All posts tagged: Chess news India

Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi battle to hard fought draw as Indian derby ends in stalemate

Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi battle to hard fought draw as Indian derby ends in stalemate

5 min readNew DelhiJun 10, 2026 11:29 PM IST The fourth round of the UzChess Cup 2026 Masters event saw two Indians pitted against each other. Barring their nationality, there was nothing in particular that resembled how their tournaments had gone. On one side was Arjun Erigaisi, jointly leading the event with a couple of draws and a win sandwiched in between. On the other side was Vidit Gujrathi, languishing at the bottom after endured a terrible start to his campaign as he lost his opening two games before gaining his first half point, which came in a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Having played multiple team events like the Olympiad and the Asian Games together in a tightly knit squad, both players are fairly familiar with each other. They know their strengths, weaknesses, tricks and perhaps even each other’s mindset to some extent. So when they faced each other for the umpteenth time in Tashkent on Wednesday, one could expect a battle of attrition with both fighting for the full point. It was indeed a …

‘Lately my strengths have been controlling me’

‘Lately my strengths have been controlling me’

For someone who has lived in the spotlight for the better part of the past four years, Gukesh D rarely does interviews. Which is a pity, because despite being just 20, he is one of the most articulate athletes in Indian sport, someone with an ability to think as deeply about his career as he does about a position on the board, his mind whirring like a calculator. The world has spent the last 18 months trying to analyse what’s gone wrong with his results since he became a world champion at 18 in December 2024. Gukesh has his own analysis. In one of the most candid interviews he’s done in his career, Gukesh spoke about managing expectations of the rest of the world; his objectivity in games getting clouded by him wanting the result too much; being serious about the process, but relaxed about the results; losing motivation for some months after becoming world champion and lot more. Excerpts: With how the year has gone, how do you look at the rest of the …

Praggnanandhaa on Gukesh vs Sindarov world championship: ‘It’s 50-50 for now’ | Chess News

Praggnanandhaa on Gukesh vs Sindarov world championship: ‘It’s 50-50 for now’ | Chess News

3 min readMay 16, 2026 09:22 AM IST After defeating Javokhir Sindarov in a round 2 clash of the Super Chess Classic 2026 tournament in Romania, India’s Praggnanandhaa said that the upcoming World Chess Championship battle between the Uzbek prodigy and world champion D Gukesh will be an evenly poised battle. Sindarov has been in rampaging form in classical chess recently, scything through the Candidates tournament in Cyprus last month with an unblemished record to secure his spot in the world championship. In fact, the defeat to Pragg was Sindarov’s first in eight months. The Uzbek prodigy’s last defeat in the classical format came in September 2025 against Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov in the 3rd round of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 at home in Samarkand. Sindarov went unbeaten at the FIDE World Cup in Goa and then the Candidates tournament. But while former world champions Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov have firmly installed Sindarov as the favourite for the World Championship against Gukesh, Pragg felt that no player has a clear advantage. When asked by …

Ian Nepomniachtchi says Praggnanandhaa became ‘completely different chess player after losing to Javokhir Sindarov’ | Chess News

Ian Nepomniachtchi says Praggnanandhaa became ‘completely different chess player after losing to Javokhir Sindarov’ | Chess News

3 min readUpdated: Apr 20, 2026 10:25 PM IST Two-time World Chess Championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi has said that India’s R Praggnanandhaa, who ended seventh in the recent Candidates tournament, became a “completely different” chess player after losing his game to eventual tournament winner Javokhir Sindarov. One of the pre-tournament favourites, Pragg eventually managed to win just one game in 14 rounds. “Despite the fact that he won a very good game against Anish Giri in the first round, the tournament didn’t go well for him. Why? Because he lost to Sindarov. After that, it was as if he became a completely different chess player. He seemed to be trying to put up a fight with both white and black. He changed openings like gloves, playing extremely risky schemes, but in the second half of the tournament, his luck ran out,” Nepomniachtchi said on his YouTube channel while analysing the Candidates. Nepo continued: “Pragg failed to win two completely winning positions—I believe against Wei Yi and Matthias Bluebaum, each was around +4 or more. Against …

Garry Kasparov: Pragg looks like bleak shadow of himself; Would love to see Sindarov vs Magnus Carlsen World Championship match | Chess News

Garry Kasparov: Pragg looks like bleak shadow of himself; Would love to see Sindarov vs Magnus Carlsen World Championship match | Chess News

3 min readApr 11, 2026 09:00 AM IST Chess legend Garry Kasparov has said that Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa has of late looked like a “bleak shadow” of the Pragg we have seen over the last few years. After 10 rounds of the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, Praggnanandhaa finds himself in seventh spot, with exactly half the number of points than tournament leader Javokhir Sindarov, who is a peer of the Indian youngster. “Pragg was on the rise and just now it’s like he’s a bleak shadow of what we saw a couple of years ago,” Kasparov said with a hint of surprise in his voice in a conversation with the St Louis Chess Club during the 10th round when Praggnanandhaa was facing off against Sindarov. Pragg went on to lose that game, which was his second defeat to the Uzbek prodigy in the tournament in two games, in a result that effectively ended his chances of winning the tournament. When grandmaster Yasser Seirawan mentioned that Pragg’s play at the Candidates had looked “stale” and …

