Anand defeated by Adams in Alekhine memorial

April 22, 2013

Anand_defeatedParis, Apr 22: World champion Viswanathan Anand made a disappointing start as he suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Englishman Michael Adams in the first round of Alekhine Memorial Chess Tournament here at the Louvre.

On what turned out to be a day of big upsets, Chinese champion Ding Liren caused another big flutter crushing world number three Levon Aronian of Armenia.

The 10-player round-robin super tournament, however, saw Vladimir Kramnik of Russia at the top of his form as he grounded compatriot Nikita Vituigov while the other two games ended in draws.

Anand's 2012 World championship challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel played exciting chess as black before holding Peter Svidler, while the all-French clash between Laurent Fressinet and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave turned out to be the shortest game of the day.

Split between The Louvre Museum in Paris and the Russian museum in Saint Petersburg, the tournament will have the first five rounds here before the battle shifts to Russia for the last four games.

Anand went down with white pieces, something that might be detrimental to the Indian's campaign as the tournament progresses further.

He went for the Ruy Lopez and for a line that Indian P Harikrishna had successfully chosen against Gata Kamsky of United States some time back.

Adams, however, remained a tough nut to crack from a level position that arose after the trade of queens.

The English Grandmaster took command by getting the Bishop pair and Anand's slightly defected pawn structure proved to be the decisive factor.

Forced to part with a rook for three pawns, Anand could do little as Adams' King and rook stopped the march of his connected pawns in the end. The game lasted 56 moves.

Ding Liren played an inspired game to beat Aronian. From a Slav defense, the Chinese got a slightly better position and nurtured it well amid complexities to get a huge space advantage in the middle game.

What followed was a tribute to the genius of Alexander Alekhine, the fourth world champion, in whose memory the tournament is held.

Liren sacrificed a rook for a knight before ripping apart the king side with a Bishop sacrifice on move 37. A few quite moves later Aronian was defenseless.

Kramnik shied away for complications out of a Reti opening as white and cruised to a victory against Vituigov.

A piece sacrifice was declined by Kramnik in early middle game and even the exchanges at regular intervals did not deter him from pressing hard for a victory.

Vituigov was saddled with a weak pawn structure on the queenside and Kramnik capitalised with a pawn break that gave him an outside pawn that marched to glory in quick time. The game was over in 50 moves.

Results round 1: V Anand (Ind) lost to Michael Adams (Eng); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) beat Nikita Vituigov (Rus); Ding Liren (Chn) beat Levon Aronian (Arm); Peter Svidler (Rus) drew with Boris Gelfand (Isr); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) drew with Laurent Fressinet (Fra)

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News Network
June 13,2020

Mumbai, Jun 13: Vasant Raiji, who was India's oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday.

Raiji was 100 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"He (Raiji) passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age," his son-in-law Sudarshan Nanavati told PTI.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s, scoring 277 runs with 68 being his highest score.

He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

His Mumbai debut happened in 1941 when the team played Western India under the leadership of Vijay Merchant.

Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, was 13 when India played its first Test match at the Bombay Gymkhana in South Mumbai.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had paid a courtesy visit to Raiji at his residence in January when he had turned 100.

It has been learnt that the cremation will take place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

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February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday paid tributes to Indian Army soldiers, who were killed during the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

Extending condolences to the kin of bravehearts, Kohli said, "No one is more selfless and brave than a soldier."

"Salute and deepest respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our country in the Galwan Valley. NO one is more selfless and brave than a soldier. Sincere condolences to the families. I hope they find peace through our prayers at this difficult time," he tweeted.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on Tuesday.

The Army confirmed that 20 soldiers were killed in the face-off, including 17 who were critically injured at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area in Ladakh where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15 and 16, Indian Army said.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted, "We will always be indebted to our jawans of #IndianArmy who lost their lives in #GalwanValley #JaiHind."

Expressing similar sentiments, Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan wrote, "A sacrifice that will never be forgotten by the nation. Heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the Indian Army officer and the two soldiers. Saluting your bravery, Jai Hind! #GalwanValley."

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