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India Today
a day ago
- Sport
- India Today
Praggnanandhaa becomes India's top-ranked player with UzChess Cup Masters win
R Praggnanandhaa reached a historic milestone on Friday, June 27 when he became the No.1 ranked Indian chess player in the live rankings. The 19-year-old achieved the feat by beating Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov with Black pieces in the final round of the UzChess Cup the win, Praggnanandhaa's live rating has jumped to 2778.3. This has made the Indian grandmaster No.4 on the rankings, the highest he has achieved in his career so far. The 19-year-old jumped three places to be in the No.4 spot at the moment ahead of his compatriot and World Champion D Gukesh, who has 2776.6 rating Praggnanandhaa is the India no.1 player in live ratings! Pragg defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the Black pieces in the final round of UzChess Cup Masters this win, Pragg becomes the World no.4 and India no.1 for the first time, 2778.3 in live ratings! ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) June 27, 2025advertisementArjun Erigaisi, who had been India's highest-ranked player until Thursday, has slipped from third to sixth in the live rankings. Magnus Carlsen continues to lead the way in the rankings with 2839.2 rating points, followed by Hikaru Nakamura (2807.0) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2). Courtesy: At the start of the day, Praggnanandhaa was a point behind leader Abdusattorov, and half a point behind Sindarov, who was in the second spot. Eventually, Sindarov drew to finish with 5.5 points in nine rounds. Praggnanandhaa secured the win to make it a three-way the first round of tie-breaks, which was a double round-robin blitz tournament, all the players ended with two points out of four. In the second round, Praggnanandhaa defeated Sindarov, while Sindarov beat Abdusattorov, and there was a draw between Praggnanandhaa and fantastic 2025 continuesThe new ranking for Praggnanandhaa is just another chapter in what has been a fantastic 2025. The Indian grandmaster defeated Gukesh earlier in the year in stunning fashion to claim the Tata Steel Masters 2025. He became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title since 2006.- EndsMust Watch
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
D Gukesh ‘really unhappy' due to Norway Chess 2025 campaign: ‘One thing about Magnus Carlsen is that…'
Despite failing to win the title at Norway Chess, D Gukesh was able to showcase his reigning world champion credentials with a shock win against Magnus Carlsen. The India No. 3 finished third in Norway, wih a total of 14.5 points, and was behind table-topper Magnus Carlsen (16) and American GM Fabiano Caruana (15.5). Norway Chess 2025: D Gukesh during his Round 6 game vs Magnus Carlsen.(JP Nadda-X) Other than beating Carlsen, Gukesh also secured wins against Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi. Reflecting on his Norway Chess campaign, Gukesh pointed out that there were 'some things' he was 'really unhappy about'. Speaking to ChessBase India, he said, 'Can't say happy, but there are some things to be happy about, some things to be really unhappy about.' 'One thing is starting so badly and finishing so well. In the final round, I had fair chances to win. Starting with two losses in a tournament like this, it's not great. Another thing to be happy about is, in general, when I am in good form, like everything just goes very smoothly, like in Candidates, Olympiad, when I am in my best form, things just happen naturally. 'But sometimes, in tournaments when I am not feeling at my best, it goes shakily. In this tournament, clearly I was not nowhere close to my best. You don't really control your form. It just comes and goes,' he added. After his World Championship victory, Gukesh was in good form in Wijk aan Zee, where he came second at the Tata Masters. But then form crumbled as he had a poor run in the Weissenhaus and Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slams, and also came ninth in a Classical tournament in Bucharesh, out of ten competitors. Gukesh's Norway Chess campaign also began with a defeat to Carlsen, and then he lost to Arjun in the next round. But then he bounced back to winning ways in the third round, beating Nakamura and then also sealing an Armageddon win against Caruana. His best moment in the sixth round as he took advantage of a massive end-game blunder by Carlsen, to beat the World No. 1. It was also his maiden classical win vs Carlsen. The defeat also saw the Norwegian slam his table in anger. 'One thing about Magnus is that even when he is in bad form, he finishes second or third maximum. So one thing that I can be happy about is, even though I was playing pretty badly, to be honest, I still had chances to win. I guess the thing to be unhappy about is simply that in some games, I was just misevaluating,' said Gukesh. 'For example, in many games, pretty much all the games, there were one or two big moments. But okay. That's a chess weakness. It's nice that we could notice it, because I can just work on that. Some things to be happy about, some things to be not happy about. Overall, I think it was a nice experience,' he added.
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First Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
D Gukesh reflects on Norway Chess campaign: 'Can't say happy, but there are some things...'
