Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

The Tata Steel Masters was a reality check for Indian chess. Four players from the country took the 10th-13th positions in a field of 14 in the year’s first super strong event in the classical format. A new bunch seems to be ready to take them on. Chances are high that instead of three, there will be just one Indian in the top-10 in the new rankings. Going by live ratings, Arjun Erigaisi might suffer the biggest fall of his career after making it to the elite level — fifth to 12th. R Praggnanandhaa might slide from eighth to 14th…

If the Tata Steel Masters is an indication of what lies ahead, it seems that the Indian players are in for a testing time in the open section in 2026. The movers and shakers of world chess have been below par in the year’s first elite competition. With a round to go in the event held in Wijk Aan Zee in northern Netherlands, all four Indians are still in the bottom half of the table featuring 14 players. RevSportz takes a look at how they have done and what they can do going ahead… D Gukesh (8th, 6/12 points): The…

A massive year for Indian chess has started on a catastrophic note. The top guns are firing blanks at Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. There is a chance that D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa will all be out of the top-10 when the world rankings are updated in a day or two. It was an Indian 1-2 in this event last year. In 2024, Gukesh was the runner-up. This time after 11 rounds, the world champion is 10th, Praggnanandhaa 11th, Aravindh Chithambaram 12th and Erigaisi 13th in a field of 14 players. There are two more…

R Praggnanandhaa (left) and D Gukesh were eighth and ninth in world rankings before Tata Steel Masters. On live ratings, both are outside the top-10 at the moment. RevSportz pictures Poor outings result in loss of rating points. It’s not going to be any different for the Indian quartet of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and Aravindh Chithambarama at Tata Steel Masters. After 10 games, they are in the bottom half of the standings. In the last three rounds starting on Friday, Gukesh & Co. will have to better what they have so far to arrest the slide. The…

The Tata Steel Masters is becoming exciting. Three rounds remain. Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan is leading with 6.5 points. A bunch of three are on six. There is no certainty who will win. The only thing certain is that it won’t be an Indian. After 10 rounds in the longest, annual, closed tournament featuring elite players, D Gukesh is the best-placed from the country. He is eighth in the field of 14 with five points. R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram are 11th, 12th and 13th on 4.5, 4 and 3.5 points, in that order. The 10th round turned…

It doesn’t make sense to assess a chess player’s performance in January and try to think how he might shape up in December. A lot of the present will be past in 10-11 months. But when the player is D Gukesh and the event to take place at the end of this year is the World Championship featuring him, it draws attention. The world champion has got off to a torrid start to 2026. Add to it the latter part of last year, and the glory days of 2024 start feeling like a flashback. At the Tata Steel Masters in…

He was in the thick of things during his days in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He worked with illustrious figures and saw them from close, playing pivotal roles in landmark developments. He, too, was part of controversies and fell out of favour of the people he worked with. He was in no way above the politics of sports officialdom. Yet, Inderjit Singh Bindra was not your typical Indian cricket administrator. In a milieu where a majority of the top figures are from political or business backgrounds, being an IAS officer made him the odd man…

In a field of 14 players, this is how the Indians are placed: D Gukesh is ninth, Arjun Erigaisi 11th, R Praggnanandhaa 13th and Aravindh Chithambaram 14th. Players suffer bad tournaments. There come times when nothing goes their way. It happens to every athlete, across sports. Not often are they seen flopping so spectacularly as a pack as the Indians have at Tata Steel Masters — the year’s first and one of the biggest events in classical chess. After seven rounds in the traditional venue of this competition in Wijk Aan Zee and six more to play, the Indian challenge…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay It’s getting worse for the Indian players participating at Tata Steel Masters. If one expected them to come out recharged after a day of rest, it turned out to be the opposite. D Gukesh suffered his first defeat in 2026 and the other three settled for draws. After six rounds played and seven to go in the Dutch seaside town of Wijk Aan Zee, there are no Indians in the top half of the table featuring 14 players. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi have three points each. They are placed eighth and 10th, respectively. R Praggnanandhaa is 12th with…

The Indian opening at the year’s first major chess tournament in the classical format has been low key so far. After five rounds played and eight more remaining in the Tata Steel Masters, the quartet would like to make their presence felt in a more telling manner on Friday (Jan 23, 6.30 pm IST) after a day of recess in Wijk Aan Zee. D Gukesh’s first win in a game that lasted nearly six hours placed him joint second with two others on three points each. Three players are sharing the lead with 3.5. Arjun Erigaisi was the joint…