Winning moves & historic returns on 64 squares

Chess wizards from the country had a momentous 2024, rewriting history on multiple occasions. From D Gukesh's world title to Koneru Humpy's recent success at US, Indian chess just kept on giving, writes Swaroop Swaminathan

- Swaroop Swaminathan

T's that time of December. The days are shorter and the weather several degrees cooler as the winter begins to set all over the country.

That means the end of the year is round the corner and the often thankless exercise of writing about the best is here.

In 2024, a lot of Indian athletes and teams excelled on the world stage. Neeraj Chopra went to a place so rarefied the air he breathes can only be found on Everest. The men's hockey team jumped past significant obstacles to return from Paris with another fine bronze. Vinesh Phogat beat the wrestler who never loses in Paris en route to a frankly thrilling ride in Paris before the heart-ache a few hours later. At long last, the men's cricket team married tenacity and skills to end an 11-year ICC title drought. Staying in cricket, Jasprit Bumrah had the sort of year that should have needed a separate subscription package to watch it.

Frankly, though, all those accomplishments have been left in the shade thanks to the miracle workers across 64 squares. 2024, in time, will be remembered as the year when India's elite chess players ascended a higher plane. There were several warning shots in 2022 and 2023 but they are no longer the future. The future is here and it promises to be filled with trinkets and gongs of all shapes and sizes. Just before the curtains came down on 2023, D Gukesh belatedly advanced to the Candidates.

With the curtains just about to close on this year, Koneru Humpy, whose experience alone is greater than Gukesh's age, was crowned as the women's world rapid champion in New York.