Firouzja stays ahead as Round 4 ends in draws at Chennai Grand Masters

Alireza Firouzja maintained a half-point lead over Arjun Erigaisi after all four Round 4 matches ended in draws at the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026. More than 500 fans attended the event, where Viswanathan Anand made the ceremonial first move

Hyderabad: French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja continued to lead the standings with a half-point advantage over India’s Arjun Erigaisi after all matches in the fourth round ended in draws in the fourth edition of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026, India’s most prestigious classical chess tournament, in Chennai on Sunday.

More than 500 chess fans watched the Round 4 action live and also got an opportunity to interact with the legendary Viswanathan Anand, who made the ceremonial first move in the match between Erigaisi and M Pranesh.

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Organised by MGD1, the tournament features eight grandmasters competing in a round-robin format and offers a prize purse of Rs 75,00,000 and valuable FIDE Circuit points.

Firouzja had won his first two matches, while Erigaisi had scored a full point in the third round to heat up the title race on Saturday. Erigaisi was the first to sign the peace treaty against compatriot M Pranesh with the white pieces. The match remained evenly balanced throughout, and the players agreed to a draw after 34 moves.

World Champion D Gukesh tried his best to find a way past GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the black pieces but eventually settled for a draw after 41 moves. Firouzja also played it safe with the black pieces against GM Hans Niemann and agreed to a draw after 50 moves.

The results: Fourth round: 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).