Latest news with #Aravindh
The Hindu
8 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Aravindh pips Praggnanandhaa on tiebreak to win Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025
Aravindh Chithambaram beat compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa on tiebreak to win the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025 tournament on Friday in Jermuk in Armenia. In the final round, Aravindh - playing with black pieces - beat local player Aram Hakobyan. Praggnanandhaa beat Armenia's Robert Hovhannisyan with white pieces. At the end of the round-robin stage consisting of 10 players in the classical event, both Indians were tied for the first place with 6.5. points apiece. Aravindh prevailed due to the Sonneborne-Berger, a tiebreak system which factors in the strength of opponents each player has defeated. Aravindh ended up with $7,993 for finishing first while Praggnanandhaa won $4,770 for his second-place finish. Germany's Dmitrij Kollars secured the third place while American Sam Sevian finished fourth.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
A new era in Indian chess: Four grandmasters in top 10; R Praggnanandhaa leads FIDE Circuit
NEW DELHI: Indian chess is entering uncharted territory. For the first time in history, four Indian players now feature in the world's top 10 live ratings — a momentous leap for the nation on the global chessboard. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The newest name to break into the elite ranks is Aravindh Chithambaram, who climbed to World No. 9 with a live rating of 2757.8. He joins D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa, cementing India's growing dominance in international chess. Aravindh's surge comes on the heels of a hard-fought victory at the 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Armenia. He and Praggnanandhaa both finished with 6.5/9, but Aravindh claimed the title thanks to a better Sonneborn-Berger score — a tiebreaker determined by the strength of opponents faced. Final-round drama in Jermuk The tournament couldn't have been closer. Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa, who are also training partners under coach RB Ramesh, drew their first-round encounter and remained locked in step for much of the event. Entering the final round, both were tied at 5.5 points and needed a win to take the title. Praggnanandhaa struck first, defeating Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia. Aravindh, playing black, responded under pressure by toppling Aram Hakobyan, sealing a flawless performance: 4 wins, 5 draws, zero losses. For Praggnanandhaa, the result was bittersweet. 'It was a good tournament for me,' he told Chessbase India, 'but I missed that one chance in Round 2 against Jonas Buhl Bjerre. That win would've made the difference.' Praggnanandhaa leads the circuit Despite finishing second, the 19-year-old continues his blazing run in 2025. He now ranks sixth in live ratings (2774.2) and leads the FIDE Circuit standings with 83.59 points from five events. His consistent form, including wins at Tata Steel Masters and GCT Romania Classic, and top-three finishes in Prague, GCT Poland, and now Jermuk — puts him in pole position to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Close behind is Aravindh with 41.32 points from just three events — proof of his rapid rise and potential to catch up. What's Next? The momentum doesn't stop here. Both Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa are slated to compete in the Uzchess Cup, kicking off June 18 in Uzbekistan. They'll be facing elite opposition again — including Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Arjun Erigaisi. Indian chess has never looked stronger, and this new generation is proving it's here to stay.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
In a first, four Indian chess players in the top 10 rankings
For the first time in history, four Indians are in the top 10 chess rankings. Alongside D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa — now regulars among the world's elite — Aravindh Chithambaram has climbed to ninth place with a live rating of 2757.8. The milestone followed Aravindh's victory at the 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Armenia, on Friday, where he edged out his close friend and training partner under coach RB Ramesh, Praggnanandhaa. Both players tied for first place with 6.5 points each after nine rounds, but Aravindh claimed the title due to a superior Sonneborn-Berger score (tiebreak points), due to his stronger performance against higher-ranked opponents. The tournament began with a draw between Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh, and the two remained evenly matched until the final round. Entering the last game, both Indians were tied at 5.5 points after eight rounds, needing a win to secure the title. Praggnanandhaa struck first, defeating Armenia's Robert Hovhannisyan, forcing Aravindh to win his game to clinch the event. Aravindh obliged, overcoming Armenia's Aram Hakobyan with the black pieces to claim the championship. Both players remained undefeated, scoring four wins and five draws each. However, Praggnanandhaa later reflected on a missed opportunity in the second round against Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre, where he had a winning position. 'It was a good tournament for me, but I still missed this one chance in the second round. I could have probably won the tournament had that result gone my way, now it'll probably be tied for the first spot.' Praggnanandhaa told Chessbase India, accompanied by his trainer, Vaibhav Suri. 'Overall happy with my performance, I was mostly well prepared for almost all the rounds, just rue that game against Jonas otherwise I would have been on plus five,' he added. Aravindh's win in Armenia mirrored his earlier title win at the Prague Masters, where he outperformed Praggnanandhaa in a star-studded field featuring Wei Yi, Anish Giri, and Vincent Keymer. While Aravindh took the title, Praggnanandhaa's performance was equally impressive. The 19-year-old now sits sixth in the live ratings (2774.2) and leads the FIDE Circuit standings. With 83.59 points from five events — including wins at the Tata Steel Masters and Grand Chess Tour Romania Classic, a joint-second finish in Prague, third place in GCT Poland Rapid & Blitz, and now second in Armenia — Praggnanandhaa is the frontrunner to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament via the FIDE Circuit. He holds a commanding 42.27-point lead over second-placed Aravindh (41.32 points), who has competed in three events. Both players will next compete at the Uzchess Cup in Uzbekistan, starting June 18, alongside strong players like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Arjun Erigaisi.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Chess: Four Indians in world's top 10 for first the time
