Viswanathan Anand Back In Action At World Rapid And Blitz Team Championship
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will be in the mix as part of the Freedom team helmed by none other than FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsly in the World Rapid and Blitz team chess championship that gets underway in London. Anand is the only Indian in the fray in his team. Hot favourite WR Chess team will be spearheaded by Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia on the top board in the absence of world's top player Magnus Carlsen who had refused to participate in FIDE tournament.
The likes of Arjun Erigaisi on the top board will be assisted by P Harikrishna on the second board.
World junior champion V Pranav is a welcome addition to the team alongside Luke Leon Mendonca who is probably the next big player making a mark in Indian chess after the quartet of world champion D Gukesh, Arjun, R Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh Chithambaram.
The event will also see Nihal Sarin in action representing the fifth seed Ashdod elite chess club. Nihal and Anand will play as the top seed on top board like Arjun Erigaise but the event will miss the presence of Carlsen and Gukesh who have both skipped the event.
The WR chess team is the favourite for the crown with Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja Alireza, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexandra Kostenuik, and Wesley So in the side.
As a rule, every round has to have a female player as well as a player rated less than 2200 on FIDE rating list that was last published on June 1. The traction caused by these dynamics makes the event more interesting than any other team tournament.
There is a decent prize money for the rapid and blitz event as the winner of each competition gets USD 110000 and USD 75000 respectively. The event had gained huge success in the previous edition thanks to participation of especially Carlsen.
The prospects of the lone Indian team depends solely on how Arjun performs.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Australia denied entry to Lord's ahead of WTC final amid India's training: Reports
The Australian men's cricket team were denied entry to the training facility at Lord's on Saturday for training purposes ahead of their World Test Championship final against South Africa on Saturday, according to media reports. Reports say that the reason Australia was denied entry was because they were told that the training ground at Lord's wasn't available. While the exact reason why Pat Cummins and his team were not allowed remains unknown, Code Sports reports that members of the Indian team, who are in England for a five-match Test series, were training at the same location. A report by an Australian media house said that the Indian team was permitted to train at Lord's 'at the expense of the Australian team' as Cummins' men were 'booted out' of the venue. The report also emphasised the fact that the Indian team will play its first Test against Australia not before June 20, while the WTC final is scheduled to start on Wednesday. However, after facing rejection initially, the Australians got access on Sunday and managed to get some practice ahead of their final. 'I think this is the best version of the stadium this morning. There's no one around, which is great. I'm sure it will be much more civil this time around,' said Cummins, referring to how the Australians have faced hostility at Lords from the English crowd. 'Things got pretty heated in the middle of that Ashes series, but I think a lot of them will have learned their lesson, and I'm sure they'll be very polite,' he added.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Prithvi Shaw Is Back! Star Batter Smacks 75 From 34 Balls In T20 Mumbai
Last Updated: Shaw opened the innings for North Mumbai Panthers on Sunday and, with the help of 12 fours and three sixes, scored 75 runs from 34 balls. Prithvi Shaw is back with a bang! The 25-year-old right-handed batter from Mumbai, who went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auctions last year, hammered 75 runs from just 34 balls for North Mumbai Panthers in the T20 Mumbai match played against Triumphs Knights MNE on Sunday, June 8. Shaw opened the innings for North Mumbai Panthers at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai and smacked 12 fours and three sixes during his stay at the crease. He added 62 runs for the second wicket with Arjun Jaiswal (9 from 12 balls) and 30 runs for the third wicket with Harshal Jadhav (46 runs from 30 balls) before being sent back to the pavilion by Suryansh Shedge on the fifth ball of the 10th over. Shaw's attacking show with the bat helped his team post a total of 207 runs on the board for the loss of six wickets, which in the end proved to be enough to win the match. Shaw, who has played five Tests, six ODIs and one T20I for India since making his international debut against the West Indies in October 2018, overall has 137 runs to his name in five matches played so far in T20 Mumbai 2025. Shaw kicked off the season by scoring 5 runs from four balls in the match which his team lost by 40 runs against NaMo Bandra Blasters at Wankhede Stadium on June 4, and in the next fixture against SoBo Mumbai Falcons, Shaw made 5 runs from 11 balls, and his side once again suffered a defeat, this time by nine wickets. In North Mumbai Panthers' third match of the season, Shaw made 33 runs from 23 balls with the help of four fours and one six and helped his side secure a five-wicket win over ARCS Andheri at Wankhede Stadium on June 6. In the rain-hit match played between North Mumbai Panthers and Shams Mulani-led Aakash Tigers MWS on June 7, Shaw scored 19 runs from 12 balls but failed to help his side avoid defeat by 22 runs. Shaw's team finished fourth in the league stage and will now face SoBo Mumbai Falcons in the second semifinal match of T20 Mumbai on June 10 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Star Indian batter Shreyas Iyer is part of the SoBo Mumbai Falcons team. First Published:
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Tanush Kotian flexes batting muscles as India A draw England Lions in final tour match
Tanush Kotian's unbeaten 90-run knock and Anshul Kamboj's resilient half-century (51*) helped India A flex their batting muscles on the final day of the 2nd unofficial Test match in Northampton on Monday, June 9. The second warm-up match of the England tour ended in a draw after India batted for the majority of the day and handed England Lions a target of 439 A bowled a total of 11 overs in the final innings of the match and picked up 3 wickets for 32 runs. This marks the end of India A's matches with England Lions, where they secured draws in both unofficial Test Monday, Tanush Kotian feasted on the conditions, striking 10 fours to reach 90 not out off 108 balls. In a wicketless post-lunch session, the Mumbai all-rounder put on a 149-run unbeaten stand for the eighth wicket to frustrate England Lions' bowlers. Kamboj also made the most of his time out in the middle against a tiring bowling attack with a solid knock, as England Lions were forced to turn to their part-time bowlers to push for in the innings, Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul had put in a terrific shift on Day 3 of the game, frustrating the Lions' new-ball attack. Easwaran scored 80 runs while Rahul was dismissed right after scoring his match saw KL Rahul emerging as the clear winner among the rest of the Indian stars. The senior batter warmed up for the England series with two terrific knocks in either innings. India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran also showed signs of returning to his top form. Easwaran is in the running for the No. 3 spot, alongside Karun Nair and Sai terms of the fast bowlers, Khaleel Ahmed's burst in the first innings of the match saw him pick up 4 wickets. Apart from Khaleel, Kamboj had a terrific outing and bowled some superb deliveries to the England picked up four wickets across innings in this game and perhaps should have gotten a few scores:India A 348 & 417/7 decl in 92 overs (KL Rahul 51, Abhimanyu Easwaran 80, Nitish Kumar Reddy 42, Tanush Kotian 90 not out, Anshul Kamboj 51 not out; George Hill 3/64) drew with England Lions 327 & 32/3 in 11 overs (Anshul Kamboj 2/6).Tune InMust Watch
