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Viswanathan Anand beat Boris Gelfand to win his 5th FIDE World Chess Championship

May 30, 2012

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New Delhi, May 30: Viswanathan Anand retained his World Chess Championship title after defeating his challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel 2.5-1.5 in a crunch 4-game tiebreaker in Moscow on Wednesday. Anand finished off the championship match with a draw in the fourth tiebreaker game.

With this, Anand won his fifth world chess championship title and fourth-in-a-row after winning the ultimate glory in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

After the 12-game championship matches ended in 6-6 tie, Anand and Gelfand started the tiebreaker with a draw too. But playing with white, Anand bounce back in the second game to beat his opponent and took a crucial 1 point lead.

Anand managed to hold Gelfand for another draw in the third game with black pieces to maintain the one-point lead ahead of the all-important fourth and final rapid game.

There have been only three World Chess Championship matches that have been decided on tiebreaks: Vishy Anand's loss to Anatoly Karpov of Russia in the 1998 final at Lucerne, Rustam Kasimdzhanov's title win in 2004 and Vladimir Kramnik's success against Veselin Topalov in 2006.

The system of tiebreaks has not been in force in the World championship for long but of the three tiebreak triumphs, only one came after the traditional match play (Kramnik vs Topalov over 12 games). Karpov and Kasimdzhanov had triumphed after playing only six classical games.

As per Anand's performances in championship matches go, the Indian ace had won three out of four decisive games against Russian Vladimir Kramnik in 2008 while in 2010 against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, Anand had won three out of five decisive games to stake his claim for the world title.

In the post-match chat after game-12, Gelfand was a bit defensive on this.

"We are playing for the crown and not only to entertain, besides there are many highly qualified commentators who can explain it to the uninformed spectators," he had said.

Before this mega-tiebreaker, Anand and Gelfand have played 28 times in rapid chess and the Indian has won eight, lost one and drawn the remaining.

In blitz, they have played seven games with three wins for Anand and the rest being drawn.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Bengaluru FC (BFC) have signed Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva for a one-year deal, the ISL club said in a statement on Saturday.

As per the agreement, BFC have the option of extending Silva's contract for another year.

The 33-year-old, who started his career with Brazilian side Madureira, moved to Thailand where he spent the better part of the decade playing for Muangthong United and Suphanburi, apart from stints in Mexico and China.

Silva, who also operates on the wing, became the first foreign player to reach the 100-goal mark in Thailand and finished top scorer of the Thai League 1 for two seasons. He also tops the charts of the all-time leading scorers of the League.

His biggest success came at Muangthong where he racked up 57 goals in 79 appearances and won three major trophies in as many seasons at the club.

The Brazilian, who was in talks with the Blues last season before the deal didn't materialise, said he was glad to have finally made the move.

"I've signed with Bengaluru FC because I want to be a champion and this is a club that is always after titles. I have that opportunity once again at BFC. I want to make the club and its fans happy. I have been following the club for some time now because we were in talks a while ago. And I liked what I saw. I am looking forward to making my way to Bengaluru and am excited to meet my new teammates, the fans and embrace the city," said Silva.

Silva, thus, became BFC's first new foreign signing of the season after the club had handed extended deals with Juanan Gonzalez, Dimas Delgado and Erik Paartalu.

Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat said Silva's addition was an important one, given his penchant for scoring.

"Cleiton has a proven track record when it comes to scoring and this is an area we needed to strengthen on the squad. The goals aside, he even has an eye for a quality final pass and we're looking forward to working with him," he said.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

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