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File images of Magnus Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa during the Tata Steel India Rapid and Blitz tournament in Kolkata. (Express Photos by Partha Paul)

‘As long as Pragg's there…’: Magnus Carlsen names Indian as he talks about Candidates contenders

September 20, 2025 3:44 pm

When Magnus Carlsen was asked if he was surprised by Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum securing the top two spots at the FIDE Grand Swiss, the world no 1 said: "For sure... Giri, I think got the friendliest pairings in the whole tournament for a long time."

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, a 14-year-old prodigy from Turkey, will take on world champion Gukesh today at FIDE Grand Swiss. (PHOTO: FIDE/Michal Walusza)

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who held Gukesh to draw today, once beat Magnus Carlsen in 41 seconds in blitz game

September 06, 2025 12:24 pm

14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus managed to hold Gukesh to a 46-move draw with black pieces. It was a game where Gukesh applied relentless pressure in the middle game, but eventually, Erdogmus found resources to claim a draw. It’s the kind of escape that would have made even Gukesh proud.

World No 1 Magnus Carlsen (LEFT) had exited the FIDE World Rapid Championship last year after being fined for wearing jeans and being asked to change into formal trousers; FIDE made changes to dress code this year for the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament. (PHOTOS: FIDE)

Eight months after Magnus Carlsen row, FIDE breaks with tradition, allows players to wear jeans at Grand Swiss

September 01, 2025 10:49 am

“Sometimes the laundry doesn’t come back on time. So having jeans as option to wear is definitely convenient for the players,” Arjun Erigaisi told The Indian Express, before adding: “I like wearing jeans, of course with a blazer.”

Former world champions Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand during a Grand Chess Tour event in Zagreb in 2021. (PHOTO: Grand Chess Tour via Lennart Ootes)

Viswanathan Anand to face Garry Kasparov in 12-game match in October; Magnus Carlsen vs Gukesh on cards too in event called Clutch Chess

August 21, 2025 8:23 am

The 12 games between Anand and Kasparov will be played between October 7th and 11th at the St Louis Chess Club. Besides this, the club will also host players like Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Gukesh, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in what will be the highest-rated chess tournament of the year.

Magnus Carlsen takes on Daniil Dubov during a match at the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz tournament in Kolkata in 2023. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

When Magnus Carlsen and Daniil Dubov clashed during a World Championship training session

August 13, 2025 9:01 pm

Talking about his first day in training with Carlsen, Dubov said: "I dribbled him a couple of times, he started calling me names. I asked him to repeat. We did push each other, and the funny part is that we got separated quickly." Despite that incident, Dubov helped Carlsen win two world championships

Magnus Carlsen has often spoken about how much he loves chess. But the world's greatest player of this generation does not enjoy training for the sport. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

Why Magnus Carlsen loves chess, but former world champion cannot stand preparing for games

August 14, 2025 6:22 pm

What does Magnus Carlsen still enjoy about chess? “He's a chess fan. He loves the game, he loves playing it, the history, the environment. Chess is basically everything to him as an identity. His legacy. He makes his money from chess, even though it's still kind of a hobby, which turned out to be lucrative and something he could live off of,” Magnus’ dad Henrik told The Indian Express earlier this year.

At this juncture, Magnus Carlsen played a move so good that it made Sergey Karjakin resign in two seconds. It was the final move of the 2016 World Chess Championship. (Photos: Partha Paul/Express Photo, Lichess)

Can you think like Magnus Carlsen? Guess the move that made his opponent Karjakin resign in 2 seconds in 2016 world championship

August 11, 2025 11:36 pm

When Carlsen made the move, GM Peter Svidler remarked: “Woah! This is fantastic. I’m so unbelievably impressed by this.” GM Jan Gustaffson added: “Wow! That is a cute finish!” Could you find out the ‘cute finish’ that left Svidler ‘unbelievably impressed’?

India's R Praggnanandhaa takes on Magnus Carlsen in a SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia game earlier this year in Zagreb. (PHOTO: Lennart Ootes/ Grand Chess Tour)

Praggnanandhaa: ‘When I told my dad I'd beaten Magnus Carlsen, he just said “good” and fell asleep’

August 12, 2025 10:47 pm

Praggnanandhaa, who turned 20 on Sunday, also spoke about the psychological impact of defeating Carlsen for the first time. Pragg said: "It was important for me back then. It gave me a lot of confidence. I realized that the top players are not invincible, you can beat them."

xAI's Elon Musk (left), Open AI's Sam Altman and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. (PHOTOS: AP, Partha Paul/Express Photo)

'He doesn't have greatest respect for chess': When Magnus Carlsen met Elon Musk, and played with Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg

August 13, 2025 12:17 pm

Magnus Carlsen said he played in a team with Demis Hassabis, DeepMind Technologies CEO, who was recently awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. "I told him ways he could get around (opponent’s tricks in the opening). Lo and behold, the game starts, he forgets everything," Carlsen chuckled.

As Elon Musk's Grok 4 made blunder after blunder in the final, five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen was at hand to commentate -- and laugh -- at the errors. (PHOTOS: AP, Partha Paul/Express Photos)

Magnus Carlsen roasts Elon Musk's Grok 4 as it gets humbled by OpenAI's o3 in chess tournament

August 11, 2025 12:10 am

While chess software and engines like AlphaZero and Leela have grown stronger than any chess players alive, LLMs are still just starting on the trajectory of learning the sport.