CHENNAI, JUL 19 (PTI): French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja continued at the top position with a half -point advantage over India’s Arjun Erigaisi after all the matches in round four ended in draws in the Chennai Grandmasters 2026 chess tournament here on Sunday.
World champion D Gukesh tried his best to find a way past GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov with black pieces but ended up settling for a draw after 41 moves.
Erigaisi was the first to sign peace against compatriot M Pranesh with white pieces. The match stayed evenly balanced throughout, and the players opted for a draw after 34 moves.
Firouzja also played it safe with black against GM Hans Niemann and settled for a draw after 50 moves. The Frenchman has 3 points with Arjun Erigaisi in second place with 2.5 points.
Firouzja had won his first two matches while Erigaisi had scored one full point in the third round to heat up the title race on Saturday. Over 500 chess fans watched the Round 4 action live and also got an opportunity to interact with the legendary Viswanathan Anand, who also made the first move in the match between Erigaisi and M Pranesh.
The tournament features eight grandmasters in a robin format and offers a prize purse of Rs 75,00,000 and valuable FIDE Circuit points.
Round 4 Results: GM Hans Niemann (1.5) drew with GM Alireza Firouzja (3); GM Dmitry Andreikin (2) drew with GM Nihal Sarin (2); GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2) drew with GM D Gukesh (1.5); GM Arjun Erigaisi (2.5) drew with GM M Pranesh (1.5).
Round 5 Pairing: GM M Pranesh vs GM Hans Niemann; GM D Gukesh’s vs GM Arjun Erigaisi; GM Nihal Sarin vs GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov; GM Alireza Firouzja vs GM Dmitry Andreikin.
