Alireza Firouja clinches Chennai Grand Masters Title with a stalemate against Arjun Erigaisi
The battle between the two title contenders ended in a draw despite Arjun's hard efforts as he needed the win to claim the crown
XtraTime Newsdesk: French-Iranian grandmaster Alireza Firouzja has won the 2026 Grandmasters in Chennai, overcoming Indian player Arjun Eligaishi in the final round.
The battle between the two title contenders ended in a draw despite Arjun's hard efforts as he needed the win to claim the crown. Sicily chose to defend, but the match ended in a stalemate after 41 moves.
Arjun also came second in the first tournament in which D. Gukesh was given the post. In the following two tournaments, he placed 3rd in the ranking.
Arjun will probably end the month as India's No. 1 and world No. 9. He and R Praggnananda are the only Indians currently ranked above 2,750, and his title defense at the Chess Olympics is just two months away.
In the only match that could have had a significant impact on the final result, Nodilbek Abdusatrov lost to grandmaster Dmitry Andreykin in 37 moves. Meanwhile, the much-awaited match between reigning world champions Gukesh and Hans Niemann ended in a draw after less than 30 minutes. Gukesh finished the tournament without a win after seven rounds, and his record of four draws and three losses showed that his form continued to decline. He finished last among the eight grandmasters. This will be a major concern when he faces Uzbekistan's Jabohir Shindarov in the world championship match at the end of the year.
The remaining two Indians in the eight-a-side race, Pranesh M and Nihal Sareen, finished the short event one point behind the winner.