Despite starting his campaign with back-to-back defeats, reigning world champion D Gukesh bounced back in style at the 2025 Norway Chess, where he pulled off a stunning victory over Magnus Carlsen in Round 6 and was among the title contenders until the final round. read more After a series of underwhelming performances following his runner-up finish at the Tata Steel Chess, reigning world champion D Gukesh returned to form at the Norway Chess, where he was among the contenders for the trophy until the final round. Though he did not win the tournament, with world No 1 Magnus Carlsen successfully defending his title and being crowned champion for the seventh time, Gukesh highlighted the fact that he did not become world champion by accident, and that he deserved to be counted among the sport's elite. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Gukesh finished third in the tournament with a total of 14.5 points, behind Carlsen (16) and Fabiano Caruana (15.5). And the key takeaway from the tournament was his victories over Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi - the world's top three players as per the latest FIDE ratings. When asked to describe his Norway Chess 2025 campaign, the Chennai lad, who turned 19 during the tournament, described it as something of a mixed bag. 'Can't say happy, but there are some things to be happy about, some things to be really unhappy about,' Gukesh said in an interview with ChessBase India. 'One thing is starting so badly and finishing so well. In the final round, I had fair chances to win. Starting with two losses in a tournament like this, it's not great. Another thing to be happy about is, in general, when I am in good form, like everything just goes very smoothly, like in Candidates, Olympiad, when I am in my best form, things just happen naturally. 'But sometimes, in tournaments when I am not feeling at my best, it goes shakily. In this tournament, clearly I was not nowhere close to my best. You don't really control your form. It just comes and goes,' he added. The teenager had arrived in Stavanger, where the tournament took place, after an underwhelming run in the Weissenhaus and Paris legs of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour as well as in Superbet Chess Classic Romania, a Classical event in Bucharest where he finished ninth out of 10 competitors. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Things got worse for him after he began his campaign in Norway with back-to-back losses, against Carlsen and Arjun. Gukesh, however, bounced back with a victory over Hikaru in the third round followed by an Armageddon win against Caruana. The highlight of his campaign, as well as of the tournament, itself, was his sixth-round victory over Carlsen , in which he forced the iconic player to resign in 62 despite facing a second consecutive defeat at one stage. It was the first time Gukesh defeated Carlsen in his career, and he became only the second Indian after R Praggnanandhaa to achieve the feat. OH MY GOD 😳🤯😲 — Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) June 1, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Despite being shaken by the defeat, which Carlsen later revealed made him feel 'washed and useless' , the Norwegian went on to win the tournament despite being held to a draw by Arjun in the final round and losing the subsequent Armageddon game. Magnus finishes second or third even on his bad days Gukesh, for one, felt that Carlsen tends to finish among the top three even on his bad days. 'One thing about Magnus is that even when he is in bad form, he finishes second or third maximum. So one thing that I can be happy about is, even though I was playing pretty badly, to be honest, I still had chances to win. I guess the thing to be unhappy about is simply that in some games, I was just misevaluating. 'For example, in many games, pretty much all the games, there were one or two big moments. But okay. That's a chess weakness. It's nice that we could notice it, because I can just work on that. Some things to be happy about, some things to be not happy about. Overall, I think it was a nice experience,' he added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Gukesh has opted for a break after the Norway Chess campaign, with his name not appearing in the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, where he is an automatic entry for all events being the world champion.
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First Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
D Gukesh recalls beating Magnus Carlsen, appreciates Norwegian's gesture after loss: 'My heart rate was so high'
Asked to reflect on his victory over Magnus Carlsen in a time scramble, D Gukesh candidly admitted that the result had such a big impact on him that, for a while, he didn't understand what was happening around him. read more The video of Magnus Carlsen slamming the table after losing to D Gukesh had become a worldwide rage. World chess champion D Gukesh's famous win over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and the five-time world champion's famous table smash after his first-ever Classical-format loss to the Indian at Norway Chess 2025 felt like a seminal moment in chess. It seemed like a proper passing of the baton from Carlsen's generation, with the Norwegian widely regarded as the greatest chess player of all time, to the NextGen, led by the youngest world champion ever, Gukesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The fact that Carlsen himself had never rated Gukesh very highly and picked multiple faults in his game across Classical and Freestyle formats made the Indian chess star's victory even more profound and Carlsen hitting the table after losing in a time scramble made the incident worldwide popular. What's quite amazing is that Gukesh was on the losing end throughout the match, but things changed completely once it entered the time control. The 19-year-old Indian Grandmaster is known for his dogged defence and he applied the same fighting spirit on the board on the fateful day as Carlsen committed a rare blunder to lose to Gukesh for the first time in a classical match. Gukesh: 'My heart rate was so high after beating Carlsen' Reflecting on his biggest win so far, Gukesh said that he was so engrossed in the match and the feeling of winning against Carlsen was so strong that he didn't even realise that the 34-year-old banged the table after losing. 'I was just trying to calculate the course, and after I realised it's just winning. But it was such a quick shift from losing to draw to completely winning,' Gukesh told Chess Base India in an interview. 'My mind was just trying to process what happened in the game. OH MY GOD 😳🤯😲 — Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) June 1, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I did not pay much attention to him banging the table. My heart rate was so high in those final moments. I don't even know what I felt exactly. I was just happy to win the game.' Carlsen, however, was quick to realise his mistake as he congratulated Gukesh, apologised for banging the table and patted the Indian on the back. Gukesh said it was a great gesture by Carlsen to appreciate his opponent despite suffering a bitter loss. 'I was just happy that I won the game. I didn't realize much what else was happening. But even after losing such a game, to appreciate your opponent, it's quite nice,' Gukesh added.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Why chess needs every influencer and the casual fans they bring to the sport
