Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

If a draw can be a sign of supremacy, D Gukesh produced one on Friday. In Game 4 of the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren, the Indian defended with pomp and black pieces to force a stalemate which makes the score 2-2 in the 14-game contest. Gukesh never looked in discomfort and created a situation early on which made it hard for white to penetrate. This was a big game in Singapore after a day of rest. The players had traded a win apiece and played out a draw in the last three rounds. Coming off a win…

D Gukesh made a quick comeback in the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren. The Indian won the third game with white pieces to draw level in the contest. The Chinese had won the first game and the second was drawn. Following Wednesday’s result in Singapore, the players head into the first rest day with the score in the 14-game match reading 1.5-1.5. Ding fell under time pressure early on and succumbed to it in the end. He took too much time to ponder his moves and that proved decisive. At one stage towards the close, he needed to…

Victory eluded D Gukesh in the second game of the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren. It turned out to be stalemate after 23 moves following around three hours of brainstorming at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. This gave the Chinese a lead of 1.5-0.5, with 12 more games to be played. The player who reaches 7.5 points first will be declared the winner. Gukesh, who lost the opening game with the white pieces, had black in this round and he couldn’t make headway in his search of a win. The defending champion kept things tight and denied his…

The great Indian dream in the World Chess Championship final began on a disappointing note. In the first game in Singapore on Monday, D Gukesh suffered an unexpected defeat against China’s Ding Liren. The Chinese defending champion, who had a winless run of 28 games before this one, came back from a tough corner to win after 42 moves, when Gukesh resigned. It’s not much of a setback if you consider that 13 more rounds are still to be played at the Resorts World Sentosa. There is plenty of time to stage a comeback. But, it was a morale-boosting win…

Sentosa is a manmade island in Singapore. It’s a prime destination and Resorts World Sentosa is one of the most luxurious and prestigious retreats out there. This place will be the centre of attention as far as chess is concerned, for the next three weeks or so. This is where the world chess championship final will take place, featuring Ding Liren of China and India’s D Gukesh. It’s a momentous occasion for Indian chess. After living under the glory of Viswanathan Anand forever, the country has found a second player who has qualified for this contest. After years of wait,…

Can we say something? Let’s tell ourselves that D Gukesh is not the favourite in the world chess championship final, beginning in Singapore on November 25. Ding Liren of China has been written off so far and truth be told, these assumptions are based on form. While it is an indicator, the current state of what is on display shouldn’t be taken as an absolute yardstick. This is more so, when it comes to a match of this stature. A world championship final in an illustrious game like chess is no child’s play and that is the biggest test for…

This was at the Tata Steel Chess India 2024 rapid and blitz event in Kolkata last week. The spectator turnout was a talking point. The auditorium accommodating around 550 was full and there were people seated on the staircase. These were mostly schoolchildren, who also learn chess, and their parents. The real consumers of the game, in other words. It was an autograph day as well. Magnus Carlsen skipped the session, but there were others. In the rush to get signatures, someone said that Viswanathan Anand was there too. The five-time world champion was not a participant in the competition.…

An Indian heads into the World Chess Championship final as the favourite. He is 18. His rival, the reigning champion, is 32. These are unreal circumstances, yet true. D Gukesh is the top dog in the battle to be fought in Singapore from November 25 against China’s Ding Liren. That’s because current everything — ratings, world rankings, performances — is pointed towards the Indian. It’s a bit unusual. When Viswanathan Anand competed at this stage of this competition, he was perhaps the favourite in his clashes against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Israel’s Boris Gelfand. Not before that. He was…

Usually, in a world championship duel, the defending champion is the favourite. In the upcoming chess battle of supremacy, it is going to be different. Defending champion Ding Liren of China is the underdog. Favourite is the 18-year-old D Gukesh of India. This means the weight of expectations is more on him. Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand are among the ones who reckon Gukesh has an edge. The first-ever clash of this stature featuring two Asians will take place in Singapore from November 25 to December 13. Not many such finals had generated this kind of frenzy in the build-up.…

Magnus Carlsen earned the rare feat of clinching both titles in the men’s section of the Tata Steel Chess India 2024 rapid and blitz tournament, which got over in Kolkata on Sunday. Having won the rapid crown two days earlier, the Norwegian sealed the blitz title with a comfortable margin of 1.5 points. Russian Kateryna Lagno won the women’s blitz championship by half a point. Carlsen, the World No. 1 in all three formats, had drawn two and lost one of his games on the first day of blitz a day earlier. On the final day, he drew five of…