FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: Gukesh wins opening round match, Praggnanandhaa plays out draw; Divya loses

written by Atharva Jori

Winning with black means that Gukesh will play with white pieces in the next game and his expertise there is well known. Seeking to prove himself across formats, reigning world champion D. Gukesh of India began his campaign in the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with a crushing victory over France’s Etienne Bacrot in the first round. The Indian ace used all his resources at the right time to deliver a knockout punch when the situation arrived and his choice of opening – the Caro Kann — was deemed as a perfect defence to counter Bacrot. The Caro Kann was deceptive. Bacrot is a veteran of many matches and he could not confine himself to attaining equality out of the middle game which turned insanely complicated. Playing on Gukesh’s ground of complexities has not been easy and that’s what unfolded as the Indian uncorked an exchange sacrifice and went all in with his instinct. The technicalities remained but Gukesh was ruling the roost and he converted that into a full point. The top-seeded R. Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by Jeffery Xiong in an uneventful encounter. The French defence by the Indian met with the exchange variation surprisingly and Xiong seemed to be in the mood to take on the World No. 4 with his white pieces. The pieces changed hands regularly and when Xiong repeated, he actually held a small optical advantage.

Comments

CRICKET..!

Written by Atharva Jori Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre; 66-foot) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails (small sticks) balanced on three stumps. Two players from the batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of either wicket holding bats, while one player from the fielding team, the bowler, bowls the ball toward the striker's wicket from the opposite end of the pitch. The striker's goal is to hit the bowled ball with the bat and then switch places with the nonstriker, with the batting team scoring one run for each of these exchanges. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally. The fielding team aims to prevent runs by dismissing batters (so they are "out"). Dismissal can occur in various ways, including being bowled (when the ball hits the striker's wicket and dislodge...

Sport

Written by Atharva Jori Sport includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which,through casual or organized participation, at least in part aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators.Sports can bring positive results to one's physical health. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports...

CHESS ♟️

Written by Atharva Jori Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game which involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on a square board containing 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as White and Black, each control sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns; each type of piece has a different pattern of movement. An enemy piece may be captured (removed from the board) by moving one's own piece onto the square it occupies; the object of the game is to checkmate (threaten with inescapable capture) the enemy king. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw. Left to right: white king, black rook, black queen, white pawn, black knight, white bishop

Sports

Search This Blog