No fine or sanction for Koneru Humpy for Candidates withdrawal, says FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky | Chess News

No fine or sanction for Koneru Humpy for Candidates withdrawal, says FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky | Chess News

4 min readApr 7, 2026 06:11 PM IST FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky has said that India’s top female chess player Koneru Humpy will not be fined or sanctioned for her last-minute withdrawal from the Candidates chess tournament at Cyprus. Humpy had pulled out of the prestigious tournament just days before the event citing security concerns related to Israel and the USA’s war with Iran. Humpy’s concerns were rooted in an incident at the start of the war when a drone hit a British airbase in Cyprus. Humpy was replaced by Ukrainian grandmaster Anna Muzychuk. The official FIDE regulations noted that any player who withdraws from the Candidates without a valid reason after signing the contract could be fined up to €10,000. Sutovsky said that Humpy would not face any sanctions. “We are not going to find her or take her under any sanctions because quitting the tournament was not based just on nothing, it was based on some real concerns. But I think it was just taken out of proportion,” Sutovsky told Chessbase India in …

Magnus Carlsen explains why Javokhir Sindarov’s Candidates performance leaves Uzbek GM in ‘hard position to be in’ | Chess News

Magnus Carlsen explains why Javokhir Sindarov’s Candidates performance leaves Uzbek GM in ‘hard position to be in’ | Chess News

3 min readUpdated: Apr 7, 2026 10:51 AM IST At the halfway stage of the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, Uzbek phenom Javokhir Sindarov has coursed into the lead in the open section with a score of 6/7, holding a clear 1 and a ½ point advantage over Fabiano Caruana. His dominance at the event has impressed even former world champion Magnus Carlsen. And while the world no 1 has pointed out that it is “more than likely that Sindarov will win” the Candidates, it is also “hard to be in the position in which he is.” When Carlsen was asked on the sidelines of the Grenke Chess Festival if he thought Sindarov will win the Candidates, he replied: “I think it’s more than likely that he will win, but it is hard to be in the position in which he is, especially if you are in it for the first time. Because when you get to this point, thoughts start creeping into your head and anything but first place is probably going to be a …

No fine or sanction for Koneru Humpy for Candidates withdrawal, says FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky | Chess News

‘No event comes before personal safety’: Why India’s chess legend Koneru Humpy just pulled out of Candidates in Cyprus | Chess News

4 min readMumbaiUpdated: Mar 22, 2026 11:07 PM IST A week after going public with her discomfort at playing in the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, with the war in West Asia still raging, India’s top female chess player, Koneru Humpy, has withdrawn from the prestigious tournament. “After deep reflection, I have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament,” the Indian Grandmaster wrote on X late on Sunday evening. “No event, no matter how important, can come before personal safety and well-being. Despite the assurances provided, I do not feel fully secure under the current circumstances. This is a painful but necessary decision, and I stand by it.” The global governing body of chess, FIDE, had said earlier this month that it was monitoring the situation on a daily basis. But it was not in favour of shifting the tournament, even though it had an offer from a German entrepreneur Wadim Rosenstein to fund the event in Germany. So far, Humpy was the only high-profile player out of the 16 players …

‘Gukesh became world champion by chance’: Ex-world champion Anatoly Karpov | Chess News

‘Gukesh became world champion by chance’: Ex-world champion Anatoly Karpov | Chess News

3 min readMar 19, 2026 06:38 PM IST Former world champion Anatoly Karpov has claimed in an interview with a Russian newspaper that reigning world champion D Gukesh got the crown by “accident”. It must be noted that Karpov’s own first world championship title back in 1975 had come after a forfeit from the American world champion Bobby Fischer. Karpov’s comments echo a familiar refrain in Russia, which last had a world champion in 2007, when Vladimir Kramnik was on the throne. Since then, two Russians—Sergey Karjakin in 2016 and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2021 and 2023—have come close but have been thwarted. In the interview, when Karpov was asked about chess becoming younger and younger, with a 19-year-old currently on the throne, the 74-year-old said: “First of all, the Indian chess player became [champion] by chance, because he wasn’t supposed to win the match against the Chinese player [Ding Liren]. The Chinese player lost a game there that he shouldn’t have lost. Had he not, the Chinese player would have remained the world champion.” Karpov …

FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky confirms Candidates chess tournament will go ahead as planned | Chess News

FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky confirms Candidates chess tournament will go ahead as planned | Chess News

3 min readMar 15, 2026 11:44 PM IST FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky has confirmed that the Candidates tournament will go ahead as scheduled despite a drone hitting a UK RAF airbase in Cyprus earlier this month. The Candidates tournament, which is held to finalise a challenger to the world champion, will be held in Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort, a five-star coastal venue near Cyprus’ Paphos. The drone was said to be launched by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah after Israel and USA started a war against Iran. Cyprus is a Mediterranean island flanked by Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Of the 16 players who will compete in the Candidates and the Women’s Candidates events, there are four Indian grandmasters in action: Praggnanandhaa competing in the Candidates event to earn the right to challenge D Gukesh while Koneru Humpy, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh are competing in the Women’s Candidates event to earn the right to fight against Ju Wenjun in the Women’s World Championship. However, despite the attack at a British base earlier this month, …