Anand crushes Carlsen, jumps to joint third in Norway Chess

June 20, 2015

Stavanger (Norway), Jun 20: Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand defeated reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen to jump to the joint third spot after the end of the fourth round of Norway Chess tournament, here.

Anand crushesAfter three draws in the first four rounds of the tournament , a part of the Grand Chess Tour, Anand's hunt for the victory ended in a delightful manner as the Indian ace crushed Carlsen in all departments of the game to move up to 2.5 points out of a possible four.

Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria surged ahead of the rest with his third victory in four games coming at the expense of Levon Aronian of Armenia. Alexander Grischuk of Russia also joined the party winning his first game in the tournament but on the receiving end was the other 'local hero', Jon Ludvig Hammer.

The other games of the fourth round ended in draws.

Dutchman Anish Giri's theoretical duel against American Hikaru Nakamura ended peacefully while Italian Fabiano Caruana could not break the defences of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France.

With five rounds still remaining in the USD 305000 prize money tournament, Topalov is sitting pretty on a staggering 3.5 points, a half point ahead of Nakamura. Anand and Giri share the third spot on 2.5 points apiece. Caruana, Grischuk and Vachier-Lagrave share the fifth spot on two points each while Aronian and Hammer have just one point to share the eighth spot.

Sitting on just a half point from four games, world champion Carlsen faces a tought task to stage a comeback from his currently held last spot.

For Anand it was a Breyer defence through transposition of moves in the Ruy Lopez opening. Playing white, the Indian ace took some time in the opening to reach the desired middle game.

"It took us half an hour each. If we had just played the Breyer, it would have taken us two minutes," Anand said after the game.

Carlsen went for a risky set-up allowing white an attack on the king side and Anand found some brilliant moves, including an incredible queen manoeuvre that brought his last stranded rook in the attack.

Carlsen tried to salvage but Anandwas in mood to relent. The game lasted 47 moves.

Asked about Magnus's bad start, Anand said: "You have to see in the context of this first game. He played an excellent game and if he'd won that he'd be a different person."

In other games, Topalov handled the Ragozin variation well to get a small advantage against Aronian. The Armenian was put to test in a slightly difficult endgame wherein a mistake caused him dearly as two white rooks created havoc on the seventh rank. Aronian resigned after 58 moves.

Grischuk played experimental chess against Hammer and his instinct in the English opening proved better than the latter.

Causing a mild deficiency in Hammer's pawn structure early in the opening, Grischuk capitalised on some unforced errors to win a pawn and his technique was impeccable in the fourth round.

Results after Round 4: Viswanathan Anand (IND, 2.5) beat Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 0.5); Veselin Topalov (BUL, 3.5) beat Levon Aronian (ARM, 1); Alexander Grischuk (RUS, 2) beat Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR, 1); Fabiano Caruana (ITA, 2) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2); Anish Giri (NED, 2.5) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 3).

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassadors of the WTF Sports.

Raina is also joining the brand as a Strategic Partner. WTF Sports, a fantasy sports gaming platform, was today formally launched in India and globally.

The announcement was made through a web conference with prominent cricket host, Vikram Sathaye moderating and hosting the webinar and Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia Co-Founders - India and Global, WTF Sports introducing the cricketers as the Global Brand Ambassadors.

Kaur said it was a perfect fit for her and she can use her strategy and experience while playing.
"WTF Sports was the perfect fit with me, I can use strategy and my experience while playing, I've actually learnt to strategize better as I've played along. Additionally, when we were under lockdown and I couldn't really practice, it was fun to come on the platform and feel like I'm still playing," Kaur said in a statement.

On the other hand, Raina said, "It is exciting to be a part of a fantasy sports platform like WTF Sports not just as an ambassador but also as the strategic partner, it is everything that I embody and what I believe in, it's fierce, fun and competitive."

The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes, and exciting contests, ensuring that sports fans can get more skillful by letting them strategize and use their sports knowledge into rewarding behaviour.

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News Network
February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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