All posts tagged: rameshbabu praggnanandhaa

Tamil Nadu CM Vijay loses a chess match with R Praggnanandhaa, presents him with a cash reward of ₹50 lakh

Tamil Nadu CM Vijay loses a chess match with R Praggnanandhaa, presents him with a cash reward of ₹50 lakh

Published by Parlour News

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay felicitated Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and presented him with a cash reward of ₹50 lakh on behalf of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The 20-year-old chess prodigy scored a historic victory at the Norway Chess 2026 tournament. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay felicitates Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa for winning the Norway Chess title, in Chennai. (TNDIPR/ANI Video Grab) (TNDIPR) Vijay plays chess with Praggnanandhaa Speaking to news agency ANI, R Praggnanandhaa shared that the Chief Minister also played a game of chess with him. “I was asked to bring a chessboard, and I played a game with the Chief Minister. I never expected that he would actually play chess with me. We played for about 15 minutes, and I won the game. He was very supportive and encouraging,” he said. Sharing details of the honour on X, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) wrote, “Honourable Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru. Joseph Vijay, today at the Chief Secretariat, presented a cheque for 50 lakh rupees as a …

R Vaishali takes the sole lead after round 10

R Vaishali takes the sole lead after round 10

Published by Webster

GM Rameshbabu Vaishali continued her good form and attained a sole lead after Round 10 at the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates in Cyprus, on Thursday. She drew with Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine with the black pieces and is now leading the women’s section by half a point with 6 points from 10 games. She played a solid defensive game with Anna in an Italian game and, with a high accuracy rate, forced a draw in the pawn-bishop endgame after 42 moves. The World Cup champion Divya suffered her second consecutive defeat in round 10 against Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia and has dropped down to 7th position with 4.5 points. The competition will enter its third rest day before the next round, where Vaishali will take on Goryachkina and Divya will face Zhu Jiner of China. In the open section, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa suffered a defeat to the tournament leader Javokhir Sindarov after 53 moves in a Queen’s Gambit Declined Variation. Playing with the black pieces, he had a steady start, but then at move 22, …

Divya Deshmukh stuns the leader Anna; Pragg loses

Divya Deshmukh stuns the leader Anna; Pragg loses

Published by Webster

GM Divya Deshmukh stunned the tournament leader Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine in the eighth round of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026, in Cyprus on Tuesday. With this win, Divya has opened up the field, creating a five-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with 4.5 points each, including both Indians Divya and Vaishali. Divya grinded out a big win against Anna, who blundered her pawn under time pressure and let Divya to a winning position with the black pieces. Meanwhile, Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan broke the two-match winning run of Vaishali, holding on to a draw with the black pieces. The Grand Swiss champion could not find a breakthrough in an Italian game in round 8 and missed the chance of taking a sole lead in the tournament. #News | Praggnanandhaa falls to a loss in Round 8💔 In the reverse fixture with black pieces against Anish Giri, Praggnanandhaa resigns after 43 moves The Indian is now at 3.5/8, with his chances at the title fast diminishing🥲 📸: Michal Walusza/FIDE#Candidates2026 pic.twitter.com/Qs738hvFYM — The Bridge …

Vaishali suffers first defeat in round 5; Pragg, Divya draw

Vaishali suffers first defeat in round 5; Pragg, Divya draw

Published by Webster

GM Vaishali Rameshbabu faced her first defeat of the tournament in the fifth round of the FIDE Women’s Candidates, against Zhu Jiner of China in Cyprus on Friday. She has now slipped to the last place in the standings with 2 points, and is now a point behind the three leaders, Zhu, Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) and Kateryna Lagno (RUS). Zhu played an aggressive Italian Game from the start, launching a strong queenside attack and never giving Vaishali any real chance, despite not playing a perfect game herself. Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh, who was playing with the black pieces, held Tan Zhongyi of China to a draw in a high-quality game where both players maintained accuracies above 98 per cent. With this, she joined Vaishali and Tan at 2 points each and is currently sitting in the second-to-last position after the five games. In the open section, R Praggnandhaa, with the white pieces, played yet another draw in the fifth round against Andrey Esipenko of Russia. Both players played a solid game and didn’t give an inch …

FIDE Candidates 2026: Praggnanandhaa suffers first defeat in round 3

FIDE Candidates 2026: Praggnanandhaa suffers first defeat in round 3

Published by Webster

GM Praggnanandhaa faced his first defeat of the tournament in the third round of the FIDE Candidates, conceding the lead in Cyprus on Tuesday. With this loss, Praggnanandhaa slipped to joint third place with 1.5 points, and is now a point behind the joint leaders Fabiano Caruana (USA) and Javokhir Sindarov (UZB). Sindarov, having the black pieces, put a lot of pressure on Pragg from the start in the Queen’s Gambit Declined Variation. However, he wasn’t able to find the breakthrough in the position. But then, Pragg made a big blunder under time pressure, leaving a bishop hanging, which helped Sindarov to comfortably close out the game in 40 moves. On Wednesday, Pragg will take on Matthias Bluebaum of Germany in the fourth round with the black pieces, hoping to return to winning ways. Divya Deshmukh survives a scare GM Divya Deshmukh played her third consecutive draw in the FIDE Women’s Candidates after grinding out a draw in round-3 against Aleksandra Goryachkina. Divya, who was playing with the black pieces, was at a slight disadvantage …

Can Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali, Divya earn shot at world championship?

