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The Indian, just 21, scored his second major success of the summer following Norway Chess at Oslo while Wesley So halved to Sinquefield Cup victory with nine straight drawsIndia’s world No 12, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, won the Grand Chess Tour finals in St Louis on Thursday night when he defeated the US world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, in a mix of classical, rapid and blitz games by 15-13. It was the 21-year-old’s second major success of the summer following Norway Chess at Oslo and it earned him a record $200,000 first prize, up from $150,000 in 2025.Earlier, Wesley So, the US world No 6, won the prestigious Sinquefield Cup and over $100,000 for the second year in succession, despite a run of nine mostly colourless draws. Continue reading...

Liverpool need midfield nous, Michael Carrick is already under pressure and Villa can bid farewell to Enzi KonsaEnzo Maresca has a shiny new £85m midfielder he could select for a debut but, at 18 years old, he may want Ayyoub Bouaddi to have a bit of time watching on from the bench to learn about the Premier League from his elders. The Moroccan may not have anticipated one of those to be a centre-back by trade. Marc Guéhi will be eager to make a triumphant return to Crystal Palace and may well have the opportunity to do so from central midfield, where he played last weekend in the victory over Bournemouth, scoring the equaliser. The centre-back was a surprise selection in the blocker role next to Elliot Anderson, but equipped himself admirably and was not limited to the dirty work, often being found in more advanced positions in open play and happy to have the ball at his feet. His long-term future is unlikely to be outside of defence but further proof of Guéhi’s adaptability will be a positive for Maresca, as a long season awaits. Will UnwinCrystal Palace v Manchester City, Friday 8pm (all times BST)Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 12.30pmBournemouth v Everton, Saturday 3pmCoventry v Hull, Saturday 3pmTottenham v Newcastle, Saturday 5.30pm Continue reading...

Jo Potter’s side charged to promotion and have brought in striker Bethany England as they bid to stay upGuardian writers’ predicted position: 13th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 2nd (WSL2) Continue reading...

Miguel Ángel Gil Marín accuses Barça of ‘dishonesty’Arsenal have also been linked with Argentina forwardAtlético Madrid’s chief executive appeared to slam the door on Barcelona’s pursuit of Júlian Alvarez on Thursday. Miguel Ángel Gil Marín accused the Catalan club of dishonesty and insisted the Argentina forward would “never, ever” be sold to them.Speaking to Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus, Gil Marín delivered a blistering response to ⁠Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, who had said on Wednesday that ​his club remained “very interested” in signing Alvarez. Continue reading...

McInnes ‘mortified’ by early European exitBrighton rout Tromsø 4-0 to reach league phaseRangers crashed out of the Uefa Conference League playoffs with a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat by Jablonec.Leading 1-0 from the first leg at Ibrox last week, Derek McInnes’s side turned in a turgid performance in Czechia which lacked creativity and invention. It proved costly as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Stadion Strelnice, drawing 1-1 on aggregate after extra time to set up the final shootout. Continue reading...

Super League: Wigan Warriors 46-0 Hull KRLiam Marshall bags hat-trick of tries in routOn the night when Wigan Warriors celebrated one of their greatest entertainers, perhaps it was fitting that Matt Peet’s class of 2026 produced a performance Sir Billy Boston would have been proud of on their charge towards, potentially, another Super League title.There are some nights where the result is dwarfed by the occasion. Where sport, in truth, comes second. This was undoubtedly one of those, as what felt like the entirety of this town where rugby league is more akin to a religion than a pastime came together in grief to remember the life and career of their most cherished adopted son. Continue reading...

Dos Santos and Russell smash hurdles world recordsWerro comes within 0.42sec of 800m world recordBednarek and Wanyonyi clock world-leading timesMasai Russell and Alison Dos Santos each set a world record while Mondo Duplantis won a historic pole vault on a frenetic Thursday night in Zurich.The Letzigrund Stadium had a raucous sell-out 25,000 crowd and the still, balmy weather conditions helped the athletes no end. Continue reading...

Fulham’s second London derby this week, a first competitive win for Álvaro Arbeloa. If AFC Wimbledon represent a different echelon to Chelsea, Monday’s visitors, Thursday’s easy progress past League One opponents supplied several reasons for optimism in the new Fulham.Marco Silva, Arbeloa’s predecessor, frequently offered sullen dismissal of the depth of his Fulham squad and yet left behind plenty of talent on departing for Benfica. Getting a better tune from Emile Smith Rowe and Rodrigo Muniz than Silva managed last season will help. The pair scored first-half goals to take the tie from Wimbledon’s reach, making for a second half of comfort and experimentation, glimpses of a different Fulham, teenage talent handed its chance to shine. Gonzalo García’s late strike, rounding Wimbledon goalkeeper Nathan Bishop for a second goal of the week, increased the excitement surrounding one of the summer’s most eye-catching signings. Continue reading...

‘Mind-numbing that people end up in these positions’Brydon Carse incident is the latest in a long lineStuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have criticised the “extreme and tiresome” flood of negative stories around the England cricket team’s drinking and socialising habits, with Anderson – England’s all-time leading wicket-taker – saying it is “just mind-numbing that people can still be putting themselves in these positions”.The latest scandal involving members of the Test squad involved the bowler Brydon Carse, who was pictured being led away from a Derby bar in handcuffs in the early hours of Sunday morning. The 31-year-old was briefly arrested by police on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly before being “de-arrested”, though they continue to investigate an allegation of assault in connection with the incident. Carse was dropped from the squad for the second Test against Pakistan that started at Lord’s on Thursday, but took two wickets for Durham on the first day of their County Championship game against Gloucestershire. Continue reading...

Emiliano Martínez is on his way but another high-profile Argentinian is likely to be wearing a different shade of blue soon. Chelsea have dealt with their biggest weakness, satisfying Xabi Alonso’s wish for a new goalkeeper by agreeing a £7.5m deal to sign Martínez from Aston Villa, and it will surely not be long before they have put an end to the Enzo Fernández saga.Fernández was the most notable absentee as Chelsea eased into the third round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Luton. There is a desire to move on from the circus. Manchester City are poised to bid for Fernández and, with the noise around the midfielder becoming a distraction, Alonso and the club decided to leave out Chelsea’s supposed vice-captain. Continue reading...