India's 19-year-old Grandmaster Pranesh M clinched the Group A title at the prestigious Kanizsa Open 2026, defeating Germany's Vadim Petrovskiy in the final round.
GM M Pranesh secured a significant victory over world champion D Gukesh, while GM Nihal Sarin defeated Arjun Erigaisi in the penultimate round of the Chennai Grand Masters. These results allowed French GM Alireza Firouzja to take the sole lead in the tournament.
Indian Grandmasters Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi have successfully navigated the lower bracket of the Esports World Cup chess tournament in Paris, securing their spots in the quarter-finals. The duo will now compete in the knockout stage, aiming for the US$1.5 million prize pool.
French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja secured the only decisive victory on the opening day of the Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament, defeating Indian GM M Pranesh in a lengthy 79-move game. Other prominent matches saw world champion D Gukesh draw with Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi draw with Dmitry Andreikin, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov draw with Hans Niemann, as eight grandmasters compete for a significant prize purse and FIDE Circuit points.
French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja holds a half-point lead over India's Arjun Erigaisi after all matches in Round 4 of the Chennai Grandmasters 2026 chess tournament concluded in draws. World champion D Gukesh also drew his game, while chess legend Viswanathan Anand interacted with fans at the event.
French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja defeated reigning world champion D Gukesh in a 69-move battle at the Chennai Grand Masters 2026, taking the sole lead after the second round. Indian players M Pranesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and Nihal Sarin all secured draws against their respective opponents in the prestigious tournament.
World champion D Gukesh is set to face Nihal Sarin in a highly anticipated first-round match at the Chennai Grand Masters 2026 chess tournament. The event features eight Grandmasters, including four Indians, competing for a prize purse of Rs 75,00,000 and crucial FIDE Circuit points in a double-round robin format.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has voiced significant reservations regarding a proposal by World Chess and FIDE to convert online rapid and blitz ratings into official FIDE ratings. He highlights fundamental integrity issues, such as mouse slips and the lack of physical supervision in home-based online play, making it difficult to ensure fair play. Erigaisi also commented on World Champion D Gukesh's recent form and dismissed the idea that AI diminishes creativity in chess.
Frenchman Alireza Firouzja has won the fourth edition of the Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament, securing the title with a draw against Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi in the final round. Firouzja finished with 4.5 points, taking home a prize purse of Rs 25 lakh.
Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin concluded their campaign at the Esports World Cup Chess tournament in the quarterfinals, securing top-eight finishes. Erigaisi was eliminated by Hikaru Nakamura in an Armageddon tiebreak, while Sarin lost to defending champion Magnus Carlsen. Their performance marks India's strongest showing in the event, with both players earning USD 75,000 each from the substantial prize pool.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has moved into a joint lead with French GM Alireza Firouzja at the Chennai Grand Masters after defeating world champion D Gukesh. With only two rounds remaining, the tournament sees intense competition, including GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov also in contention, vying for a significant prize purse and FIDE Circuit points.
M Pranesh bagged the Challengers crown despite losing to IM G B Harshavardhan in the final round at the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters.
World chess champion D Gukesh is ranked 19th behind the legendary Viswanathan Anand at 13th.
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin, representing esports and gaming content outfit S8UL, has qualified for the chess event of the upcoming Esports World Cup in Paris.
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin has qualified for the chess event of the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC) in Paris through the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) leaderboard, joining teammate Aravindh Chithambaram as the second Indian player to qualify.
'My next aim is to go past 2700.'
M Pranesh clinched the title in the Rilton Cup in Stockholm, the first tournament of the FIDE Circuit, to become India's 79th chess Grandmaster.
The experienced Surya Shekhar Ganguly, GM Raunak Sadhwani and GM Karthik Venkatraman scored comfortable victories while M Pranesh played out a draw to advance to the second round, while IM Aronyak Ghosh defeated GM Mateusz Bartel of Poland to force a tie-breaker, in the FIDE World Cup 2025 in Panaji on Sunday.
India's second major casualty on the day was Aravindh Chithambaram who lost to compatriot K Venkatramanan after the second set of rapid games.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi was held to a draw by 12-year-old Argentine sensation Oro Faustino in the first game of the second round of the FIDE World Cup in Panjim on Tuesday.
Nihal Sarin lit up Round 4 of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025 with a hard-fought win over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi
Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh caused the biggest upset of the World Chess Cup, ousting former world championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia after winning the second game of the second round, in Panjim, on Wednesday.
German GM Vincent Keymer stayed firmly in command of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025 after holding India's GM Vidit Gujrathi to a second straight draw in Round 5 on Monday.
Erigaisi in second place, German GM Keymer leads after three rounds of Chennai chess
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi bowed out of the World Chess Cup after a 2.5-3.5 loss to Sam Shankland of United States in the second set of tie-break games of third round, in Panjim on Sunday.
India's Arjun Erigaisi delivered a commanding performance against American Awonder Liang, while compatriot Nihal Sarin lost to Germany's Vincent Keymer in the opening round of the Chennai Grandmasters Chess tournament on Thursday.
Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi play out draw, Awonder beats Pranav in wonderkid clash
Grandmasters Raunak Sadhwani and S L Narayanan, India's two best hopes, were held to draws by Daniel Barrish of South Africa and Steven Salas Rojas of Peru in the first game of the opening round of World Chess Cup, in Panjim, on Saturday.
Harikrishna continued his success story with the seasoned Grandmaster, who famously assisted Gukesh in the World Championship title match, showcasing his skills as a brilliant attacker.
India's Narayanan, Diptayan, Aronyak advance to second round
World champion D Gukesh bowed out of the Chess World Cup, losing the third-round match to Frederik Svane of Germany, while Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa made it to the last-32 stage, in Panjim on Saturday.
Top-seeded Indian Arjun Erigaisi was held to a draw by Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest, while Vidit Gujrathi suffered a shock defeat to American Ray Robson in the second round of Chennai Grandmasters Chess tournament on Friday.
Karthikeyan upsets Vidit Gujrathi, Vincent Keymer edges closer to maiden title at Chennai Grand Masters.
The 20-year-old German, playing white, drew his match against Dutchman Jordan van Foreest, while results elsewhere confirmed his tournament victory.
World junior champion V Pranav of India lost to seasoned Grandmaster Jan Emmanuel Garcia of Philippines in the first round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship.
Neither current World Champion D Gukesh nor former world champion Vishy Anand are the top rated Indian chess player.
Asian chess: Srija Seshadri in joint lead
Gukesh is currently sharing the 8th spot on 1.5 points along with Abdusattorov and Duda.
World No. 4 Indian Arjun Erigaisi beat compatriot Vidit Gujrathi after five hours of end-to-end action in the opening round of the Chennai Chess Grand Masters 2024 in Chennai on Monday.
The father of one of the victims of the 2004 Ishrat Jahan "fake" encounter, on Tuesday said his son had come to Gujarat to meet a top police officer, disputing claims that he was on a terror mission.
