Latest news with #EnglishOpening
Mint
30-05-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Birthday boy D Gukesh beats world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana at Norway Chess 2025: What is Armageddon tie-break?
On his birthday, May 29, Indian chess grandmaster D Gukesh beat world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana in a tense tie-break at Norway Chess 2025. Though Caruana had a pawn edge, Gukesh defended well for over four hours to draw the main game. The current world chess champion, who turned 19, held Caruana to a draw in the classical game with smart endgame play. Caruana defended hard but couldn't stop him. After 51 moves, with checkmate coming, Caruana resigned. Gukesh's sharp tactics and aggression gave him a well-earned win. Gukesh lost a pawn early and was in a tough spot. The game had strict time rules, with only 10 seconds added per move. But, the youngest world champion stayed calm under pressure and handled the tricky position well. Gukesh played fearlessly in the Armageddon tie-break, where he had to win as White. "The Classical game could have easily gone bad, but luckily, I managed to save it in the time scramble, and then Armageddon was very good," Gukesh said after the win. An Armageddon tie-break is a special chess game used to break a tie when players draw a match. In this game, White gets more time (usually 10 minutes), and Black gets less time (usually 7 minutes). However, Black only needs a draw to win the match. White must win to win the match. It's called 'Armageddon' because it's the final, do-or-die game to decide a winner quickly. D Gukesh now has 4.5 points in the tournament, which is led by Magnus Carlsen with 8 points. Gukesh, who earlier defeated world No.2 Nakamura, spoke about playing on his birthday. "Most of my birthdays I end up losing the game, so glad it did not repeat in the classical. When I was playing, I felt fine, but when I was losing, I was like, 'ok, not again'," PTI quoted Gukesh as saying. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated Indian chess grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in a sharp endgame to earn three full points. Playing with white, Carlsen used the English Opening and outplayed Erigaisi, who suffered his second loss in two days. The Norwegian champion, though happy with the result, said he had played slowly due to tough choices in an unfamiliar position. "You get presented with more and more difficult choices and eventually you go wrong," he said. Magnus Carlsen remains the defending champion. Earlier, Magnus Carlsen seemingly called himself the 'King of Chess' after beating world champion D Gukesh in the first round of Norway Chess 2025. Playing with white, Carlsen used his endgame skills well as Gukesh made a key mistake under pressure. Though Gukesh started strong, Carlsen took control by move 18 and didn't give him a chance to recover. 'I wasn't too happy to get into the end game because there's a little bit of imbalance there, but I think he did well for a while, we got into a position where both have passed pawns and then anything can happen,' Carlsen said after the win.
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Humpy dominates, Divya resilient, Vaishali outplayed by Jiner
Written by Aryesh Chakraborty and Soham Shah Round 6 of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 at Amanora The Fern saw a dramatic shift in momentum as Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy scored a clinical win to stay within striking distance of the tournament leader, GM Zhu Jiner. While Humpy dazzled on board, Divya Deshmukh managed a draw against Dronavalli Harika, and Vaishali Rameshbabu suffered a tough defeat at the hands of the in form Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner. Playing with the Black pieces against Munguntuul Batkhuyag, Humpy played a game with great precision. The Indian veteran took advantage of a mistake Munguntuul made early on- the queen move on the 8th turn- in the Italian Opening. Humpy's knight's move on the 15th turn put her opponent in a tough place. She then launched a strong attack through the center and towards the king-side. Humpy gave up both her rooks to win a queen and a pawn, which gave her a clear advantage which turned the game in her favor. With Munguntuul under severe time pressure- needing to make 21 moves in just 8 minutes- Humpy wrapped up the game in 33 moves, making an unstoppable checkmate. 'After the knight move on the 15th turn, White is positionally lost,' said Humpy post-match. The win takes her to 4.5 points, just half a point behind the leader Zhu Jiner. Young Divya Deshmukh held fellow Indian GM Dronavalli Harika to a draw in a quiet English Opening. The game saw minimal exchanges and no real flash as both players agreed to a threefold repetition after 27 moves. With this result, Divya remains in a strong position with 4 points, while Harika trails down with 3. Vaishali Rameshbabu, The third Indian in action, faced a tough challenge with Zhu Jiner, who entered the round as the tournament leader. Vaishali's Sicilian Defence held strong for much of the game until a wrong knight move on move 26 opened for Jiner to mount a decisive attack. Jiner's queen and knight coordination proved too strong, ending the game in 41 moves. As it stands Vaishali at 2.5 points, while Jiner maintains her sole lead with 5. With just three rounds remaining in this 10-player round-robin event, the tournament is heating up. Round 7 promises high stakes as Humpy takes on Jiner with the White pieces- a potential title-deciding clash. Divya will face Munguntuul, also with White, looking to down on her opponent's poor form and push closer to the top. As the Current Indian Standings after Round 6 stands -GM Koneru Humpy with 4.5 points, IM Divya Deshmukh with 4 points , GM Dronavalli Harika with 3 points followed by GM Vaishali Rameshbabu carrying 2.5 points. All eyes now turn to the key Round 7 encounters tomorrow.
