Praggnanandhaa blunders again, goes down to Rapport
Prague (Czech Republic) (PTI): Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa blundered for the second day running and lost to Richard Rapport of Romania in the third round of the Prague Masters Chess tournament underway here.
After briefly going ahead of Viswanthan Anand and attaining the top Indian status in the live rating list, this double blow cost the Indian dearly, and now a lot of hard-work remains in the last six rounds of the 10-player round-robin contest.
It was drama all over, as Praggnanandhaa was not the only one to blow away his chances. Nodirbek Abdusattarov of Uzbekistan turned the tables on local star David Navara from a nearly hopeless position when the latter failed to keep his nerves under pressure after attaining a winning position.
The all-Indian duel between Vidit Gujrathi and D Gukesh ended in a stalemate with neither player able to force matters, while overnight sole leader Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran was held to a draw by top German Vincent Keymer.
In the other game of the day, Nguyen Than Dai Van of Czech Republic defeated Mateusz Bartel of Poland from what was a complicated endgame.
Meanwhile, in another news coming in from Shenzen in China, Arjun Erigaisi become the new India number one defeating Xiangyu Yu of China in the first round of the Shenzen Masters.
As things stand here, Abdusattarov joined Maghsoodloo in the lead on 2.5 points out of a possible three and the two are now trailed by Gukesh and Rapport with 2 points apiece. Gujrathi stands at fifth spot with 1.5 points, a half point ahead of Praggnanandhaa, Navara, Dai Van and Keymer. Bartel, with just a half point, is at the bottom of the table.
It was simply not Praggnanandhaa's day. The Indian did everything right except going past the finish line in his game against Rapport. The Hungarian-turned-Romanian is known for his uncompromising style and off-beat openings. The King's Indian was no exception as Rapport chose something uncommon at this level and Praggnanandhaa made rapid progress in the centre before launching a king-side attack.
Rapport was looking quite lost at one point in the middle game but hung in there till the Indian faltered. The game changed quickly thereafter as Rapport found some study-like defense and romped home.
Gukesh could not make much headway with his white pieces against Gujrathi out of a Berlin defense game. The middle game saw routine exchanges and the players quickly arrived at a minor pieces endgame that was just level.
Results round 3 (Indians unless stated): Vincent Keymer (Ger, 1) drew with Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 2.5); R Praggnanandhaa (1) lost to Richard Rapport (Rou, 2); Nodirbek Abdusattarov (Uzb, 2.5) beat David Navara (Cze, 1); Mateusz Bartel (Pol, 0.5) lost to Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 1); D Gukesh (2) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (1.5).
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