In the world of chess, a spicy feud is never more than a news cycle away. The year which started with Magnus Carlsen taking on FIDE over wearing jeans at a tournament has just seen its most needless controversy of the year. The latest to and fro involves FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky, who took exception to comments that popular streamer Levy Rozman, known as Gotham Chess to his 6.45 million YouTube subscribers, made in an interview with the influential New In Chess magazine. The magazine played up a quote on X with a photo of Rozman which read: 'People know three chess players: Magnus (Carlsen), Hikaru (Nakamura) and me. That's bad. That's not my fault. And I hope it changes.' Even as Rozman tried to say the quote posted on X lacked context in which it was made during the interview, it got Sutovsky disagreeing with the comment in one tweet where, among other things, he wrote: 'I also feel that in general streamers/YouTubers' impact on the game is much less significant than it used to be a few years ago.' Sutovsky doubled down on this in his next post on X: 'I think there is another aspect to it, often neglected. Say, youtuber G vs youtuber S. G has three times more subscribers, but how many of them become real chess fans? Play regularly? Start following events, take chess lessons, become a part of chess ecosystem? S may have much less subscribers, but they become hardcore chess fans, and not just consumers of the channel's content. Who's contribution to the chess world is more important? I go with S.' Rozman, affronted by what he termed was Sutovsky 'questioning his contributions to the chess world and his overall standing as a content creator', responded in the only way he knew how to, by creating more content: this time posting a 52-minute-long video on his YouTube handle (watched by 757k viewers), which started off as an impassioned defence of himself and ended with an interview with ChessBase India's Sagar Shah, who was being compared to Rozman by Sutovsky. Rozman went on to point out how vague some of the things Sutovsky had raised were. Like what is the definition of a 'hardcore fan'? Or a 'real fan', for that matter? How does one measure contributions from two influencers to a sport? Or, more importantly, why is the FIDE CEO even looking to compare contributions from two social media influencers? Shouldn't the global governing body of a sport be happy at any attention it receives? Sutovky himself, in an interview with ChessBase India a couple of months back, had spoken at length about how chess is a 'complex sport to follow for the wider public'. He added that at the moment chess is a product that is best suited to be consumed by 'hardcore chess audiences'. But in Rozman, the sport has someone who simplifies a complex sport for that very subsection of the wider public. An affronted Rozman pointed out that the FIDE CEO's post on X was implying that the fans he brought into the sport did not matter as much because they were 'casual fans' who don't convert to 'hardcore fans'. 'He's inherently pitting chess fans against one another whereas sports only survive and thrive based on casual fandom. This is such a backwards argument. Fundamentally this is the problem of the chess world. We do not make it more accessible,' said Rozman. The sport, more than any other in the world right now, finds itself in an endless loop of controversy driving public attention towards itself. If Carlsen quits a tournament over jeans or smashes his fist on a table after a loss, it makes headlines in places around the world where it doesn't usually penetrate. Rozman also alleged that FIDE doesn't market events that it organises like the Candidates and then adding that the prize fund for the World Chess Championship — the most coveted event in the sport — has not grown in almost 40 years. (This is not entirely accurate: the total prize fund at last year's World Championship match, which Gukesh won, was $2.5 million. Whereas the overall prize fund for the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1990 between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov was even higher, $3 million!) Rozman placed the responsibility for both of these things at FIDE's doorsteps. The sport, despite its recently post-pandemic glow up and incoming new fans, is still struggling to find television broadcasters (Sutovsky himself had said that getting chess on TV was an 'insurmountable task' in a recent interview), one of the best yardsticks for judging a sport's popularity. In all fairness to FIDE, it does do a fair bit away from the spotlight when it comes to creating chess tournaments, not just at the elite levels, but also at the age group events like World Junior Championships. This includes events like the World Schools Championships, where FIDE bears the costs of one team per country. FIDE also has a program in place where a national chess federation can nominate two players to get online training under some of the top coaches in the world. The sport has other impending challenges creeping up on it as well: Carlsen, who is the face of the sport, is slowly but surely drifting away from the traditional formats of the sport. Once he leaves, does the sport have anyone who can take his place and pull in casual audiences that don't necessarily understand the sport, but will stop by to read the headlines anyway? Maybe not. The most mature take on the whole matter came from Shah, whose ChessBase India channel has 2.72 million subscribers (which, as Sutovsky pointed out, was three times less than Rozman's). 'Be it chess organizations, creators, top players, it is clear that we are all helping each other and pushing the chess ecosystem in the right direction in our own special ways,' Shah wrote on X. 'I think it is futile to think who has contributed more to the cause of popularizing chess.' Chess needs all the influencers and all the fans — no matter if they're casual fans or hardcore ones — it can get. But more than anything, it needs better and more substantial feuds. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
