Real Madrid&rsquo;s reincarnation of Galacticos face their ultimate test of the season so far - FC Barcelona.

Battle for supremacy

Business Standard

The Super K rematch in Valencia had the oddest result. Kasparov won the rapid+blitz match 9-3, which is exactly the margin predicted by their ratings. An exact &ldquo;fit&rdquo; of result-to-prediction is as rare as a coin coming up heads exactly 50 times in 100 tosses. In this instance, it seems even more unlikely, since GK&rsquo;s last rating dates back to Q1, 2005 and both ratings are from long time-controls.

CHESS #607

Rio de Janeiro won the vote to stage the 2016 Olympics and become the first city in South America to host the event.

Rio wins bid to stage 2016 Olympics

IPL's poor cousin, the Champions League T20 gets underway on October 8. We give you the lowdown.

Twelve elevens

It's not all about talent always. Sometimes being cool helps.

All that glitters is bronze

Among world champions, Capablanca, Smyslov and Karpov had similar styles and thought processes. They were intuitive players, with nearly flawless judgment in simple positions. Except in completely irrational situations, they found the best moves quickly, without much calculation. All had very high-order technical skills.

CHESS #608

Cricket is no longer followed with the same passion.

We aren&#39;t the champions

Three footballing giants might not be on the plane to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

Left on the bench?

It is always difficult to compare players across eras but that doesn't stop fan-speculation.

CHESS #609

It&rsquo;s official. Fide has announced a 12-game world title match between Veselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand to be played at Sofia, Bulgaria in April 2010. The Bulgarian PM, Boyko Borissov has guaranteed a prize fund of Euro 2 million. The Sofia bid was preferred over lower bids by Singapore and Turkey for undisclosed sums.

CHESS #610

Where have all the Indian cricket fans gone? There's love all right, but not for the game.

Peering into the void

Jean Todt of Ferrari takes charge as the head of world motorsport at a very crucial juncture.

Ushering in a new era?

ALL IS is not sweetness and light in Indian chess. Sometime ago, GN Gopal, Kerala&rsquo;s first GM, faced an AICF ban for refusal to participate in the National A. That ban was rescinded after &ldquo;trade union&rdquo; action from the Indian Association of Chessplayers, which felt the punishment was much too harsh, if at all justified.

Chess #611

At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, host country China picked up 100 medals (51 golds), the maximum number of medals were won by USA, and even a small country like Belarus managed 19 medals to India&rsquo;s one gold, and two bronze &mdash; its highest tally ever. That little win, far from satiating its appetite, has left sportspeople in the country hungry for more. And if a small group of people has their way, then the quest for medals at the Olympics, as early as 2012, could translate into gains that would have been impossible to imagine even a few years ago.

Going for gold

The NH Experience Vs Rising Stars match in Amsterdam saw the Experience team log a 27.5-22.5 victory. Nielsen, Svidler and Ljubojevic had plus scores for the oldsters. The 58 year-old Ljubo's performance was the real surprise.

CHESS #604

Indian coach Bob Houghton on the challenge of putting India on the football map.

The taskmaster

Marat Safin has left the tennis arena, leaving behind a career that promised lots but delivered little.

Grand slams or free spirit?

After storming into the semi-finals of the World Boxing Championship in Italy on September 10, World Number Two boxer and Olympic bronze medalist Vijender Singh became one of India's highest paid non-cricket sportsmen after he signed a multi-crore image management contract with Percept Talent Management.

Vijender Singh signs heavyweight image deal with Percept Talent

The Kolkata Open at the Alekhine Chess Club attracted global publicity for rather dubious reasons. In Round Three, French Champion GM Vladislav Tkachiev (a former Kazakh citizen of Russian origin and a noted bon vivant) arrived inebriated for his game against Pravin Kumar and sank into a stupor after 11 moves.

CHESS #605

It&rsquo;s a discovery that has the world of cricket clean bowled: The game may not be as English as afternoon tea after all. Research into the linguistic origins of the sport has in fact revealed that it may have been born in Flanders, the northern part of modern-day Belgium.

Cricket may have roots in Belgium

What makes Pankaj Advani one of Indian sport's special talents.

Right on the cue

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.

Page 818 - Other Sports News