Grandmaster Anish Giri during the Global Chess League 2026, in Bengaluru. (PTI Photo) Israel’s men and women teams forfeited their sixth-round matches against the Netherlands and Bulgaria at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Monday after both opponents declined requests to change the schedule for Yom Kippur.The Israeli men’s team was due to…
Evgenii Romanov of Israel, Petar Arnaudov of Bulgaria, Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE) NEW DELHI: Israel remained at the centre of discussion at the ongoing 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, after both their men’s and women’s teams forfeited their Round 6 matches on Monday amid a scheduling dispute tied to…
The Indian team arrived in Uzbekistan on Tuesday (Photo Credit: ChessBase India) NEW DELHI: India’s chess contingent has finally secured hotel accommodation in Samarkand after an unexpected crisis delayed room allotments on the eve of the 46th Chess Olympiad.The Indian team arrived in Uzbekistan on Tuesday, but several players were left waiting at their hotel…
Viswanathan Anand loses on time to Javokhir Sindarov (GCL Photo) BENGALURU: Viswanathan Anand’s difficult start to the 2026 Global Chess League took another turn for the worse on Tuesday as the five-time world champion suffered two defeats in a day, the second coming in painful fashion against 20-year-old Javokhir Sindarov.Playing for Alaskan Knights, Anand had…
Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hans Niemann BENGALURU: Ian Nepomniachtchi, also known as “Nepo”, has little doubt about Hans Niemann’s ability on the chessboard. Away from it, however, the Russian grandmaster remains less impressed.Reacting to Niemann’s recent call for FIDE to punish players who make public accusations or insinuations, particularly involving young players, Nepomniachtchi said the American…
Hans Niemann and Ian Nepomniachtchi American chess grandmaster Hans Niemann has criticised Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi after the former world championship challenger questioned a move played by 14-year-old Canadian chess player Aaron Mendes during an online tournament.Niemann has called on FIDE, chess’s international governing body, to take action against players who make public accusations or suggestions…
K Humpy, India’s top-ranked woman chess player, was unwilling to state her preferred board number for Team India at the Olympiad. Nor did she say that she would play according to the wishes of the team or captain. But she dropped enough hints.“I have played a few Olympiads and have always played on board one….
GM Pravin Thipsay (left) and GM Aaryan Varshney with his father Gaurav (right) NEW DELHI: In 1978, the chess world was a reflection of a fiercely guarded aristocracy, it can be said. The title of Grandmaster (GM) was not merely a designation. Rather, it was an exclusive fraternity reserved for the absolute statistical anomalies of…
FIDE’s official motto, Gens una sumus (we are one family), was adopted in 1952, almost three decades after the chess governing body was set up in 1924. On its face, the motto carries the naïve idealism of a mid-twentieth-century world recovering from the horrors of the Second World War.A hopeful attempt to frame a centuries-old…
Viswanathan Anand (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak) Viswanathan Anand has reversed his earlier decision and will now contest the FIDE elections as Deputy President alongside Timur Turlov, who is running for the organisation’s top post. Anand had previously said he wanted to step away from the role to spend more time with his family, but changes in…