Sports and games is not only something which requires some playground, court. It can be enjoyed in other forms as well, which requires no elaborated setting; one can easily recall the childhood’s outdoor and indoor gaming concepts. One such game is Chess, which is amazing in itself. It is a two-player strategy board game played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in 8 x 8 grids. It is believed that the game of chess was derived from the Indian game of chaturanga before the 7th century. It reached Europe in the 9th century and modern rules were established in the 19th century. It is a board game and is considered as an abstract strategy game along with a mind sport, thus the skills which are required are strategy and tactics. Being an “indoor” game, it is often assumed that it is not played on a global level, but that is not the case. World Cup and various Championships are organized for this game.
The Chess World Cup 2019 is a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament which is to be held in Khanty-Mansiyk, Russia from 9th September to 4th October 2019. The finalists of the tournament will qualify for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2020. Last time in 2017, there were 6 Indians in the World Cup but this time there are 11 Indians participating as well and they already have their names engraved in the history of chess. Let’s look to the top 5 Indian contenders for Chess World Cup 2019.
Viswanathan Anand
He is popularly known as “Vishy” Anand and is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former World Chess Champion. He became India’s first grandmaster in 1988. Also, he held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, becoming the first Asian to do so. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007. He won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017. In April 2006, he became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list. He has qualified for Chess World Cup 2019 by rating.
Pentala Harikrishna
He is chess Grandmaster from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. He became the youngest grandmaster on 12th September, the record is now held by Gukesh D. He was Commonwealth Champion in 2001, World Junior Champion in 2004 and Asian Individual Champion 2011. At the Asian Team Championships, Harikrishna won team gold once, team silver twice and individual bronze once. In 2013, Harikrishna’s FIDE rating passed 2700 for the first time and he broke into the top ten players in the world in November 2016 with a FIDE rating of 2768. And just like Vishy Anand, he too made it into World Cup 2019 through his ratings.
Baskaran Adhiban
He is an Indian chess Grandmaster. He was the 2008 World Under-16 Champion and the 2009 Indian champion. In 2007 he won the Asian under-16 Champion in Tashkent. He also played first board for the gold medal-winning Indian team at the Under-16 Chess Olympiad of 2007 and 2008. He was also a member of the winning team of the Spanish League 2015. In 2017, he received the FIDE President’s nomination and this year in 2019 he has made it to the World Cup via the ACP wild card. It’s is great news as whenever he is playing, he is able to brighten up the event with his brilliance.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly
He is an Indian Chess Grandmaster, 2009 Asian champion and six-time Indian champion. His peak ranking is 2676 as per July 2016. He won a bronze medal in 2010 Guangzhou. He became an international master at the age of 16 and a Grandmaster at the age of 19, which is a tremendous achievement. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2005 for his outstanding achievement in sports. He is only one who had qualified for Chess World Cup 2019 from Asian Continental which was held in 2018.
Karthikeyan Murali
The Asian Continental 2019 proved to be very successful for the Indians as from the five berths that were available four were won by Indians. Sethuraman was third and S.L. Narayanan fourth while Karthikeyan Murali finished second. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE IN 2015. He is a two-time national champion. In December 2011, he won the Under 12 section of the World Youth Chess Championships held in Caldas Novas, Brazil. He also won the World U16 title in Al Ain.
Apart from these amazing contenders, there are other Indian contenders as well such as Aravindh Chithambaram who had won Indian National Championships which were held in 2018 and thus qualified for World Cup. Nihal Sarin won the FIDE President’s wild card and thus is a part of World Cup. Vidit Gujrathi was one of the reserves but as some of the players are not taking part thus he is qualified on the basis of ranking.
Hope, these contenders will be victorious in the World Cup 2019 and achieve success. It is going to be an exciting event and a reason for all Indian fans to cheer up!
