Soumya Swaminathan

Jan 18, 2025 | freepressjournal.in | Soumya Swaminathan

In the age of social media where attention spans are getting shorter, Chess can be a powerful tool for nurturing a child’s mind. Among other qualities, Chess develops patience, concentration, pattern recognition, rational thinking, and imagination. Many schools and state governments in India having realized the benefits of chess in students’ lives have introduced the ‘Chess in Schools’ project.

Dec 21, 2024 | freepressjournal.in | Soumya Swaminathan

Eighteen-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju’s win in his first ever World Championship Match is the triumph of a youngster’s fearless determination and unwavering self belief. With his victory in the final classical game of his 14 game Match against Ding Liren, Gukesh smoothly transitioned from Youngest Challenger to the 18th World Chess Champion. The Final position from this game will likely be seen on the back of many T shirts in the months to come!Ding Liren (2728) vs D.

Nov 23, 2024 | freepressjournal.in | Soumya Swaminathan

With these performances, Gukesh has earned the tag of being a “Big Match Player”. Let us look at how he handled a pressure situation as Black against his compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa in the second round of the Candidates tournament 2024: (Diagram 1): Position after white played 15.e6 | In the opening phase of this game, Pragg managed to catch Gukesh in his preparation, but Gukesh’s replies were logical and positionally sound so not much damage has been done to Black’s position – yet.

Nov 23, 2024 | timesofindia.indiatimes.com | Soumya Swaminathan

Last week at COP29 in Baku, world leaders pledged to reduce emissions to tackle climate change, yet just miles away in India’s Indo-Gangetic plain, air quality plummeted. This underscores a dual crisis: an environmental emergency and a public health catastrophe, costing India over a million lives and 1.6%-1.8% of its GDP annually. Globally, 9 in 10 people breathe air that fails to meet WHO standards.

Nov 21, 2024 | thehindu.com | Kalpana Balakrishnan |Vijay Shankar Balakrishnan |Soumya Swaminathan

The 2024 Conference of Parties (COP 29) ends in Baku, Azerbaijan today. As a global voice for developing countries, India will push for ambitious climate mitigation financing from developed nations. At the same time, pollutants in our air, water and land continue to pose grave health risks. According to the Emissions Gap Report 2024 from the United Nations Environment Programme, India has seen over 6% more greenhouse gas emissions than the previous year.