Sergei Karjakin. (Getty Images)
CHENNAI: The coronavirus hasn’t been able to dim the magic of at least one sport, chess, which has boomed even as other outdoor activity has come to a near-complete standstill. It seems even the sky isn’t the limit for this game of 64 squares, which is readying for a unique ‘cosmic’ clash on June 9.
A one-of-a-kind contest is set to be organised between ‘Earth’ – represented by Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin – and ‘Space’, featuring cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner, who will team up and play from the International Space Station (ISS). The clash will mark the 50th anniversary of the first Earth-versus-Space clash on June 9, 1970, which ended in a draw.
It remains to be seen if GM Karjakin, the 30-year-old Russian who is a for