Koneru Humpy vs Divya Deshmukh, FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025 Final LIVE updates: Divya gains slender advantage
Divya with the upperhand?
Early days in Game 1 of the World Cup final. But it looks like Divya has gained a slight upper-hand following a sharp opening line and Humpy's Bb7 move.
Divya castles to the Kingside as she looks to consolidate her position.
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New Indian Express
5 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Finance professional by day, self aware GM by night: The Awonder story
CHENNAI: Across Monday and Tuesday, a lot of chess players spoke to the media as part of their obligations ahead of the Chennai Grand Masters. Most of these interviews were rather serious. It's how interviews with chess players tend to go, especially with an important closed Classical tournament on the horizon. Vincent Keymer spoke about wanting to visit the swimming pool Magnus Carlsen dived into after winning the World Championship for the first time in the city in 2013. "This hotel has a lot of (chess) heritage," he quipped. This tournament, for D Harika, has a lot of meaning. "It's the first time my daughter is ever travelling with me for an event." For Arjun Erigaisi, it's to get back in shape just before the Grand Swiss and the World Cup, two tournaments with Candidates spots. US' Awonder Liang, though, comes as a breath of fresh air. "I'm just happy to be here," he says, a big, goofy grin as wide as an airport hangar on his face. Usually, he doesn't play in tournaments like these. The 22-year-old, whose main gig is in finance, says chess is a side hustle. "I think it's been over a year since I played an event of this magnitude," he says. "I play in a lot of local tournaments, maybe win a couple of $1000 or $100... when I played for my university, not even that. I make more money streaming than playing chess and I never stream. I do not make money playing chess. I just play for fun." So why is he here? His wit again shines out. "A few of my friends had noticed that Arjun (Erigaisi) had lost a few ratings points. He was back from 2800 to 2700-odd. So I thought maybe I can go and donate my four points to him (laughs)." Liang wasn't always like this. In fact, just a decade ago, he was very serious about his chess career. An age-group world champion who owned a lot of records — he still does — he used to obsess over the board game like all his peers. Then, something snapped. "Just pressure." His rating is very good — 2696 — and it kind of partly explains why he wanted a taste of elite chess. "Yeah, I was surprised as well (with the decision to come here)," he says. "I think I was beating up all the local guys. So, at some point, you know, I was still playing the local tournaments, but I had some, you know, a big rating like 2650 or something..." The other thing that makes the Chicago resident unique from the chess world is prep before games. "Probably I do something like five minutes (laughs)," he says. It's common for players to read and revise all the mainlines. Awonder? "Maybe I will read a couple of lines for a few minutes." He also claims that his opponents are fairly versed with the way he prepares or lack thereof. "I think they look at my games and they are like, '... why is he here?' Who let him play in the tournament? Let's see, I think it will be fun." As luck would have it, on Thursday, Round 1 of the Chennai Grand Masters, Awonder was paired to face Erigaisi. And the Math and Economics graduate showed why he's rated that highly, at least initially. Playing Black against the top-seed, Awonder's pieces had structural integrity out of the opening. For a long time, he was pretty much neck and neck against Erigaisi. Per the eval bar, it was stuck dead centre as both players registered very high levels of accuracy (greater than 98%). But Erigaisi, a year younger than his opponent, started making serious inroads in the middle game. When Awonder was presented with the opportunity to initiate a trade of queens in the 35th move, he opted to keep them on the board. Per the eval bar, this hurt his chances of staying in the game. With the Indian GMs pieces in harmony, a multi-pronged attack came. After 48 moves, Awonder resigned. Even as the Indian came and obliged a few autograph hunters in the fan zone, the US GM went for the comfort of his room to chew on the opening day defeat. It will sting but he will not lose sight of the larger picture. "I think it's good to be pretty happy," he had said before the start of the tournament. "I generally value my happiness. Maybe if I lose all my games here, I may start working seriously." For the time being, though, he has mapped what he would do in the next 10 days or so. "I think I will complete a few books, I generally like to keep myself busy." Results Masters: V Pranav drew with Karthikeyan Murali, Vincent Keymer bt Nihal Sarin, Anish Giri drew with Ray Robson, Vidit Gujrathi drew with Jorden van Foreest, Erigaisi bt Liang. Challengers: Diptayan Ghosh bt D Harika, M Pranesh bt Aryan Chopra, Leon Mendonca bt GB Harshavardhan, A Baskaran drew with A Puranik R Vaishali drew with P Iniyan.
India.com
6 hours ago
- India.com
ICC Punish Pakistan Captain For Breaching Code of Conduct In 1st T20I Against Ireland
Pakistan women's team captain Fatima Sana has been reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the first T20 International against Ireland played, which was played in Dublin on Wednesday. The International Cricket Council (ICC) in a media release on Thursday stated that Fatima was found to have breached Article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "showing dissent at an umpire's decision during an international match." As a result, one demerit point has been added to Fatima's disciplinary record - her first offence within a 24-month period. The incident occurred in the 13th over of Pakistan's innings, when Fatima, on being adjudged caught behind, stayed on at the crease with her hands on her hips before walking off slowly, in what was seen as a show of dissent. Fatima admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Graham McCrea of the ICC International Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Roland Black, Gareth Morrison and third umpire Aidan Seaver levelled the charge. Notably, Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player's match fee, and one or two demerit points. The ongoing tour will see Pakistan play a three-match T20I series in Dublin. The series offers valuable game time ahead of the 50-over World Cup, set to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from early October.
