Updated on: Dec 27, 2025 07:27 pm IST
Chanda began his campaign on a strong note, beating big names. He defeated Levon Aronian and Praggnanandhaa in back-to-back rounds.
Chanda was Viswanathan Anand’s second for his World Championship 2013 match against Magnus Carlsen. What made the win against Praggnanandhaa more special is that he has coached the Indian GM and his elder sister, Vaishali Rameshbabu, in the past.
In a video which has gone viral on social media, Praggnanandhaa’s expression was one of total disbelief after realising his defeat. The 20-year-old looked shellshocked, and his former coach didn’t leave the table, giving him company.
Here is the video:
Sandipan is a 42-year-old GM from Kolkata. He became a GM in 2003, and in 2004, he won the Curacao Chess Festival. He has represented India in the Chess Olympiads of 2004, 2006 and 2008. He secured a notable win over Sergei Tiviakov in 2007 and is regarded as one of the world’s top chess players.
On Saturday, Sandipan drew with Yu Yangyi in Round 6 and then lost to Liem Quang Le in the next round. He is currently 19th in the standings of the open rapid section. Artemiev Vladislav is on top of the standings, followed by Magnus Carlsen in second position. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is third, David Anton Guijarro is fourth and D Gukesh is in fifth position.
