All posts tagged: Vaishali R

Equal prize money at Norway Chess inspires more women, says Ju Wenjun

Equal prize money at Norway Chess inspires more women, says Ju Wenjun

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As the clock ticks closer to Norway Chess Women 2025, the second edition of the prestigious tournament, defending champion Ju Wenjun shared her excitement and expectations ahead of the event, scheduled to take place from May 26 to June 6 2025 at Finansparken (SR-Bank) in Stavanger City, Norway. “I’m thrilled and excited to play in Norway Chess Women 2025. This will be my second time competing in the event. We have some very strong chess players and opponents this time. I think people are also more familiar now with the Armageddon and the time control format, so I feel the tournament will be even more exciting,” the Chinese Grandmaster shared as she gears up for the tournament. Wenjun, the undisputed queen of chess, clinched her historic fifth consecutive World Championship title earlier this year. Having started playing chess at the age of seven, she turned professional in 2004, earned her Grandmaster title in 2014, and won her first World Championship in 2018. Since then, she has remained unbeaten in women’s classical chess. She is also …

Praggnanandhaa beats Arjun Erigaisi in round three

Praggnanandhaa beats Arjun Erigaisi in round three

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GM Praggnanandhaa secured an important win with white pieces over India’s no.1 Arjun Erigaisi in round three of the Tata Steel Chess 2025, on Monday. With this win, Praggnanandhaa moves to the top of the points table with 2.5 points, level with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who scored the only other win in round three. Meanwhile, World champion Gukesh D drew his match against GM Fabio Caruana, whilst Leon Mendonca’s match against Pentala Harikrishna also ended in a draw. Positional excellence from Pragg Playing with white pieces, Praggnandhaa and Arjun exchanged queens as early as move seven, which for Pragg seemed to be a bit ‘shocking.’ “Arjun is known for his trying to play fighting chess and also more complex positions. This (queen exchange) is the only line I didn’t look at today because I didn’t think he would go for it,” remarked Pragg after the match. Arjun did manage to hold down his defense against Pragg’s attack but a blunder in move 56 meant victory was certain for Praggnanandhaa, prompting Arjun to resign in move 60. …

Praggnanandhaa beats Arjun Erigaisi in round three

Five Indian chess players to feature in FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Cships

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Five Indian chess players, including R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Vaishali will participate in the 2024 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced on Monday that along with the three, Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli will be the five Indians to participate in the tournament, scheduled to take place from December 26-31 in New York City. This is the first time the tournament has touched the shores of North America, with FIDE claiming that this will be the strongest edition of the tournament with the world’s best players in action. FIDE also confirmed the participation of World No.3 and American GM Hikaru Nakamura. Besides them, World No.1 Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Levon Aronian are amongst the big names set to feature in this competition. World #3 Hikaru Nakamura 🇺🇸 has confirmed his entry for the 2024 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships, set to be the strongest edition ever! 🌟 From December 26–31, over 300 of the world’s best players will battle for their share of …

Carlsen-Praggnanandhaa to face off at Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz

Carlsen-Praggnanandhaa to face off at Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz

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Kolkata: The draws for the sixth edition of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament, carrying a prize purse of $41,500, were announced at Taj Bengal in Kolkata on Tuesday. As the ten players in the Open and Women’s categories took the stage, the cynosure of all eyes was Magnus Carlsen, the World No. 1 and five-time world champion from Norway. The 33-year-old is returning to the event for the first time since 2019 when he emerged as champion in both the rapid and blitz sections. Carlsen, who has been at the top of the world ranking in the Open category for 13 years now despite stepping back from classical events, will face off against Indian wizard R Pragganandhaa, who played a pivotal role in India’s historic Chess Olympiad triumph earlier this year, in the first round at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium on Wednesday. Contestants at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz pose for a photograph at the Taj Bengal in Kolkata on November 12, 2024. (Photo credit: Sudipta Biswas/The Bridge) …

Arjun continues strong start, Vaishali earns first points

Arjun continues strong start, Vaishali earns first points

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Arjun Erigaisi continued his strong start to the Chennai Grand Masters 2024 on Wednesday by holding the second-highest-ranked player in the tournament, American Grandmaster Levon Aronian, to a draw. Over in the Challengers event, Vaishali R, one of two female chess players debuting this year, earned her first points by drawing top-seed Raunak Sadhwani. Playing with the white pieces, Arjun Erigaisi kicked things off with a Queen’s Pawn Opening, met by Levon Aronian’s response in the Indian Game. The two Grandmasters exchanged tactical maneuvers and strategic depth, pushing each other through every phase of the game before ultimately settling for a hard-fought draw, both showing immense skill and resilience. The Chennai Grand Masters 2024 continued its intense battles on Day 2, with Aravindh Chithambaram and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave drawing their bout in a tactical standoff. Amin Tabatabaei scored a crucial win over Alexey Sarana, while Parham Maghsoodloo defeated Vidit Gujrathi, pushing the stakes higher in this FIDE Circuit qualifier. Meanwhile, in the Challengers category, Pranesh M and Karthikeyan Murali settled into a balanced draw, while Leon …

Arjun Erigaisi starts with a dramatic victory

Arjun Erigaisi starts with a dramatic victory

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Chennai: India’s no.1 ranked chess player and world no.4 Arjun Erigaisi starts with a stunning victory against Vidit Gujrati in the opening round of the Chennai Grandmasters, held at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, on Tuesday. In the Challengers event, GM Vaishali R of Chennai lost to Leon Mendonca in her first match of the tournament, while Harika Dronanvalli began with a defeat against GM Pranav. The match between Arjun and Vidit, lasting for close to 4.5 hours, went down to the wire, and Arjun snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Vidit, who was in front for the majority of the game, made a blunder with the King e5, and Arjun ascertained his victory with the King g6 move. “I didn’t see a win, I felt it would be a loss, but in the end it was almost a draw, and he blundered with King e5. I did not see the King g6 move earlier for me, but luckily I saw it there and I took my chance,” Arjun said to the reporters …

At Global Chess League, Vaishali excited to join forces with Viswanathan Anand at Ganges Grandmasters, visit London Eye | Chess News

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Vaishali R will make her debut in the Global Chess League when the second season starts next month, after she missed the first season. Picked by Ganges Grandmasters in the draft before the Global Chess League’s second season, Vaishali will be in the same team as chess legend Viswanathan Anand. Speaking about playing for Ganges Grandmasters alongside Viswanathan Anand — who was India’s first grandmaster and has played a part in the development of most of India’s top prodigies including Vaishali — she said, “This will be a very special event for me to play alongside Vishy sir in the same team. It is a wonderful opportunity for me. My brother Pragg is on Magnus Carlen’s team, which is great as well. Of course, we won’t compete against each other, but our teams are different.” Vaishali’s brother Praggnanandhaa will turn out for the Alpine SG Pipers, the same team he represented last season. “It is a very interesting and unique format, which we never had in chess events before. To have many strong players in …