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Anand beats Carlsen, finishes fourth in blitz event ahead of Norway Chess tournament

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Indian chess players continued to get the better of world champion Magnus Carlsen as after R Praggnanandhaa, Viswanathan Anand defeated the world No. 1 in a one-day blitz tournament ahead of the 10th edition of the Norway Chess championship.

Anand and Carlsen met in the seventh round of the blitz tournament — one of the shortest formats of the game played at the international level — and the Indian emerged winner.

Anand was playing with white pieces and the game was looking headed toward a draw but Carlsen tried to force something and landed in trouble and had to resign on the 43rd move.

Overall in nine games, Anand won three, drew four games, and lost two.

With a total score of five points from nine games to finish fourth behind Wesley So of the United States, Carlsen of Norway and Anish Giri of the Netherlands, Giri, Anand and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan finished with five points each but Giri finished third while Anand and Mamedyarov were placed fourth and fifth respectively.

The single round-robin blitz tournament was organised to decide the pairings for the main event of the Norway Chess festival — the super-strong classical chess tournament involving 10 players.

This over-the-board chess tournament will be the first classical event this year for Anand, who had recently won the rapid section of the Superbet Rapid & Blitz chess tournament in Poland, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour.

Others in the 10-player classical event are Carlsen, Wesley So, Giri, Mamedyarov, Teymur Radjabov of Azerbaijan, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, Wang Hao of China, and Aryan Tari of Norway.

In each round in the main tournament of the Norway Chess festival, players will have 120 minutes to complete the game with an increment of 10 seconds after 40 moves.

In case the classical game ends in a draw, the players will play an Armageddon game within 20 minutes, with the player with white pieces in the classical game getting 10 minutes to complete the game while the one with black pieces getting 7 minutes, with an increment of one second per move, starting from move 41.

In case the game ends in a draw, the player with black pieces is considered as winner.

A win in normal time control will earn a player three points while a defeat will get none. The winner of the Armageddon game will get 1.5 points while the loser will get 1 point.

The classical tournament will start with the first round on Tuesday and end on June 10.

The event carries a total prize fund of 2,500,000 Norwegian Krone (Rs 2.06 crore approx) with the winner getting 750,000 NOK (Rs 61.88 lakh approx).

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IPL 2025: Only unfinished business is lifting the trophy, says SRH’s Nitish Reddy

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New Delhi, April 3: After ending up as runners-up in the last edition of the IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy feels that the only unfinished business for the franchise is to lift the trophy this season.

SRH had a tough start to the IPL 2025 season as they lost their last two matches and are placed in eighth place in the standings. They will look to add two points against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Thursday, in a rematch of the IPL 2024 final.

“To be honest, I never set personal goals, even when playing for India or in the IPL last year. The only unfinished business is lifting the trophy. We created history with some records, but our ultimate goal is to win the IPL title and add a second star to SRH’s legacy,” Reddy said on JioHotstar’s show ‘Gen Bold’.

Reflecting on his growth since the breakthrough last season, where he scored 303 runs in 13 matches for SRH and went on to make his India debut in T20I and Test formats, Reddy said, “I am very happy with the progress I’ve made, both in my performances for my country and my IPL franchise. I want to continue delivering at the same level. There has been a significant change – people have started recognising me and praising my performances.

“However, I don’t want to let this get to my head. Moving forward, I want to play with the same passion and consistency, whether it’s for my franchise or India. My focus remains on keeping my love for cricket alive.”

The 21-year-old lauded Pat Cummins’ leadership skills and termed him a calm and composed captain. “He is an extremely calm and composed leader. The way he handles pressure is remarkable. When you see your captain managing things so smoothly, it instils confidence in the entire group.”

“His composure helps us believe that we can always make a comeback. As a captain, he is brilliant, and I truly enjoy playing under his leadership,” Reddy said.

On SRH’s explosive batting line-up, he added, “I would rate my team very highly. We had an incredible season last year, and we want to replicate that success. Our strategy is simple – playing with a free mind, maximizing runs in the powerplay, and carrying that momentum into the later overs. Whether it’s the top or middle order, everyone has a role to play. We’re hopeful for another great season.”

