Praggnanandhaa stuns world champion Liren in Tata Steel tourney; surpasses Anand as No.1 Indian
Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands) (PTI): Teenaged Indian chess superstar R Praggnanandhaa defeated world champion Ding Liren of China in the fourth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament here, a win which also helped him surpass the legendary Viswanathan Anand as the top-rated Indian player.
After the victory late on Tuesday night, the 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa has 2748.3 points as against 2748 of five-time world champion Anand in the FIDE live ratings. The world chess body publishes the ratings at the start of each month.
With the 62-move win with black pieces, Praggnanandhaa became the second Indian after Anand to defeat a reigning world champion in classical chess.
Praggnanandhaa had also beaten Liren at the 2023 Tata Steel tournament.
"That feels good!" Praggnanandhaa said after the win.
He is now third in the standings with 2.5 points in the Masters event.
The teenaged Indian GM has been in good form in recent times, having finished runner-up in the World Cup to Magnus Carlsen last year to qualify for the Candidates tournament to be held in April to identify the challenger to Liren.
The Masters group saw Dutch player Anish Giri emerge as the sole leader heading into the first rest day. Giri's endgame prowess secured him victory against teenaged Indian GM D Gukesh to take him to 3.5 points.
Alireza Firouzja is half a point behind the leader on 3 points.
The third Indian player in the fray, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi was held to a draw by Jorden Van Foreest in round four. He has 2 points from four rounds.
In the fifth round on Thursday, Praggnanandhaa runs into the leader Anish Giri while his compatriots Gukesh and Gujrathi will take on Ian Nepomniachtchi and Max Warmerdam respectively.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
AAP activists detained during Mumbai protest against Raghav Chadha
_vb_69.jpeg)
Mumbai (PTI): Police on Sunday detained some Aam Aadmi Party activists in Mumbai after they staged a demonstration against Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha, who has crossed over to the BJP, in Khar area.
Aam Aadmi Party's Mumbai unit president Preeti Sharma Menon claimed the police prevented AAP workers from protesting peacefully against "traitor" Chadha and detained local leader Ruben Mascharanhas.
A Khar Police official confirmed that Mascharanhas and some other activists have been taken to the police station, without elaborating.
"@CPMumbaiPolice @mumbaipolice has no other work but to guard Raghav Chaddha’s Mumbai residence. @aapmumbai volunteers were prevented from protesting peacefully against the GADDAR. Ruben has been detained at the Khar Police Station. But BJP is allowed to block roads at their whim," Menon stated.
The AAP's Mumbai unit had planned a protest in the Khar area against Chadha and six other Rajya Sabha MPs of the party who recently joined the BJP.
"Without any detention order or any written communication, I have been taken to the Khar Police Station. Why is @MumbaiPolice so scared of @AAPMumbai's peaceful protest against 'Gaddar' Raghav Chaddha and Sandeep Pathak? We are @ArvindKejriwal's soldiers, we are not going to be cowed down," Mascharanhas said in another post.
The AAP suffered a jolt on Friday when seven of its Rajya Sabha members, including Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, quit the party, with Chadha saying all of them have merged with the BJP, asserting that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
VIDEO | Mumbai: AAP workers protest outside Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s residence.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 26, 2026
On Friday, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikram Sahni and Swati Maliwal quit and merged… pic.twitter.com/GWKCSvDrOJ
