Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City At the age of 18 and carrying the expectations of a nation of a billion and a half, D Gukesh is up against it. Ding Liren has stood in front of him like the proverbial Chinese Wall and defended everything hurled at him. In the last of the 14 games to be played today, the defending champion is the favourite because he will have the advantage of playing with white pieces. The World Chess Championship match being played at the luxurious and picturesque Resorts World Sentosa is actually on a knife’s edge. Whoever wins this…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City The Thinker is a landmark sculpture created by French master Auguste Rodin in 1904. It shows a man in a thinking mood, seated in a semi-crouched position. His right elbow is resting on his left knee and the palm is supporting the chin. It’s a significant piece of work in the history of sculpting. Near the venue of the World Chess Championship, one can spot The Thinker, installed inside a mall. In a way, it is symbolic. At Resorts World Sentosa, where the match between D Gukesh and Ding Liren is taking place, one can…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City D Gukesh already had some support in Singapore from the Indian population residing in this country. In addition, about 40 members of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) have arrived here to be by at his side for the World Chess Championship duel against Ding Liren of China. With two rounds to go, the match is tied 6-6. It’s not new to see Indian sports federation officials travel to international competitions. At the Olympics and Asian Games, they are seen in large numbers. If media reports of the olden days are to go by, on…

Champions are those who hit their way back with their back to the wall. Ding Liren showed what he is made of by inflicting a defeat on D Gukesh in the crucial 12th game of the World Chess Championship. The crushing win by the defending champion leaves this match tied at 6-6, with two more games to play. There was a muted round of applause at the fan zone at Resorts World Sentosa, where this match is being played, after the players shook hands following the 39th move. It was vastly different from the explosion of cheers seen a day…

Fans crowding the competition venue, chanting his name, queuing up after the game to take his autograph, experts giving him the billing of favourite and the media desperate to squeeze a few words out of him — it’s been a rollercoaster fortnight for D Gukesh. Truth be told, he has lived up to this. With three games to go, he is leading 6-5 against Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship. Now comes the most crucial three-four days in the life of this 18-year-old. If he doesn’t lose, he will become the youngest-ever world champion in the game of 64…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City At around 8.45 pm Singapore time on Sunday, there was a huge roar outside the auditorium where the World Chess Championship is taking place. A few dozen Indians started screaming, “Goo..kesh, Goo..kesh”. It was spontaneous and contagious as a few more voices joined in. D Gukesh had just posted a massive win against Ding Liren in the 11th round game. Not only does this hand him a 6-5 lead, but with three games to play, it also makes the Indian the favourite to dethrone the Chinese as the world champion of chess. It’s true that…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore Indian youngsters are making waves in the world of chess. People have become familiar with the names of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, R Vaishali and others. They are not household names, but well-known nonetheless. To know more about them, one should wait until March-April next year. That’s when a documentary film on them is expected to be released. ‘Candidates’ is a venture of Dopamine Media, a production house which makes docu-features. It is going to tell the story of Indian chess through the tales of some of these young players who have taken the…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City “A game or contest that ends with the score even.” That’s the dictionary definition for the word ‘draw’. For those following this World Chess Championship match, this is becoming the norm, and in a fairly boring sense of the term. For the seventh time in the last seven games of this contest, that turned out to be the outcome. This means that D Gukesh and Ding Liren are tied at 5-5. Ten games gone and four more to go, so it’s difficult to say which way this is going to tilt. Possibly not on either…

-Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City Every day when the players enter the playing arena and leave the press conference room after the game, there are about a few dozen fans crowding those places. They cheer for the players before the games and ask for autographs after them. Most of them are Indians rooting for D Gukesh. Fans of Ding Liren are also present, although fewer in numbers. As the World Chess Championship duel nears the business end, the clamour around the Indian will increase and so will the pressure. The players are tied at 4.5-4.5 after nine games. In the…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City Things kept happening in the manner they had been, in this World Chess Championship final in Sentosa in Singapore. Ding Liren was well behind time compared to D Gukesh for a major part of the game and caught up eventually. For the seventh time in nine games, there was another draw. With five more rounds to play, the players are tied 4.5-4.5. The big difference was, the defending champion didn’t give any chance whatsoever to the challenger. In the last few games, Gukesh held an edge for a long time before settling for draws. This…