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With a score of 13.5 points in total, Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand finished last in the St. Louis Rapid and blitz chess tournament. Anand's only achievement was a first-round victory over Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, who eventually turned out to be the winner of the tournament.

India’s latest chess prodigy, Nihal Sarin has become India’s 53rd Grandmaster after a draw against Uzbekistan’s Temur Kuybokarov in the eighth round of the Abu Dhabi Masters Chess. Nihal is the third Grandmaster from Kerala after GN Gopal and SL Narayanan and currently has an ELO rating of 2556.

Two international Masters from Maharashtra, Divya Deshmukh and Raunak Sadhwani, won individual gold medals at the International Chess meets in Dubai and Delhi, respectively. Participating in the open category as well, Deshmukh stood at the 61st rank spot from among 165 players from 12 countries.

Viswanathan Anand has heaped praise on the country’s latest Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and advised him not to worry about the expectations and just enjoy the game. Anand has also revealed that Praggnanandhaa came to visit him days after his title victory and he liked him immediately.