Alireza Firouzja clinches Chennai Grand Masters

CHENNAI: French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja was crowned champion of the fourth edition of the Chennai Grand Masters 2026, India’s most prestigious classical chess tournament, at here on Wednesday.

Firouzja, who had started the competition with two consecutive wins, had gone into the final round with half a point advantage over his nearest rivals, Erigaisi and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. In an attempt to push for a win with black pieces to try and claim the title, Abdusattorov lost to GM Dmitry Andreikin in 37-moves.

This meant that Firouzja then needed just a draw against Erigaisi to grab the crown and he did just that in 41 moves with his Indian opponent having little chance of turning the tables in the rook-pawn endgame. The Frenchman will take home a prize purse of Rs 25,00,000 ($26500) for his effort that saw him win two matches and draw the next five.

Andreikin, who was the only unbeaten player in the competition apart from Firouzja, finished with 4 points along with Erigaisi. The Russian Grandmaster, against all odds, bested the talented Abdusattorov to cilimb up the ranks.

However, his opposition, Abdusattorov along with GM Nihal Sarin and GM M Pranesh finished fourth with 3.5 points. But the biggest disappointment of the tournament was local boy, D Gukesh, whose struggles continued, as he lost three out of his seven matches, and drew in the most shocking manner on Wednesday, finishing the tournament with two points.