Comprehension

Indian Chess recorded yet another great moment on Monday, as Divya Deshmukh won the Women’s World Cup in the Georgian city of Batumi. In the final, the 19-year-old defeated fellow-Indian Koneru Humpy in the tiebreakers. While Humpy contesting the final wasn’t much of a surprise—she is the World No. 5 and has been one of the best female players for the last couple of decades—not many would have anticipated Divya’s stunning show. But, given her obvious talent and the way she has been playing for the past two years, it didn’t come as a big surprise. By winning the World Cup, one of the biggest events organized by the world chess governing body FIDE, Divya also achieved another significant milestone. She became India’s 88th Grandmaster and is only the fourth Indian woman after Humpy, D. Harika and R. Vaishali to get that coveted title. Last year, Divya won the World junior championship in Ahmedabad with a dominant display. She also played a key role in India’s historic gold in the Chess Olympiad at Budapest. India was the top seed there, though. At the World Cup, the Indian women exceeded expectations, with four of them making it to the quarterfinals. (198 words)

[Extracted from the newspaper, The Hindu July 29, 2025]

Question: 1

Where is the origin of chess believed to be?

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When asked about the “origin” of a traditional game, look for the oldest historically documented version.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • China
  • Russia
  • India
  • Egypt
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks for the place where chess is believed to have originated.

Step 2: Key Fact:
Historians trace chess to Chaturanga, an ancient Indian strategy game whose four divisions of an army later became the modern chess pieces.

Step 3: Tracing the Spread:
From India, Chaturanga travelled through Persia and the Arab world before reaching Europe, where it developed into the game played today.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Chess is believed to have originated in India.
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Approach Solution -2

Separating "has an old board-game tradition" from "is chess's actual point of origin" clears this one up.

  1. China: its Xiangqi tradition is old and strategy-based, but it is a parallel game, not the ancestor game historians point to for chess itself.
  2. Russia: Russia's chess culture is a modern-era phenomenon built on the game after it had already spread across Europe, not a claim about where it began.
  3. India: the specific ancestor game, Chaturanga, is documented in India, and the piece-for-piece resemblance (infantry to pawn, cavalry to knight, elephants to bishop, chariots to rook) is the strongest evidence tying chess's origin to this game.
  4. Egypt: Egypt's Senet predates Chaturanga but belongs to a different lineage of board games and is not linked to chess by historians.

The direct piece-by-piece link only exists between chess and India's Chaturanga, which is why India is treated as the game's birthplace.

The correct answer is India.

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Question: 2

Who was the first Indian to earn the title of chess Grandmaster?

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India’s rise in chess began with Anand, whose GM title paved the way for future generations.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • D.Gukesh
  • Praveen Thipsay
  • Dibyendu Barua
  • Vishwanathan Anand
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The Correct Option is D

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks which player was the first Indian to become a chess Grandmaster.

Step 2: Key Fact:
Viswanathan Anand earned the Grandmaster title in 1988, becoming the first Indian to do so.

Step 3: Comparing the Other Names:
Praveen Thipsay (1997), Dibyendu Barua (1991) and D. Gukesh (much later, in the 2010s) all reached the title after Anand had already done so.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Viswanathan Anand was India's first Grandmaster.
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Approach Solution -2

Grouping these four names by chess generation makes the order easy to see.

  1. D. Gukesh: belongs to the newest generation of Indian Grandmasters, rising to prominence only in the last decade.
  2. Praveen Thipsay: part of the generation that followed right after India's first GM, earning his title in the late 1990s.
  3. Dibyendu Barua: also part of the generation right after the first GM, reaching the title in the early 1990s.
  4. Vishwanathan Anand: belongs to the founding generation, the player who broke through first, in 1988, opening the door for every Indian Grandmaster who came after.

Since Anand's generation came before all the others listed, he is the one who holds the "first" title.

The correct answer is Viswanathan Anand.

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Question: 3

Who was the first official World Chess Champion?

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The title “first official world champion” always refers to Steinitz, regardless of later champions’ fame.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • Bobby Fischer
  • Garry Kasparov
  • Vishwanathan Anand
  • Wilhelm Steinitz
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The Correct Option is D

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks who held the very first official World Chess Championship title.

