Praggnanandhaa finishes 11th in Airthings Masters, misses out on quarterfinals
Chennai (PTI): Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Russia's Vladislav Artemiev in the 15th and final round of the preliminary phase of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament, but missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals.
The 16-year-old started the final day of the preliminary rounds with a draw against German Vincent Keymer in round 13 before going down to Hans Mokko Niemann (USA) in the next.
His stirring win over world champion Magnus Carlsen in the eighth round caused a flutter but up-and-down performances pegged Praggnanandhaa back.
He finished 11th in the standings with 19 points with the top eight going through to the knockout phase.
A 32-move win over Keymer saw the teenaged Indian GM finish the event on a high.
He scored five wins from 15 rounds, drew four games and lost six. The victories included those over Carlsen, top-10 player Lev Aronian, Russian Andrey Esipenko, former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk and Keymer.
Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi topped the preliminary stage, racking up 29 points while Carlsen overcame a few defeats to finish second on 25 points, followed by Artemiev (24).
Esipenko, Eric Hansen (Canada), Ding Liren and Liem Quang Le (both China) and Keymer rounded off the top eight.
In the 16-player Airthings Masters, a player received three points for a win and one for a draw in the preliminary rounds.
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Govt debunks claims of India attacking Nankhana Sahib in Pakistan, other disinformation
New Delhi, May 10 (PTI): The government on Saturday debunked claims that India had launched a drone attack on the Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.
"A video shared on social media is claiming that India has carried out a drone attack on the Nankhana Sahib gurdwara. This claim is completely fake," the PIB Fact Check Unit said.
Such content was being circulated to create communal hatred in India, it said.
Nankhana Sahib is the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and the gurdwara is a revered shrine and pilgrimage centre for Sikhs.
The government also dismissed as "fake" certain social media posts claiming that an Indian pilot ejected from his fighter aircraft in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that a woman Air Force pilot was captured in Pakistan.
The government also debunked claims that India's power grid had been rendered dysfunctional in a cyberattack by Pakistan, and that there had been a temporary closure of the Mumbai-Delhi airline route.
"These claims are fake," the government said.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has extended the temporary closure of 25 segments of Air Traffic Service (ATS) routes within the Delhi and Mumbai Flight Information Regions due to operational reasons, it said.
The government also said an old video showing Indian soldiers crying was actually of youngsters from a private defence coaching centre celebrating their selection in the Army.
The PIB Fact Check Unit said the video in question was uploaded on Instagram on April 27 and was not related to the Army.
"The video depicts students from a private defence coaching institute celebrating their selection into the Indian Army. The youth in the video reportedly became emotional with joy upon receiving news of their successful recruitment," it said.
The government also debunked reports in a section of foreign media about 10 explosions around the airport in Srinagar on Friday, as well as separate claims of blasts near the Jaipur airport.
"These claims are fake. Rely only on official sources for authentic information," a government official said.
The PIB Fact Check Unit also said that claims on social media about destruction of Indian army posts were false and that a video shared in this regard dated back to 2020.
"This video is old and NOT related to any activity post Operation Sindoor. The video was originally uploaded on YouTube on Nov 15, 2020," it said.
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Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib Under India's Drone Attack
Modi's India Fired A Drone Attacking Guru Nanak Sahib's Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib -- Pakistan Army Shot Down the Indian Drone Aimed At Sri Nankana Sahib..!!!@sikhsforjustic @SFJ_US_Official
Now ....Not… pic.twitter.com/2tsTjV4pKj
