Norway Chess: R Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy lead India’s challenge

Stavanger, May 13

Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy and Vaishali Rameshbabu will spearhead India’s challenge in the prestigious Norway Chess, to be held here from May 27 to June 7.

Popularly known as the ‘Wimbledon of Chess’, this tournament annually extends invitations to top Grandmasters from the world rating list.

Praggnanandhaa’s outing will be keenly watched after the world No. 11 player finished a creditable fourth in the recent Superbet rapid and blitz. He is the only Indian men’s player in the 12th edition of the event which will feature world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, who won the Superbet, world No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura and current world champion Ding Liren.

India’s world No. 2 Humpy and No. 14 Vaishali, sister of Praggnanandhaa, will feature in a strong women’s field that has world champion Ju Wenjun of China and her compatriot Lei Tingjie.

However, within the top 100 players globally, no women are listed. Hence, Norway Chess has introduced world’s first-ever equal female tournament this year. “I welcome their attempt to help popularise the women’s game by having an equal prize fund for the women this year,” Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand said. — PTI

Shyaamnikhil ends wait to become GM

Dubai: P Shayaamnikhil became India’s 85th Grandmaster by completing his third and final GM norm in the Dubai Police Masters chess tournament, ending a 12-year-wait for the player who took to the sport as an eight-year-old. The 31-year-old from Tamil Nadu had earned 2500 ELO rating points in 2012 with two GM norms, but for the third one, he had to wait for 12 years. “Now that the title is done, I can play more freely,” he said.