Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay Maxim Vachier-Lagrave had a faint smile on his face, when he extended his hand to his rival immediately after the final blitz tie-breaker game, at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest late on Friday night (IST). The players shook hands once more while getting off their chairs and the Frenchman grinned again. The player he had lost to, however, presented a face devoid of emotions. After winning his second big title of the year and exchanging pleasantries on the board, R Praggnanandhaa put his participant’s badge back around his neck and started sipping from his water bottle. Looking…

R Praggnanandhaa is one favourable round away from what would be a big win and a continuation of his strong showing in 2025. He is the sole leader with five points at the Superbet Chess Classic played in Bucharest in Romania. Three other players are on 4.5 each. If Praggnanandhaa wins, it’s done. If he loses, it becomes wide open. It he draws, anything can happen. That’s how close and full of possibilities it can become towards the closing stages of elite chess tournaments. Unless there is a Magnus Carlsen running away with it, these are usually closely-fought affairs. Consistency…

Players experience bad times. There are no exceptions. In that way, there may not be a lot to read into D Gukesh’s modest run at the ongoing Superbet Chess Classic in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. After six of the nine rounds in this event, featuring 10 players, the youngest-ever world champion is placed last with two points. He is winless, with four draws and two defeats. R Praggnanandhaa, the other Indian in action in Bucharest, is in the leading pack of four players. The timing of this dip in Gukesh’s performance is critical. Up next is Norway Chess beginning…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay Being a sports reporter can at times give someone a chance to see something unfold — with nobody watching — and then see that bloom into a spectacle in front of a global audience. It’s not about any ‘ah, I knew it’ feeling. Nor has it got anything to do with some sort of ‘I told you so’. Truth be told, it’s largely about the satisfaction of getting to observe something special from start to end. In the 2006-07 domestic cricket season, a few Duleep Trophy matches took place at Eden Gardens. North Zone won the title. The…

One day during his last Test appearance, against the West Indies in 2013, Sachin Tendulkar was watching from behind the nets. The batters were having practice sessions — Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in adjacent nets at Wankhede. The retiring master was looking at the crop he was leaving behind. They were to travel to South Africa soon. That was the end of the transition phase and a new beginning. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had called it a day in 2011, and up against Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel were batters who, at…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay A prodigy at 10, international chess sensation by 17-18 and then classmates — so to say — zoom past him. He is still quite good, but a notch below his contemporary players who have broken into the elite of the elite in terms of achievements. That’s how it was for R Praggnanandhaa in 2024. While D Gukesh became the youngest world champion and Arjun Erigaisi went past the 2800 mark in Elo ratings, which only 13 players had done before him, Pragg’s best was not good enough to get close to the players he had known since childhood.…

Classical chess is back after a slew of freestyle and rapid events. This brings the Indians back in familiar territory. After R Praggnanandhaa won the Tata Steel event in Wijk Aan Zee and Aravind Chithambaram prevailed at the Prague Masters, players from the country were low-key in rapid and freestyle. The ongoing Superbet Chess Classic Romania is a chance for them to reassert supremacy. After two rounds in the 10-player, round-robin event in Bucharest to be played until May 16, D Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are on one point each. There are five more on that score. Alireza Firouzja of France…

It was not as imperious or important as the famous six he had hit in a World Cup final in Mumbai 14 years ago. But the yellow faithful who outnumbered the purple-and-gold at Eden Gardens will take this six from MS Dhoni in the last over. It was struck slightly wider of long-on than that Wankhede one and practically ended Kolkata Knight Riders campaign in IPL 2025. Chasing 180 to win and five down inside the first six overs despite an 11-ball 31 from Urvil Patel, Chennai Super Kings owed this come-from-behind win to Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube. They…

A KKR versus CSK match in 2019 was an eye-opener of sorts, even for seasoned Eden Gardens frequenters, when it came to understanding the gravitational pull of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It was a scorching April late afternoon when the fans started making it towards the ground in waves. There was a sea of yellow, with only one name on all the jerseys — the one who wore No. 7. It was a bad season for the home team and interest in their chances was low when this match took place. The name visible on the back of the handful of…

Heavyweights fall with a thud. When that happens, there is noise. It’s no different with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025. One of the all-time great franchises in the 18 years of the competition, they have set examples that will be difficult to replicate. Considering their legacy, this year’s experience (10th and last on the table at the moment) has been traumatic for their fans — one of the most passionate and dedicated among all IPL teams. This was bound to unfold, following natural laws. There is a sell-by date for everything and CSK overlooked this. They stuck to the…