Firouzja beats Gukesh to extend winning run at Chennai Grand Masters

French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja defeated world champion D. Gukesh in a 69-move battle to register his second consecutive win at the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026. Other top players, including Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, settled for draws

Hyderabad: French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja eked out yet another gruelling victory to register his second straight win in the fourth edition of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026 in Chennai on Friday.

Firouzja, who had defeated GM M. Pranesh with black pieces on the opening day, got the better of world champion D. Gukesh after 69 moves to take his tally to two points after two rounds.

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Organised by MGD1, the tournament features eight Grandmasters facing off in a double round-robin format and offers a prize purse of Rs 75,00,000 along with valuable FIDE Circuit points.

After Deepraj Mukherjee, General Manager, Westin Chennai Velachery, made the ceremonial first move between Firouzja and Gukesh, the Frenchman opted for a Ruy Lopez opening with white. It looked like Gukesh could hold out against the French GM in a knight-and-pawn ending, but a pawn sacrifice by Firouzja opened the door for a clinical win.

M. Pranesh, who had lost his opening-round game with white pieces, did not take any chances with black against GM Dmitry Andreikin and settled for a draw by repetition in just 18 moves.

GM Arjun Erigaisi also played it safe against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov with black pieces, and the Uzbek signed the peace treaty after 43 moves.

GM Nihal Sarin also held Hans Niemann to a draw after a marathon 132-move game in which he thwarted all the moves of his US opponent to gain the upper hand.

The results (second round): GM Hans Niemann (1) drew with GM Nihal Sarin (1); GM Alireza Firouzja (2) beat GM D. Gukesh (0.5); GM Dmitry Andreikin (1) drew with GM M. Pranesh (0.5); GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (1) drew with GM Arjun Erigaisi (1).