Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Saina Nehwal and the 2017 BWF World Championship is an unforgettable story. It was the only occasion when she and PV Sindhu were both on the podium in the biggest competition in badminton. Sindhu took silver and Saina bronze. The first face of the Indian badminton revolution, who retired from the game on Tuesday (January 20), had won World Championship silver in Jakarta in 2015 and the 2012 London Olympics bronze. Why was the Glasgow bronze significant? More than a medal, it was a statement of willpower and ability to rise above adversities. A year ago, Saina’s Rio Olympic campaign…

The standings in Tata Steel Masters make for a queer study. Four of the 14 participants have qualified for the Candidates. They are scattered all over after three rounds. Matthias Bluebaum is near the top, Anish Giri and R Praggnanandhaa bring up the bottom, with Javokhir Sindarov in the middle at sixth. The year’s first and one of the biggest competitions in classical chess is in all likelihood the last outing for those who will be in action at Candidates in Cyprus from March 28 to April 16. Of the eight qualifiers, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Andrey Esipenko and Wei…

There used to be a buzz around the board of this boy at the FIDE World Cup in Goa last November. Not because he had turned 12 the previous month. He was racing towards rewriting chess history. The attention was on him. Faustino Oro’s tournament ended in a tie-breaker in the second round against India’s Vidit Gujrathi, but the Argentine prodigy is back and making headlines in the Challengers section of the Tata Steel chess competition in Wijk Aan Zee. In the Masters segment featuring the top guns, defending champion and world No. 8 R Praggnanandhaa is at the bottom…

Looking forward to the Tata Steel Masters beginning today (January 17, 6.30 pm IST), R Praggnanandhaa made an observation. “The field this year looks extremely interesting and probably one of the youngest too,” he posted on social media. The defending champion at the year’s first and one of the biggest classical chess competitions is spot-on. Representing a bunch of Indian youngsters last year, he won this title in Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands when he was six months short of 20. In the 88th edition of this tournament this year, the field is remarkably younger. The average age of…

It’s that time of the year when this coastal village in northern Netherlands sees a rise in footfalls. Wijk aan Zee is a tourist destination. In addition, it has been staging this tournament nicknamed the Wimbledon of Chess for decades. The Tata Steel Masters begins on Saturday (January 17). For the next fortnight, it will be the centre of attention in chess. Held under different names since 1938, this is one of the strongest competitions on the annual calendar and among the most prestigious ones. Event and the contestants It’s a 14-player field, where all play all once. The world’s…

The year’s first major chess tournament in the classical format – Tata Steel Masters – takes place in Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands from January 17 to February 1. The 14-player, elite event is known as the Wimbledon of Chess. Of the Indian participants, most eyes will be on D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and defending champion R Praggnanandhaa. They are the movers and shakers. There is a fourth in Aravindh Chithambaram, whose performance will be followed for different reasons. At 26, he is four-five years older than the trio. In the last 18 months, his journey has been eventful…

The introduction of new formats and competitions have made chess a lucrative earning option. According to Chess.com, 26 players earned in excess of $100,000 from prize money alone in 2025. The list includes India’s Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Nihal Sarin and Koneru Humpy. This has also resulted in congestion in the calendar. Tournaments take place one after another, often without much of a gap between two. Players who participate in these events to maintain rankings and fulfil other commitments, have no choice but to follow the order of the day. RevSportz asked this to a few participants at…

Indian challengers fought hard and made things difficult for the overnight leaders at times. Almost till the end, it wasn’t clear which way it’s headed. However, Wesley So and Carissa Yip got the job done when needed to win the men’s and women’s blitz titles, respectively, at Tata Steel Chess India. The USA double was completed after So overcame the questions posed by Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin. In the end, the highest-rated blitz player in the field won with a round to spare. The women’s competition went down to the wire. Vantika Agarwal did brilliantly to force a tie-breaker,…

In Goa, in the first half of November. London after that. Mumbai and Doha in December. Kolkata in the first and second week of January. Then off to Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands for an event starting on January 16. This is a small chunk from the itinerary of R Praggnanandhaa. He was crisscrossing the globe before November as well, to ensure qualification for the 2026 Candidates. That done, the chess star from Chennai hasn’t been able to think about the competition yet. Until Wijk Aan Zee — where he will try to defend his crown at the Tata…

Blitz chess is like rapid fire. There’s no time to lock target or take aim. It’s like point and shoot. If you miss, you miss. If you hit, you hit. Chances are high that the more accomplished the player, the greater the probability to succeed. That turned out to be the case in the open section of Tata Steel Chess India. After the first nine rounds in the blitz segment, Wesley So was leading with seven points. He is the highest-rated player in the field. No. 2 Arjun Erigaisi was half-a-point behind. The final nine rounds will be played on…