Can Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali, Divya earn shot at world championship?

Published by Webster

The 2026 FIDE Candidates is all set to commence from Sunday in Pegeia, Cyprus. Some of the top Grandmasters from across the globe will flock down to the European city to earn the right to challenge for the world championship title. A total of four Indians had qualified for the 2026 Candidates. But unfortunately, only three of them would be in action once the tournament commences. Veteran Koneru Humpy pulled out of the competition citing the heightened tensions in the region due to the ongoing war in West Asia. Humpy faced tremendous backlash for speaking up about safety concerns, but the two-time world rapid champion stood firm on her decision. “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,” she said in a statement. “This is a painful but necessary decision,” she added. Despite Humpy’s withdrawal, there’ll be three Indians in action. While Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu will be the country’s only hope in the open section, his sister …

Gukesh bounces back with a win after two straight losses

Gukesh bounces back with a win after two straight losses

Published by Webster

World Champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju bounced back from two defeats with a win in round 8 of the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee on Sunday. He defeated Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia with the black pieces, having a brilliant accuracy of 96.6 to attain a mate in 10 position before Vladimir resigned. He now jumped up to joint 6th place with 4/8 points. Earlier, Gukesh had two consecutive defeats with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and then home favourite Anish Giri, after two rook blunders from the drawish positions. Meanwhile, GM Praggnandhaa played his sixth consecutive draw of the tournament against Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkiye in his eighth round match-up. The defending champion now has 3/8 points, currently in the last three position and is more or less out of the title race, with just 5 more rounds to go. On the other hand, GM Arjun Erigaisi, having black pieces, played a draw against Aravindh Chithambaram in an all-Indian encounter in a completely exchanged game. Having won just one point from the last four …

Gukesh, Arjun, Aravindh face defeat; Pragg draws in round 7

Gukesh, Arjun, Aravindh face defeat; Pragg draws in round 7

Published by Webster

A tough outing for India in the 7th round of the Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee, as three of the four players faced a defeat in their respective games in the Netherlands on Saturday. After this disappointing round, all four Indian players have now dropped significantly in the overall table, as all of them are now in the bottom 5 places of the table. GM Gukesh Dommaraju faced his second consecutive defeat of the tournament after blundering his rook against home favourite Anish Giri in a 37-move match. Earlier, Gukesh had a similar rook blunder against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the sixth round, resulting in a big drop in his standings. With this defeat, Gukesh has now dropped out of the top 10 with just 3 points from 7 games, trailing the leader Nodirbek by a huge 2.5-point margin. Meanwhile, GM Praggnandhaa played his fifth consecutive draw of the tournament against Matthias Bluebaum of Germany in his seventh round match-up. The defending champion now has 2.5/7, currently in the second-to-last position at the …

D Gukesh faces first defeat in round 6

D Gukesh faces first defeat in round 6

Published by Webster

GM Gukesh Dommaraju faced his first defeat of the tournament in round 6 of the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands on Friday. Fresh from his first win in the previous round, Gukesh could not continue the momentum and bowed down to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan with the black pieces. With this defeat, Gukesh has now dropped out of the top 5 with just 3 points from 6 games, trailing the leader Nodirbek by a big 1.5-point margin. Meanwhile, GM Praggnandhaa played his fourth consecutive draw of the tournament against Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia in his sixth-round match-up. The defending champion now has 2/6, currently sitting outside the top 10 at the almost halfway stage of the tournament, with 7 more rounds to go. GM Arjun Erigaisi, having black pieces, has also drawn his game against Matthias Bluebaum of Germany in a fully exchanged position with just two kings on the board. Having won just half a point from the last two games, Arjun is also sitting outside the top 5 …

Gukesh draws with Praggnanandhaa in round 4

Gukesh draws with Praggnanandhaa in round 4

Published by Webster

GM Praggnandhaa played his second draw of the tournament in round 4 against compatriot Gukesh Dommaraju at the Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee on Tuesday. GM Arjun Erigaisi, having black pieces, has also drawn a long 80-move game against Anish Giri of the Netherlands, causing him to slip from the joint lead. Arjun is now half a point behind the two joint leaders, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Hans Niemann (USA), with 2.5 points from the four games. Meanwhile, the defending champion Praggnanandhaa is still trailing at the bottom of the ladder alongside Anish with just 1 point from his four games. On the other hand, GM Aravindh Chithambram faced his first defeat of the tournament, losing to Hans Niemann, dropping to joint 10th position with 1.5 points. He will next take on Vincent Keymer of Germany in round 5 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Gukesh will take on Thai Dai Van Nguyen of Czechia. On the other hand, Arjun will aim to return to the top of the standings with a win against Vladimir Fedoseev of …