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CHENNAI: War and chess collided on Monday night as two grandmasters whose countries have been in bloody conflict this year faced each other in the Skilling Open. Azerbaijan and Armenia may be observing a tense ceasefire right now but there was no peace on the board as Teimour Radjabov won a dramatic Champions Chess Tour clash with Levon Aronian. It was the first time the pair have played since war ravaged the region Radjabov and Aronian call home. In the weeks preceding the match, both players have spoken out publicly about the anguish war has caused them and their desire to make their countries proud. When the encounter ended Radjabov, representing Azerbaijan, immediately left his chair to celebrate. Aronian, meanwhile, looked devastated. The days first round-robin match-ups started with a shock win for Liem Quang Le who upset the US speed chess specialist Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, World Champion Magnus Carlsen tested Aronians defence but couldnt break through as the game ended in a draw. Carlsen was riding high on the leaderboard but suffered a final game collapse to Russia's former world title challenger Sergey Karjakin. It left Carlsen's big rival, Anish Giri in the top spot on the leaderboard, a half-point clear overnight. Nakamura, Carlsen's other great rival, appeared out of sorts early on and in danger of leaving himself too much to do on Tuesday to stay in the tournament. But the American won a crucial final round game over Ian Nepomniactchi which pulled him up the leaderboard. He now will be confident of making the top-eight cut. The 16 players are fighting it out in a round-robin stage to make the quarter-finals. There are five rounds left on Tuesday before eight are eliminated.

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Chess: Radjabov beats Aronian in emotional clash - Times of India