Candidates Chess: India's Gukesh takes sole lead after outwitting Alireza
Toronto (PTI): Teenaged Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh shot into sole lead after defeating Firouzja Alireza of France in the 13th and penultimate round of Candidates' Chess tournament here, his quest for the extraordinary placing him on the cusp of becoming the youngest ever world championship contender.
If the 17-year-old from Chennai emerges victorious at the Candidates, he will take on China's Ding Liren for the world champion's crown.
In the women's event, Humpy Koneru drew with Anna Muzychuk while Vaishali Rameshbabu got the better of Lei Tingjie. The 22-year-old Vaishali has now registered four consecutive wins in her last four games.
Needing a win to go ahead after the other overnight leaders, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and American Hikaru Nakamura played out a quick draw, Gukesh was awarded for his perseverance as he capitalised on a late blunder by Alireza in a difficult situation.
Gukesh took his tally to 8.5 points out of a possible 13 to emerge a half point ahead of Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana of the United States.
R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi share the fifth spot on six points apiece with Firouzja on 4.5 and Abasov has 3.5 points.
Of the three players in pursuit, Caruana defeated Praggnanandhaa in a hard-fought game while Gujrathi could only get a draw with Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan.
Gukesh will next meet Nakamura who plays white in the last round game and Caurana will have the advantage of the favourable colour against Nepomniachtchi.
While anyone among the four players can win the event, the odds are hugely in favour of Gukesh as the pundits believe that a draw might just be enough to see him emerge as the youngest ever contender for the world championship match.
In the women's section, Zhongyi Tan took a full point lead over nearest rival and compatriot Tingjie Lei following a draw with top seed Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina.
R Vaishali spoiled the party for Lei by scoring a fine victory while Koneru Humpy and Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria drew with Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine and Kateryna Lagno of Russia respectively.
Just a draw away from clinching the crown, Lei is in second spot on 7.5 points. Goryachkina, Lagno, Humpy and Vaishali are on 6.5 points, sharing the third spot as Salimova and Muzychuk share the seventh spot with five points apiece.
Made for big games
Gukesh, by consent, is made for big games on his day and the 13th round was no different. Playing the white side of a Berlin defense out of a Ruy Lopez, Gukesh went for a line known to have a sound reputation with little risk for white.
Alireza equalized comfortably but then started to show some ambition in the middle game that led to king side weakness. The Frenchman fell under time pressure too under the first time-control but did well to keep a tangible position.
It was on the 47th move that Alireza finally faltered and allowed Gukesh to reach a winning rook and minor piece endgame. Gukesh knocked down a few pawns en route to finishing the technicalities in style. The game lasted 63 moves.
Ian Nepomniachtchi decided against taking much risk even as Nakamura chose a rare variation as black in another Ruy Lopez of the day.
The Russian had reasons to be pleased as his position was preferable in the middle game but the absence of any real threats did not leave much to be desired. Nakamura drew vide repetition in a mere 26 moves.
Praggnanandhaa was outdone out of a Rossolimo opening as white against Caruana. The American launched a dangerous looking attack on the king side after the players castled on different flanks and Praggnanandhaa parted with a rook for a knight to stay afloat.
The nature of the position however remained difficult and with the clock ticking away, the defense was always difficult to find. The longest game of the day ended after 89 moves.
Gujrathi faced the Petroff defense as white against Abasov. The Azerbaijani has stuck to the same opening as black against the King pawn and in his final black game too, he decided to employ the same set-up.
Gujrathi went for one of the main lines and a couple of minor pieces got changed in a symmetrical pawn structure. The game got a little spiced up on the 14th move and white got an optical advantage with better control in the centre.
However, as things happened, Abasov neutralized white's initiative by just keeping his position intact. Gujrathi improved and carried on for some time before realising there was not much to hope for. The game lasted 31 moves and ended through repetition.
In the women's section, the trading of queens ensured that black did not get any chance in the game and a draw was a just result between Zhongyi Tan and Goryachkina.
After a rather subdued 7th to 9th round where she lost three in a row, Vaishali continued with her demolition act to score her fourth victory on the trot. The Indian is in with a chance to finish in top three if she can pull off another win in the final round.
Zhongyi Tan has her task cut out against Muzychuk, while Tingjie has a tough nut to crack in Humpy. Vaishali meets Lagno and Goryachkina is up against Salimova.
Results round 13 (Indians unless specified): Vidit Gujrathi (5) vs Nijat Abasov (Aze, 3); D Gukesh (7.5) vs Firouza Alireza (Fra, 4.5); R Praggnanandhaa (6) vs Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 7); Ian Nepomniachthi (Fid, 7.5) vs Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 7.5).
Women: Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 8.5) drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina (Fid, 6.5); Koneru Humpy (6.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (5); R Vaishali (6.5) beat Tingjie Lei (Chn, 7.5); Nurgyuaal Salimova (Bul, 5) drew with Kateryna Lagno (Fid, 6.5).
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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