Levon Aronian opens up about R Praggnanandhaa’s GCT title NEW DELHI: A year ago, American Grandmaster Levon Aronian beat Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in their third-place match at the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) Finals in São Paulo, Brazil. Playing fast-paced chess, he gradually came to understand one thing. Blitz and rapid, the Armenian great had apprehended, were…
NEW DELHI: The English vocabulary sometimes feels the loss for words while describing what Viswanathan Anand is to India and its chess legacy. There is a particular kind of stillness that follows the Chennai-born Grandmaster into a room, the stillness of a man who solved most of what chess could throw at him decades ago…
R Praggnanandhaa and Viswanathan Anand NEW DELHI: You remember the photo that made rounds on social media last April, just after Vaishali Rameshbabu, Praggnanandhaa’s elder sister, had landed at the Chennai airport with the Women’s Candidates medal wrapped around her neck. It was a photo of her family.Praggnanandhaa was there too, his facial gesture mirroring…
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…
Gukesh Dommaraju and Javokhir Sindarov (PTI/IANS Photos) NEW DELHI: The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced Geneva, Switzerland, as the host city for the 2026 FIDE World Championship Match, where reigning champion Gukesh Dommaraju will defend his crown against Uzbek challenger Javokhir Sindarov in what promises to be a historic showdown.The World Championship match will…
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…
File Pic: R Vaishali, R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh after India won both titles at the Chess Olympiad 2024. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: Defending champions India have named formidable men’s and women’s squads for the FIDE Chess Olympiad, with world champion D Gukesh, in-form R Praggnanandhaa and Women’s Candidates winner R Vaishali leading the country’s…
Arkady Dvorkovich (on left) and Viswanathan Anand (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: International Chess Federation (FIDE) President Arkady Dvorkovich has stepped aside from his role after being included in the European Union’s latest sanctions list linked to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The decision means FIDE Deputy President and former world champion Viswanathan Anand will serve…
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with Mahatma Gandhi and Anshul Bhatt with chess legend Viswanathan Anand NEW DELHI: As a young barrister in Ahmedabad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel spent his evenings at the Gujarat Club, where he would play bridge and smoke cigars, and it was there that he first heard about a man named Gandhi returning from…