - GM Abhimanyu Puranik (AAI) drew his game against GM Mitrabha Guha (WB). IM Aronyak Ghosh (WB) got the better of GM Vishnu Prasanna (TN). Abhimanyu, Mitrabha and Aronyak are trailing the leader by a half poin at 5.5/6 each. Apoorv Kamble (KAR) pulled off a huge upset against India's 81st GM Sayantan Das (RSPB). 161st seeded 11-year-old Bhaavan Kolla (AP) continues his unbeaten run. He drew against the reigning Commonwealth champion IM P Shyam Nikhil (RSPB). It will be Sethuraman vs Abhimanyu and Mitrabha vs Aronyak on the top two boards in Round 7 which starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Siddhant Mahajan

Fabulous Praggnanandhaa bests the invincible Caruana, sets up a historic clash against Magnus Carlsen in FIDE World Cup 2023 Finals

21/08/2023 -

R Praggnanandhaa is the kind of player who wants only one opportunity to showcase his talent. He got it and he made the most out of it. The only undefeated player in the entire World Cup combining Open and Women was - Fabiano Caruana (USA). He remained undefeated for 16 games. Praggnanandhaa mentioned in the post-match interview that after defending two Classical and the first Rapid game, all he was looking for is one opportunity. Caruana's mistake was very minute in the first 10'+10" Rapid tie-break. Pragg seized it and showed amazing technique to win the game. He drew the next to advance to the Finals where he will face the world no.1 Magnus Carlsen. Thus, Praggnanandhaa becomes the first Indian to secure a place in the Finals of a FIDE World Cup since the current format was introduced in 2005. Finals and 3rd-4th place match, Round 8 Game 1 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023 R5: Aravindh crushes Changren

21/08/2023 -

IM Rathanvel V S continues his good form at 29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. He had a hard-fought draw against GM Aryan Chopra. GM Sandipan Chanda also maintains his unbeaten streak. He drew against 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB). GM Aravindh Chithambaram avenged his nearly decade old loss by scoring a thumping victory over GM Changren Dai (CHN). 11-year-old FM Ethan Vaz drew with GM Volodar Murzin with some great play. GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) drew against GM Xiangyu Xu (CHN) to remain the coleaders 4.5/5. Nine players are at 4/9 each. Round 6 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

60th National Championship 2023 R5: Sethuraman, Abhimanyu, Deep and Mitrabha in a four-way lead 5/5

21/08/2023 -

Nine out of the top ten games were decisive in the fifth round of 60th National Chess Championship 2023. GMs Abhimanyu Puranik (AAI), Sethuraman S P (PSPB), Mitrabha Guha (WB) and Deep Sengupta (PSPB) won their games against GM Sayantan Das (RSPB), GM Vignesh N R (RSPB), IM Praveen Kumar C (RSPB) and GM Iniyan P (TN) respectively. It will be Abhimanyu vs Mitrabha and Deep vs Sethuraman in the sixth round. They are chased by eight players at 4.5/5 each. Among them is, 11-year-old Bhaavan Kolla (AP). He is having a great tournament so far. The little kid defeated IM Nitin S (RSPB) in the fifth round. 12-year-old Aakash G (TN) scored a huge win over GM Laxman R R (RSPB). WFM Supreetha Potluri (AP) got the better of IM Utsab Chatterjee (WB). Round 6 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Magnus Carlsen advances to his first FIDE World Cup Finals, set to face Caruana or Praggnanandhaa

20/08/2023 -

R Praggnanandhaa once again passed the Fabiano Caruana (USA) test. He had to defend his position against the American, who is still undefeated at FIDE World Cup 2023. Caruana was pushing for a full point from the middlegame. It eventually liquidated into a rook and knight endgame where the teenager once again had to show his best defensive skills. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) was royally upset that he could not beat Nijat Abasov (AZE). Things almost went out of hand in the same color bishop endgame. Carlsen eventually drew the game with precise play and advanced to the Finals of a World Cup for the very first time in his career. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) drew against Zhongyi Tan (CHN) to win the match, secure a Bronze medal and a spot at the FIDE Women's Candidates 2024. Caruana and Praggnanandhaa will have to play tie-breaks. Who do you think will win it and face Carlsen in the Finals? Round 7 tie-break games start tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

8-year-old Alankrita Sharma dominates Smart Girls Rating Tournament 2023 Jammu

20/08/2023 -

8-year-old Alankrita Sharma scored 8.5/9 to win Smart Girls Rating Tournament 2023 in Jammu. She finished a full point ahead of the field and remained undefeated. Priya Yadav scored sole 7.5/9 to secure second place. Her only loss was against the eventual second runner-up, Srujanika Gupta 7/9. She edged past Vitasta Koul on tie-breaks. The top three prizes were ₹5000 + trophy, ₹3000 and ₹2000. The tournament was held from 27th to 31st July 2023 at Hotel Nek in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir. It was organized by Crown Trust. This was Alankrita's first rating tournament triumph of her career. The objective of Smart Girls is to attract more female players to participate in tournaments, get rating in an event which has low entry fee barrier of only ₹250. Photos: Atul Kumar Gupta