Step 2: Key Fact:
The championship was first contested in 1886, when Wilhelm Steinitz defeated Johannes Zukertort.

Step 3: Comparing the Other Names:
Fischer became champion in 1972, Kasparov in 1985 and Anand in the 2000s, all well after the title had already existed for decades.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official World Chess Champion.
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Approach Solution -2

Tracing the championship back through its match history settles this quickly.

  1. Bobby Fischer: his famous title match was against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972, itself one of many championship matches that had already taken place by then.
  2. Garry Kasparov: his run as champion began in 1985 against Anatoly Karpov, continuing a lineage of champions stretching back nearly a century before him.
  3. Vishwanathan Anand: Anand's championship reigns came in the 2000s, placing him among the modern champions rather than the founding one.
  4. Wilhelm Steinitz: the very first title match in this lineage was Steinitz against Johannes Zukertort in 1886, the match that created the championship itself.

Every other name listed won a later link in this chain of championship matches; only Steinitz's match started the chain.

The correct answer is Wilhelm Steinitz.

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Question: 4

Which of the following computers successfully defeated Garry Kasparov, the reigning world chess champion, in a tournament match?

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“Deep Thought” was an earlier prototype; “Deep Blue” achieved the famous victory.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • Deep AI
  • Deep Thought
  • Deep Blue
  • Deep Water
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks which computer beat Garry Kasparov while he held the world championship title.

Step 2: Key Fact:
IBM built Deep Blue as the successor to its earlier machine, Deep Thought, specifically to compete against Kasparov at full strength.

Step 3: Checking the Other Names:
Deep Thought lost to Kasparov back in 1989, and "Deep AI" and "Deep Water" are not real chess-playing computers from this period.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Deep Blue was the computer that defeated Kasparov, in their 1997 rematch.
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Approach Solution -2

Placing these names on a timeline of IBM's chess-computer project shows which one actually won.

  1. Deep AI: does not appear anywhere in IBM's actual chess-computer timeline and is not a genuine machine name.
  2. Deep Thought: the earliest machine in this lineage, tested against Kasparov in 1989 and defeated by him at that stage.
  3. Deep Blue: the next generation after Deep Thought, rebuilt with far greater processing power, and the machine that finally beat Kasparov in the 1997 rematch.
  4. Deep Water: also absent from IBM's actual project history and not a real chess computer.

Following the project's real timeline, Deep Thought lost and its successor Deep Blue won, so Deep Blue is the machine the question is asking about.

The correct answer is Deep Blue.

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Question: 5

Which of the following cities is the venue for hosting the 11th edition of the Chess World Cup 2025?

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When tournament venues are not mentioned in the passage, rely on official FIDE event assignments.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • Paris, France
  • Baku, Azerbaijan
  • Goa, India
  • Chennai, India
Show Solution

The Correct Option is B

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks for the host city of the 11th edition of the Chess World Cup in 2025.

Step 2: Key Fact:
FIDE's official schedule names Baku, Azerbaijan, as the host city for this edition.

Step 3: Checking the Other Cities:
Goa and Chennai have hosted other Indian chess events, and Paris has no listed connection to FIDE's 2025 World Cup schedule, so none of these three fit.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The 11th Chess World Cup was hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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Approach Solution -2

Looking at where recent big FIDE events have been held narrows this down.

  1. Paris, France: not a city FIDE has used for its recent flagship World Cup or Olympiad events.
  2. Baku, Azerbaijan: a city FIDE has repeatedly chosen for major recent events, and its 2025 schedule specifically lists Baku as the World Cup venue.
  3. Goa, India: associated with Indian domestic and Olympiad-related chess activity, not with hosting the World Cup itself.
  4. Chennai, India: another strong Indian chess city, but again tied to different tournaments, not this World Cup edition.

Matching the host pattern in FIDE's own 2025 calendar points to Baku as the correct venue.

The correct answer is Baku, Azerbaijan.

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Top Questions on Sports and Physical Education

Questions Asked in CLAT exam

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
View Solution
Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. In establishing a social order on this pattern, there was a strong possibility of a conflict arising between diverse groups and classes of our own people.

According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
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