Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore For the second day running, D Gukesh’s father was spotted outside the auditorium where spectators are seated to watch the World Chess Championship. Dr Rajinikanth was once again glued to his phone. And yet again, he saw his son squander a favourable position against Ding Liren before settling for a draw. With six games to go, the scores are tied 4-4. This is becoming a pattern in this duel. The defending champion thinks a lot to make his moves in the first half, falls way behind in terms of time remaining on the clock and claws…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore Conditions in Singapore can be drastically different depending on where one is. Outdoors, it’s warm when it doesn’t rain. At the World Chess Championship match being played at Resorts World Sentosa, metro trains and buses, things can be freezing because of the air-conditioning. It’s a weird combination of hot and cold. The players, too, blew hot and cold in the seventh-round game. At the end of a marathon battle which lasted over five hours, D Gukesh saw his advantage fade away gradually and painfully. Ding Liren came back from an inferior position and intense time pressure…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore The World Chess Championship is delicately poised. Defending champion Ding Liren and D Gukesh are 3-3 after six games. With eight more rounds to play, there is no favourite. The Chinese has surprised the Indian challenger a few times, but the youngster has come back to stay even. In Tuesday’s seventh round, Gukesh will have white pieces. Singapore seems to be lukewarm for this match. There was no publicity signage visible at the airport and common people are not even aware that this is taking place in their city. That, however, doesn’t diminish the importance of…

D Gukesh survived a scare in the fifth round of the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren. He was in a favourable position with white pieces early on and it seemed headed for a draw, before things unfolded in an unexpected manner. In the end, the Indian was possibly fortunate to get away with a draw, which makes the score 2.5-2.5 in the 14-round match. It was quite even to begin with, in the match being played in Singapore. Neither side had a clear advantage after the opening. It looked quite Even Stevens until some time. However, and according…

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…