Reddy picked Kagiso Rabada as the toughest bowler to face in the IPL and said facing him was a tough challenge.

“I guess I have started understanding the bowlers better now. Just as they study my game, I analyse theirs too. My approach will remain the same, but I will adapt to situations as required. Last year, I didn’t play the first four matches, but when I did, I found Kagiso Rabada particularly challenging. When we played against Punjab, he was very expressive on that wicket, and facing him there was a tough challenge for me,” he said.

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IPL 2025: Nick Knight backs PBKS winning formula under Iyer and Ponting

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New Delhi, April 2: Former England cricketer Nick Knight believes Punjab Kings (PBKS) have found a winning formula in IPL 2025, with the leadership of captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Ricky Ponting.

After a strong start to the IPL 2025 campaign, where Iyer’s unbeaten 97 off 42 balls powered Punjab Kings to a narrow 11-run victory over Gujarat Titans, PBKS extended their unbeaten streak with a commanding eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants, courtesy to Prabhsimran Singh (69) and Iyer’s ( 52 not out) fluent half-centuries.

Knight was particularly impressed with how Indian players have stepped up in the team’s two commanding victories so far.

“You look at their team line-up and think they’ve won two games quite well—this one (against LSG) certainly comprehensively. Overseas players haven’t played a major part in that. So (there are) contributions from Indian players. The captain’s like a rock. He looks so calm. He looks so authoritative. The team is playing exactly how his mentality is playing out along with the coach Ricky Ponting,” Knight said on ESPNcricinfo.

What stands out is how much of PBKS’ success has come from their Indian core. Shreyas Iyer has led from the front, but youngsters like Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, and Prabhsimran Singh have also played key roles. This bodes well for the team, especially since their overseas stars—Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Lockie Ferguson, and Azmatullah Omarzai—haven’t yet had a major impact.

“Maxwell, Stoinis, Ferguson, Omarzai, whoever it’s going to be, you know they’re going to play a major part, win a game or two and have a major contribution along the line. So you put that in the back pocket and say, ‘Well, that’s going to happen at some point. So if we’re winning games without them, we’re in a pretty good place’. That’s as much I see from that performance. That is a really confident start for them based on some of their major players yet to make a major contribution,” said Knight.

After win on Tuesday night against LSG, PBKS will look to maintain their momentum and add another victory to their tally when they face Rajasthan Royals on April 5.

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IPL 2025: When and where to watch LSG vs PBKS, head-to-head record

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Lucknow, April 1: Lucknow Super Giants will host the Punjab Kings at the the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday in match 13 of the 2025 Indian Premier League campaign.

Led by captain Rishabh Pant, the Super Giants will head into the game brimming with confidence after they defeated SunRisers Hyderabad by five wickets at their home ground.

Having opened their account in IPL 2025, LSG will be looking to continue the winning momentum against the Kings at home.

Punjab Kings began their IPL 2025 campaign with a 11-run win over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.

The Kings’ top order includes wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, opener Priyansh Arya and newly appointed captain Shreyas Iyer. The likes of Azmatullah Omarzai, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Shashank Singh are expected to feature in their middle order. In the bowling department, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijaykumar Vyshak are their key options. Their opening game win against GT was an overall solid performance where Arya and Iyer set the foundation in the first innings and clutch death bowling by Vyshak secured the win

LSG vs PBKS head-to-head record in IPL

LSG have a superior head-to-head record against Punjab Kings in the IPL, having won three of the four matches.

The last time the two sides met, the former registered a 21-run home victory over the Kings in March 2024

Live Streaming details

Venue: The match will take place at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

When: April 1, 7:30 PM IST

Livestream: The clash between Lucknow and Punjab will be live-streamed on JioHotstar app and website

Broadcast: Star Sports Network

Squads:

Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), David Miller, Ayush Badoni, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, RS Hangargekar, Akash Maharaj Singh, Avesh Khan, Matthew Breetzke, Aryan Juyal, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Akash Deep, Mayank Yadav, Shamar Joseph, Arshin Kulkarni

Punjab Kings: Josh Inglis(w), Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas lyer(c), Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash

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