The Tata ended in triumph for Hikaru Nakamura. The 23-year-old American GM won his first super-tournament with 9 points (+6,-1,=6) and a tournament performance rating (TPR) of 2879. This adds 23 points to his January 2011 rating of 2751. &ldquo;Naka&rdquo; scored 5.5 off the bottom six players with calculated risk-taking.

Chess #668

Business Standard

The Gibraltar and Moscow opens were strong, well-organised and wonderfully presented . But they were overshadowed by a non-event - a cancellation.

CHESS (#669)

It&rsquo;s a sport that many of us have played casually, to round off a picnic with a friendly test of strength, perhaps, or in school, jousting on the field with classmates.

A long rope

On the morning of 27 December 2009, former India captain and now commentator Sunil Gavaskar walked in to do his pitch report at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi. These were his words, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a hair transplant pitch with bald patches.&rdquo; What happened in the next two hours was something nobody had imagined. The match between India and Sri Lanka was called off after 23.3 overs as the pitch was deemed unplayable. Heads rolled at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and Kotla was banned from holding international matches for a year.

Pitch report

The Aeroflot ended with a repeat victory for defending champion Le Quang Liem. The Vietnamese GM retained by a hairsbreadth to qualify again for the Dortmund super-tournament where he finished second in 2010. Ivan Cheparinov, who shared the lead after beating Le in the penultimate round, lost in the last round.

Chess #670

The angels don't know my address, is what Teja Singh used to say, when asked the secret of his longevity. The tall, thin, ramrod-straight former armyman died late last year at the age of 102. The memory of his unfailing good humour, warmth and curiosity burns strong in his family members &mdash; his 38-year-old granddaughter breaks into laughter again and again as she describes her grandfather.

Full of life

Computer scientists have made many seminal breakthroughs while solving games. When it's a game of complete information, brute force can be applied. Draughts is solved. Chess and backgammon programs outplay the best humans. Go is the last frontier. The Asian territorial game's 19x19 matrix leads to too many legal positions for brute force. Thus far, grey cells beat silicon.

CHESS (#668)

Seeking "tens of millions" paid to Lance Armstrong for "years of broken promises", the US government joined a lawsuit, alleging the doping cyclist defrauded former sponsor US Postal Service.

US joins Armstrong suit seeking 'tens of millions'

Anand's victory at the Baden Baden Grenke Classic broke one of the longest and oddest droughts in chess history. Anand has been world champion since 2007 and defended the title thrice in matches. He's been world no:1 on the rating lists for long periods.But he hadn't won a classical tournament since Morelia Linares, 2008. After a poor 2012, and indeed, a poor 2011, Anand's rating and ranking had plummeted. In 2013, he's started well. Third at the Tata Steel was reasonable and would have been better except for a last round loss to Wang Hao.At Baden Baden, things didn't start well for Anand. Caruana led through most of the tournament, riding his luck in winning two lost positions from Naiditsch. Anand meanwhile, struggled to convert good positions.In the ninth and penultimate round, things turned. First, Anand won a good game against Fridman and then, Caruana lost to Adams. In the last round, Anand won a sharp technical endgame against Naiditsch. But C

Chess (#1033)

In 2009, a Kashmiri youth was detained by Bangalore Police in connection with terror attacks in the city. The young man was held along with few others but was later released and all charges against him were dismissed. Parvez Rasool finds himself in the spotlight yet again, but for the right reasons. There have been reports that Rasool could soon be called to play for the Indian cricket team. The government is keen to defuse the tense situation in the Kashmir valley caused by Afzal Guruâ€™s hanging, and is nudging to include Rasool in the team. Senior BCCI office bearer Rajeev Shukla was quoted as saying: â€œWe have always wanted Jammu & Kashmir cricket to be promoted. The official policy of the government has always been to promote sports in the region.â€Rasoolâ€™s rise has been meteoric in the domestic cricket circuit. Born in Bijbehara, a village in the Anatnag district, Rasool took up playing cricket in school and was soon playing at the district level. Rasoolâ€™s fathe

The boy from the Valley

The BCCI today made it clear that the second cricket Test between India and Australia will go ahead as per schedule in Hyderabad since the state government has assured the safety and security of the players.

Second Test will not be shifted from Hyderabad: BCCI

Press Trust of India

Oscar Pistorius's slain girlfriend is to be cremated today as the South African "Bladerunner" athlete appears in court for a bail hearing expected to reveal more about what happened the night she was shot dead.

Pistorius to fight for bail as slain girlfriend gets cremated

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has appointed Yannick Colaco, former Chief Operating Officer of Nimbus Sport, as Managing Director, NBA India

Nimbus' Colaco joins NBA India as managing director

Oscar Pistorius has formally called off the races that were due in coming months in the face of charges of murdering his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, his manager said

Pistorius cancels all future races to face murder charge

BJP today termed the dropping of Wrestling as a sporting events in the 2020 Olympics as an "international conspiracy" and urged the Indian government to intervene in the interest of "national pride".

Wrestling: BJP asks govt to intervene for 'national pride'

The murder charge brought against Oscar Pistorius, whose fairytale story attracted multi-million dollar investment from various worldwide brands, has plunged his army of sponsors into turmoil.

Pistorius sponsors in turmoil after murder charge

The Aeroflot festival format has been changed. It starts with a Swiss Rapid qualifier (15 minutes+10 sec increment), which puts 32-players into second stage.

Chess (#1032)

The young men who opened fire at Columbine High School, at the movie theatre in Colorado, and in other massacres had this in common: they were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerised violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage â€” or at least fuelled their urges. But did it really?Social scientists have been studying and debating the effects of media violence on behaviour since the 1950s, and video games in particular since the 1980s. The issue is especially relevant today, because the games are more realistic and bloodier than ever, and because most boys play them at some point. Girls play at lower rates and are significantly less likely to play violent games. A burst of new research has begun to clarify what can and cannot be said about the effects of violent gaming. Playing the games can and does stir hostile urges and mildly aggressive behaviour in the short term.Yet it is not at a

Digital warriors

Agencies

What led to IOCâ€™s proposal to exclude wrestling from Olympics 2020 and does this mean the end of the road for the sport?

Wrestle mania

When the curtain goes up on the Jaipur Heritage International Festival on January 7, chances that people will look for the Rs 2 crore spent on the event are unlikely. 


A festival for sustainable development

Bengal host 'Festa Italiana 2005' between November 20 to 30, 2005.


AC Milan juniors to play on November 23

Other Sports: Get the latest news headlines of other sports category such as Badminton, Chess, Volleyball, basketball and other Olympic Games with live coverage on Business Standard.

Other Sports News: Latest News from Olympics Games, Volleyball, Badminton | Business Standard

Get the latest news headlines of other sports category such as Badminton, Chess, Volleyball, basketball and other Olympic Games with live coverage on Business Standard.

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