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Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa will hope for an encore as he takes on a strong field, minus the top-three ranked players in the world, in the FIDE World Cup that gets underway here on Saturday. With Norway's Magnus Carlsen, and the American duo of Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana not competing, world champion D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi are the other two big names who will try and make a mark in the prestigious tournament, which has a USD two million prize fund. More importantly, the tournament has three coveted qualification spots for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament - the gateway to the World Championship match later next year. As many as 206 top chess exponents from 80 countries will be in Goa for the next four weeks playing the eight-round, single-elimination knockout event, where each match consists of two classical games played under standard time controls. If the score is tied after the classical games, the players will return on the third day for a series of rapid and .
International chess federation president Arkady Dvorkovich on Monday called India a "modern powerhouse" in the sport and said the upcoming FIDE World Cup was being organised in Goa because the country had become the "central pillar in the global structure of our sport". As many as 206 top chess exponents from 80 countries will be in Goa for the prestigious tournament, scheduled to be held from October 30 to November 27. The players will battle through a knockout format for a share of the USD 2 million prize fund and, more importantly, the three coveted qualification spots for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament the gateway to the next World Championship match. "India is not just the ancient home of chess; it is a global modern powerhouse. This World Cup (in Goa) is being held here because India is now a central pillar in the global structure of our sport. "For the next four weeks, Goa will not just be a coastal paradise; it will be the Colosseum of Chess. This is where legends are
World champion D Gukesh will be one of the 'Icon' players, along with the likes of five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, and R Praggnanandhaa in the Global Chess League Season 3 player draft, scheduled to be held here on Friday. However world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway will skip the tournament, to be held in Chennai from December 13 to 24, after being part of the previous two editions in the UAE and London, respectively. The GCL, a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE involving six franchises, will also see the likes of American GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the draft pool of 36 players. Anish Giri, Arjun Erigaisi, four-time world champion Hou Yifan, and World Cup runner-up Koneru Humpy will add more star value to the event. Franchises will build their rosters over four draft rounds, and the pool will be segmented into "Icon Players", "Men's", "Women's", and "U-21 Prodigy" categories. The U-21 'Prodigy' ...
World champion D Gukesh has his task cut out when he takes on Alireza Firouzja of France while compatriot R Praggnanandhaa will meet Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland in the sixth round of the Sinquefield Cup here. A rest day in high-level tournaments usually results in combative chess and past the half way stage both Pragg and Gukesh will not settle for anything less when the action resumes. Local hero Fabiano Caruana leads the field on 3.5 points with two victories and three draws thus far and has been the pick among the 10 participants post the half way stage. Praggnanandhaa is just a half a point behind on 3 with a lone victory over Gukesh in the first round followed by four back-to-back draws. Also sharing the second spot is the in-form Armenian-turned-American Levon Aronian while a pack of five players American duo of Wesley So and Samuel Sevian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Firouzja and Gukesh are all within striking distance with 2.5 points each. Another half point adrift
World champion D Gukesh was held to a draw by the lone wild card Samuel Sevian of United States, while fellow Indian R Praggnanandhaa also split the point with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup here. With his second draw in as many days, Praggnanadhaa remained in the leading group of three players that now include Fabiano Caruana of United States besides the overnight co-leader Armenian-turned-American Levon Aronian. Caruana handed Alireza Firouzja of France his first loss in the tournament in the lone decisive game of the day. Aronian was held to a draw by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, while another American Wesley So split the point with Duda Jan-Kryzsztof of Poland. With six rounds still to come in the 3,75,000 USD prize money tournament, Praggnanadhaa, Aronian and Caruana share the lead on two points each and they are now followed by Wesley, Firouzja, Vachier-Lagrave, Sevian and Gukesh -- who all stand a half point behind. Duda is
World champion D Gukesh put his opening-round blues behind him and scored an excellent victory over former world rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the second round of the Sinquefield Cup here. On a day when R Praggnanandhaa played a quiet game to draw with Fabiano Caruana of the United States, Alireza Firouzja of France gave a perfect endgame lesson as he crashed through the defense of Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland in the other decisive game of the day. Levon Aronian of the United States played out a draw with compatriot Samuel Sevian to remain in joint lead while another American Wesley So drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the 10-player USD 3,75,000 prize-money tournament. With seven rounds still to come, Praggnanandhaa, Aronian and Firouzja share the lead on 1.5 points. Gukesh moved to joint fourth place alongside Caruana, Wesley So, Sevian and Vachier-Lagrave. Duda stands on ninth spot on half a point while Abdusattorov is yet to open his account .
