Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

D Gukesh turned 19 in faraway Stavanger, with a victory in tie-break against Fabiano Caruana in Round 4 of Norway Chess. The world champion and No. 3 beating the No. 5 is not stop-press news, but given the way Gukesh started the tournament, this was a welcome verdict, which revives his campaign. He is placed joint-fourth with Arjun Erigaisi on 4.5 points. Six more rounds remain. Erigaisi suffered a defeat against No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, who jumped to sole lead with eight points. The Norwegian is the only one in the six-player field yet to lose a game under normal…

It’s a thin line between being brave and reckless. Even in T20s. Punjab Kings chose to live by the sword in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Mullanpur and died by it. After being sent in, they lost early wickets and kept going for it instead of taking it easy for a while. All out for 101 meant it was RCB’s day and they reached the final with plenty to spare. This was RCB’s fourth entry into the final and the first after 2016. Their bowlers made most of the bounce on offer and stuck to…

When the top players of the world collide, it doesn’t make a lot of noise, sparks don’t fly and yet, what happens over the board is nothing less than fireworks. That is what the chess fans across the globe are treated to. D Gukesh turned the tournament on its head in the third round by beating world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura. It was a win within the normal time control, which fetched three points, and brought the world champion right back in it after defeats in the first two rounds. Playing with white for the first time in the competition,…

Singapore. December 12, 2024: D Gukesh could not hold back tears sitting on his chair following the dramatic win in the world championship match against Ding Liren of China. After collecting himself, he got busy with the ritual of rearranging the pieces on the board. Stavanger. May 27, 2025: Gukesh in tears again. After losing to Arjun Erigaisi in Round 2 of Norway Chess. It was his second successive loss in the event and a fifth setback in 24 classical games this year. By the time he controlled himself, Erigaisi had put most of the pieces back in place. In…

When Magnus Carlsen plays, everything around him becomes immaterial. Every inch of his dashing and imposing personality is reflected in the moves he makes and the way he carries himself. It’s as if the opponent reacts to what he does on the board instead of doing something on his own. The Norwegian maverick has the control. He dictates what happens. For a long time in the opening-round showdown at Norway Chess between the world No. 1 and the world champion, D Gukesh seemed to be safe with black. His position was never inferior. Rather, the Indian seemed to hold a…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay Norway Chess has been one of the biggest annual events since its inception in 2013. The players are from the best in the world. It used to be a field of 10 in the first 11 years. In 2024, it came down to six. This made the competition more intense. This year’s cast makes the tournament in the city of Stavanger from May 26-June 6 mouth-watering. The top draw, world No. 1, and six-time winner of his home event, Magnus Carlsen is a runaway favourite in the tournament featuring the top five players in the world and the…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay Stavanger is a city in south-west Norway. Internet search shows it is known as the ‘oil capital’ of the country. For two weeks from the end of this month, this will be the most happening place in the world of 64 squares. The event called Norway Chess will be played from May 26 to June 6 and the field in the open section is as strong as it has ever been. Overshadowed by Magnus Carlsen, D Gukesh and others in that half of the show, the women’s competition is held for the second time, even though this annual…

The most anticipated and critically important team selection meeting didn’t produce surprises. Scope for that was reduced by increasing the squad strength to 18. Leaving out Mohammed Shami and the message it sends across was a highlight. Otherwise, Abhimanyu Easwaran finding a place was perhaps the only noteworthy announcement in terms of surprises. As expected, Shubman Gill’s side is thin on the experience of playing in England. Despite vacancies, there were not many options and the selectors headed by Ajit Agarkar went along predicted lines. There are six options for the top four slots and choosing the batting order will…

Before today, if Indian cricket fans were asked about the Test captain who came to the hot seat most unprepared and found himself in all kinds of fix, MAK Pataudi or Krishnamachari Srikkanth could have been among the options for an answer. Pataudi became the youngest India skipper in the West Indies in 1962 accidentally, when he was 21, following a near-fatal blow to Nari Contractor. Nobody expected Srikkanth to do the job in Pakistan in 1989-90. If the former was young, Srikkanth was 30, and completely inexperienced in that role. Ask the question today and there is no debate.…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay The average Indian cricket fan heard the name of Angelo Mathews in 2009. He played one match for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL)that year. The all-rounder had represented Sri Lanka in a few ODIs and was yet to be picked in the Test side, when he was made a part of Shah Rukh Khan’s caravan, as a back-up for misfiring Australian Moises Henriques. That this white-ball all-rounder finished his Test career as the third-highest run-scorer for his country shows what value he added to his team. He is also fourth on the list…