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Indian Express
Chennai Grand Masters: Meet GM Liang Awonder, laidback, witty and ‘not intense'
Through the course of a 20-minute conversation, listening to GM Liang Awonder, it is impossible to sit with a straight face. At the hotel lobby, his laughter, while narrating his own career, is good enough to gain everyone's attention. In the city for the third edition of the Chennai Grand Masters chess event, the American's laidback style strikes a total difference to his peers. With the World Cup round the corner, for some the tournament is to find some form, for some the target is improving the rating points. Arjun Erigaisi, who was Awonder's opponent in the opening round, wants to find his groove before the big tournaments come calling that through the last couple of days, he has hardly sported a smile. The message from most is as common as it goes, 'here to win.' But Awonder is definitely cut off a different cloth. 'I was surprised as well,' the 22-year-old says about his participation in the tournament. 'I was beating up all the local guys. I had a big rating like 2690. And at some point my friends and I saw Arjun Eragaisi's rating go to 27-odd from 2800. I saw that. I was like, how is that possible? We got to get him back to 2800. And so, I was like, let me come here. I'll donate my four points, right? I have plenty of ratings to spare, you know. So, I was like, well, we got to get him back up. So, I thought it was a perfect tournament to get his motivation and self-confidence back. So, I thought, I've never been to India before. It looks like a beautiful country. So, it just seemed like everything was coming together again,' he says with a chuckle. Before coming to Chennai, Awonder had been busy finishing his degree in mathematics and finance that chess was more or less restricted to a leisure activity. A world champion twice in his age category, off late, much of his time has been playing in low-rated events. 'I was actually doing some financial work. That was taking up a lot of time. So, I wasn't really playing or studying much chess. In my university, we had the chance to travel together for a tournament with friends. And we'd be like, 'okay, let's fly here together and just hang out with a group of friends and maybe get drunk. I would sometimes just play with friends, for just hanging out. I was pretty much out of chess for a long time. Sometimes, I basically wouldn't play any big events. Mostly just some small tournaments against local players, you know, and just have fun. It could be a couple of thousand, sometimes a couple of hundred,' he says. On Thursday, Awonder was pitted against the tournament top-seed Erigaisi. Playing with black pieces, he fought hard, stretching the Indian GM for a while before the top-seed sealed the game after 48 moves. The difference in the end, though, wasn't on unexpected lines. 'It's been a while. I think probably in the last year, I haven't actually played anyone within 100 rating points with me. So I mostly just play the local guys. I play the US Championship every year. But I think that is a much easier tournament. I mean, we're from America, so we're really lazy. So I was just going there and sleeping during the game. But yeah, we have some decent players in the United States as well. But yeah, they're all really old, so we're not too scared of those guys,' he says. Even with regards to preparation, Awonder admits he isn't as intense as others. While most professionals have a habit of following set routines and dedicating a major part of their time to preparations ahead of big tournaments, Awonder says he is too light on that front too. 'I probably do like five minutes of work a day. I send an email to the guy or sometimes WhatsApp if I'm feeling really lazy. I'll be like, 'hey, what do I play today? That takes like five minutes of my time. And then he sends me files, files and more files. Sometimes I look at it, sometimes I don't. That's all the work I do. I think people study in very different ways. When I was coaching, I would just be like, 'memorise these thousands and thousands of moves'. And then they'd be like, 'no'. And then I'd be like, 'well, how do you forget this when you play the game? What the heck? But then when I play the game, I just don't do anything at all,' he chuckles. All of this means his opponents across the table always seem to have a common question. 'I think they look at my games and they are like, 'why is he here?' Who let him play in the tournament? Let's see, I think it will be fun,' he says before admitting. 'I think I should be more serious about it again since I play these kinds of events. But I don't know. we'll see, you know, I lose every game here. Maybe it's time to start working seriously. But as long as it's going well, you know, it's good to.' As he gets up to leave, Awonder sums up the person he is. 'I think generally I value my happiness. I think it's good to be happy. it's good to enjoy life a little bit.' Results: Masters: V Pranav drew with Karthikeyan Murali, Vincent Keymer bt Nihal Sarin, Anish Giri drew with Ray Robson, Vidit Gujrathi drew with Jorden van Foreest, Erigaisi bt Liang. Challengers: Diptayan Ghosh bt D Harika, M Pranesh bt Aryan Chopra, Leon Mendonca bt GB Harshavardhan, A Baskaran drew with A Puranik R Vaishali drew with P Iniyan.