29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023 R4: Hari Madhavan wins a wild game against Kobalia

20/08/2023 -

GM-elect IM Rathanvel V S drew against the 44th Olympiad Gold medalist GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) in the fourth round of 29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. GM Aryan Chopra defeated GM Sankalp Gupta after the latter made a huge positional mistake in the endgame. Both Rathanvel and Aryan are at 3.5/4 each. They will face each other in the fifth round. GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) and GM Xiangyu Xu (CHN) are the coleaders with a perfect score 4/4. GM Karthik Venkataraman, GM Sandipan Chanda, GM Aravindh Chithambaram, FM Ethan Vaz, GM Pranav V and IM Hari Madhavan N B are at 3/4 each. Round 5 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

60th National Championship 2023 R4: Praveen Kumar astonishes Akash

20/08/2023 -

IM Praveen Kumar C defeated his Tamil Nadu statemate GM Akash G in the fourth round of 60th National Chess Championship 2023. Despite being in control for the better part of the game, Akash loosened his grip in the endgame. It was enough for Praveen to turn things around. IM Nitin S (TN) and CM Soham Kamotra (J&K) held GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (PSPB) and GM Diptayan Ghosh (WB) to a draw each respectively. Dhananjay (CHAT) continues his good form as he drew against the strong GM Venkatesh M R (PSPB). Shriraj Bhosale (MAH) scored a big win over the veteran, IM D V Prasad (KAR). Praveen is the sole IM among the eight leaders at 4/4. Round 5 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

FIDE World Cup 2023 SF: Carlsen beats Abasov, Praggnanandhaa holds his ground against Caruana

19/08/2023 -

R Praggnanandhaa drew against Fabiano Caruana (USA) after a 4.5 hour-long battle. It was not an easy game at all. Yet he managed to fend off all possible threats by keeping things in balance. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) had a topsy-turvy game against Nijat Abasov (AZE). First, the world no.1 blundered, allowing his opponent to win the game. Later, Abasov blundered. After missing his first chance, the Norwegian seized his second one. IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) had a solid draw against GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) was determined to go for a win and she managed to beat GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) for the first time in nearly 6.5 years. Round 7.2 games start tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Aditya S Samant becomes India's 83rd and Maharashtra's 12th Grandmaster

19/08/2023 -

IM Aditya S Samant became India's 83rd and Maharashtra's 12th Grandmaster on Wednesday 26th July 2023. He just needed to play the penultimate round of 53rd Biel Chess Festival Master Tournament (MTO) against GM Aryan Chopra. The outcome of the game was immaterial towards his final GM-norm. The 16-year-old scored his first GM-norm at 28th Abu Dhabi Masters 2022 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He secured his second GM-norm at 3rd El Llobregat Open 2023 in Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain. He crossed 2500 in the May 2023 FIDE Rating list. Aditya loves to play sharp and attacking chess which is reflected in all the tournaments he played. He is also one of the few GMs in recent times who did not play a single round-robin norm events. The Grandmaster title was always an inevitability for him. It was only a matter of time. Check out a 50-minute long interview by IM Sagar Shah to get to know more about his journey. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023 R3: Rathanvel swindles Jaime to score a hat-trick

19/08/2023 -

GM-elect IM Rathanvel V S defeated GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP) in the third round of 29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. Despite being down by an exchange, the GM-elect played enterprisingly. He kept creating chances for himself until his opponent blundered. Rathanvel is one of the five leaders with a perfect score 3/3. GMs Aryan Chopra, Sankalp Gupta, Sandipan Chanda and Aravindh Chithambaram are in pursuit at 2.5/3 each. IM Harikrishnan A Ra held 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) to a draw. FM Vedant Panesar scored an impressive victory over GM Pranav Anand. FM Ethan Vaz won the rook and pawn endgae when his opponent IM Ravi Teja misplayed. Round 4 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

60th National Championship 2023 R3: Dhananjay causes knightmare for Abhijeet Gupta

19/08/2023 -

Dhananjay S (CHAT) scored a huge victory over the top seed of 60th National Chess Championship 2023, GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB) in the third round. The reigning Chhattisgarh State Senior champion traded both of his bishops for knights by the tenth move. Later he manuevered his knights quite well. When opportunity arose, he exchanged one of his knight with his opponent's good bishop and went on to convert his advantage quite well. Ram S Krishnan (BSNL) had a good chance to win in the endgame after his opponent, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (RSPB) sacrificed his bishop in a balanced endgame. Shriraj Bhosale (MAH) had an exciting draw against IM Neelash Saha (RSPB) who sacrificed his queen. Round 4 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

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