Bengaluru: Away from the pitched battle between current and former world champions in the Norwegian city of Stavanger – which has India's D Gukesh sweeping the headlines – another Indian is quietly breaking barriers and raising the roof. For the first time ever, India has four active chess players in the top 10 of the live ratings – Gukesh - world No.4 (Elo 2782.3) Arjun Erigaisi - world No.5 (Elo 2772.6) R Praggnanandhaa - world No.7 (Elo 2765.9) and Aravindh Chithambaram - world No.10 (Elo 2753.5). The newest entrant to this elite group is 25-year-old Aravindh. The Grandmaster from Madurai breached Elo 2750 for the first time in his career over the last weekend after a dominant 27-move win against Xu Xiangyu in Round 3 of the Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Armenia. Praggnanandhaa is the other Indian in the field and the only other player rated above 2700. Apart from these four top-ten players, the three other Indian players in the 2700+ bracket are Viswanathan Anand (Elo 2743), Vidit Gujrathi (Elo 2720) and P Harikrishna (Elo 2703). Twenty-year-old Nihal Sarin broke into the Elo 2700 club at the Dubai Open last week, but has since slipped. For Aravindh, the climb up the rankings, even if belated, has been impressive. He broke into the scene as a 14-year-old who took down a clutch of Grandmasters to win the Chennai GM Open in 2013, held on the sidelines of the World Chess Championship between Anand and Magnus Carlsen. He was touted as the next big thing in Indian chess but inexplicably flew under the radar before returning with noteworthy performances last year. In recent times, he has pulled off a string of upsets – defeating American GM Hikaru Nakamura (2024 World Blitz Championship), Erigaisi (2024 Chennai Grand Masters), Alireza Firouzja (2025 Superbet Poland) and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2025 Superbet Poland) and won the Prague Masters earlier this year. 'Aravindh should have perhaps reached this level five years ago,' says coach RB Ramesh, 'He had the potential but confidence was an issue. It was holding him back. He now realises that he's getting older and the younger players are getting ahead of him, Typically, in such situations a player can give up and begin to believe that their time is over with younger players taking over. But Aravindh has not given up, he is motivated to push back. There is a sense of urgency now.'
Mint
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Chithambaram finishes joint first in rapid section
Warsaw (Poland), Apr 29 (PTI) Delivering under pressure, Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram put it across Frenchman Alireza Firouzja in the final game to finish joint first with 11 points after the end of the rapid section of Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour. The Indian wild card entrant needed to match Firouzja and Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev on points, and he got a little lucky after wild complications as the Frenchman lost on time from what could have been a drawn rook and pawns endgame. Star performer R Praggnanandhaa bounced back in the event and jumped to joint fourth spot, scoring crucial victories over Romanian David Gavrilescu and Duda respectively in the last two rounds. The Indian shares the fourth spot along with American Levon Aronian on 10 points. With 18 blitz games still remaining in the first tournament of the Tour, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France is not far behind on nine points, a full point ahead of Deac Bogdan Daniel of Romania and Duda. Gavrilescu stands ninth in the ten-player tournament on seven points, a couple of points more than former world champion Veselin Topalov who is in last spot. Aravindh started the day with a victory over Duda who was outdone in the complexities arising out of an early piece sacrifice by the Indian. The middle game offered chances for Duda but it was never easy to find precise moves in a jungle of variations that had to be navigated. Aravindh eventually won a rook back and the resulting position offered little resistance. In the eighth round Aravindh lost to Vachier-Lagrave but that did not let his hopes down and a final victory over Firouzja ensured that the Indian would top the list in rapid section that offered two points for a win and one for a draw. The scoring system will be back to normal in blitz section as the winning side will get a full point. However, with so many games still to come, it could be anyone's overall victory. Praggnanandhaa found himself back on track after an indifferent start that had given him just five points in the first six games. The Indian played out a draw with Fedoseev and then the wins in last games ensured that remains within striking distance of the leading trio. 1-3 Aravindh Chithamabaran (Ind), Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo), Firoujza Alireza (Fra) 11 each. 4-5: R Pragnanandhaa (Ind) Levon Aronian (Usa) 10 each 6: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 9. 7-8: Duda Jan-Kryzsztof (Pol), Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou) 8 each. 9: David Gavrilescu (Rou) 7. 10. Veselin Topalov (Bul) 5. First Published: 29 Apr 2025, 02:26 PM IST
