Viswanathan Anand starts No-Castling event with win
The Hindu
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in the first game of their four-game match for the Sparkassen Trophy here. Playing with white pieces, Anand needed
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in the first game of their four-game match for the Sparkassen Trophy here. Playing with white pieces, Anand needed 66 moves to beat Kramnik late on Wednesday in a match played as part of the "No-Castling" Chess devised by the Russian GM. Castling is not allowed in this format in an effort to make the game more interesting.Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.
The other men’s semifinal Friday is Norway’s Casper Ruud, twice the runner-up in Paris — to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2023 — against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Open, an Olympic gold medalist and into the final four at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year.