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has revealed that achieving the goal of winning the FIDE Women's World Cup title was "quite stressful" but she was determined to go all the way after the tough matches in the lead-up to the title clash against Koneru Humpy in Batumi, Georgia recently. Divya, 19, overcame Humpy in the tie-breaker after two nerve-wracking classical games ended in draws to become the first Indian woman to win the prestigious title and become a Grandmaster. "It was quite stressful. Quite difficult at least because also it's such a long event. You have to keep up your stamina. You have to be resistant and you have to show up on the board every single day to give your best. Thankfully, I was never in a situation where I had to be in a must-win (situation). So, I don't know how I would have coped with that," said Divya in an interaction posted by FIDE on social media. The Nagpur player added that though she was nervous going into the final, she wanted to give it her best shot aft
Newly-crowned FIDE Women's Chess World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh on Thursday said she is an aggressive player for whom pressure does not matter much. The 19-year-old became the youngest to win the Women's World Cup, held in Batumi in Georgia, on July 28 after she outwitted Koneru Humpy in the tie-breaker of an all-Indian final. The victory not just earned her the prestigious title, but also made her a Grandmaster. Interacting with the press here, the chess sensation said it is easier for her to go into tactics and aggressive positions. "Pressure does not matter much to me. What matters is my own expectations and goals," Deshmukh asserted. Asked about frequent comparisons with the legendary former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hailed for his aggressiveness and mental toughness, Deshmukh said, "I think aggressiveness was always in my play. It is easier for me to go into tactics and aggresive positions. I think it is my style." Asked about similarities with D Gukesh,
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has said she was not under any kind of pressure while playing the FIDE Women's World Cup final against compatriot Koneru Humpy as she had "nothing to lose". Divya arrived here on Wednesday from Batumi, Georgia to a reception befitting a world champion, with the young achiever overwhelmed by the affection shown by the the people at the airport. The 19-year-old overcame the 38-year-old Humpy, a two-time World Rapid champion, in the time-controlled tie-break after the two classical rounds ended in draws. This was Divya's biggest success in her career and came after Humpy blundered in the second tie-breaker under time pressure. "I never thought I was in any danger. I guess that the last blunder which she (Humpy) made, handed me the win," Divya told PTI Videos, when asked if she was under pressure in the final. "Since I had no results in my hand, so I was just trying to focus on my performance and wasn't thinking about anything else," said Divya, who entered t
The Maharashtra cabinet has passed a resolution congratulating Divya Deshmukh on being the youngest chess player to win the Women's Chess World Cup. The resolution was moved on Tuesday in the cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and comprising Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar and other ministers. Divya Deshmukh, the 19-year-old player from Nagpur, became the youngest to win the Women's World Cup on Monday as she outwitted the seasoned Koneru Humpy in the tie-breaker of an all-Indian final in Batumi, Georgia. CM Fadnavis on Monday announced the Maharashtra government will felicitate the newly crowned Grandmaster on her stellar achievement. "It is a moment of great joy that Nagpur and Maharashtra girl Divya Deshmukh has won the Women's World Cup and earned the Grandmaster title as well. She is the youngest chess player to win the prestigious international title," he said. In a statement on Monday, Fadnavis said Divya Deshmukh has inscribed the state's name in .
Divya Deshmukh came to the star-studded FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 here as an underdog, hoping to at least win one Grandmaster norm in her journey to become a GM in the future. Little did the 19-year-old from Nagpur know that she would beat some of the best and biggest names in the sport to achieve three major milestones in a span of around three weeks -- secure a spot in the Candidates tournament next year, win the prestigious title and in the process, automatically become a Grandmaster. While becoming a GM is one of the toughest things in chess as a player needs to earn three GM norms in FIDE-approved tournaments events and cross the 2500 rating, things fell in place for the talented Nagpur player. FIDE has a rule that the winners of certain elite competitions can avoid the usual norm-and-rating route and become GMs directly. The Women's World Cup is one of those FIDE events where the winner straightaway becomes a GM if not already. "I need time to process it (victory). It think