Keymer holds lead as Arjun draws in round six

Arjun Erigaisi held Vincent Keymer to a draw at the Chennai Grand Masters, while Pranesh stunned Abhimanyu in the Challengers, creating tight title battles in both sections of the tournament

Hyderabad: Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi held tournament leader Vincent Keymer to a hard-fought draw in the headline sixth-round clash at the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025 on Tuesday.

The result allowed the German GM to maintain his one-point lead at the top of the Masters standings after six rounds, with Arjun remaining in hot pursuit.

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In another key result, 22-year-old GM Awonder Liang of the United States defeated 18-year-old GM Pranav V in a much-anticipated “wonderkid” battle, moving level on points with Arjun and adding fresh intrigue to the chase for the title.

Unbeaten so far, Keymer opened with the Queen’s Pawn, quickly transposing into a Queen’s Gambit by move two, while Arjun responded with the Slav Defense. The German seized the early momentum, but Arjun clawed his way back, ensuring the pace-setter didn’t turn into a runaway leader.

Elsewhere in the Masters, Vidit Gujrathi and Anish Giri settled for a draw, while Jorden van Foreest bounced back with a win as Black against Nihal Sarin. Karthikeyan Murali, too, held Ray Robson to a draw.

In the Challengers, M Pranesh halted leader Abhimanyu Puranik’s unbeaten run, turning what had looked like a one-man march into a tight three-way fight for the title.

The victory brought Pranesh level with Abhimanyu at the top, where they were joined by Leon Luke Mendonca after his win over Aryan Chopra. GM Harika Dronavalli prevailed against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu in the all-women Grandmaster clash, while Adhiban Baskaran outplayed Diptayan Ghosh to climb up the standings. Pa Iniyan and Harshavardhan GB split the point after a draw.

Results:
8th round:
Masters: Arjun Erigaisi (½) drew with Vincent Keymer (½); Awonder Liang (1) bt V Pranav (0); Vidit Gujrathi (½) drew with Anish Giri (½); Jorden van Foreest (1) bt Nihal Sarin (0); Karthikeyan Murali (½) drew with Ray Robson (½).

Placings: 1. Vincent Keymer 4.5, 2. Arjun Erigaisi 3.5, 3. Awonder Liang 3.5, 4. Karthikeyan Murali 3, 5. Anish Giri 3, 6. Vidit Gujrathi 3, 7. Jorden van Foreest 3, 8. Ray Robson 2.5, 9. Nihal Sarin 2, 10. V Pranav 1.

Challengers: M Pranesh (1) bt Abhimanyu Puranik (0); Leon Luke Mendonca (1) bt Aryan Chopra (0); Dronavalli Harika (1) bt Vaishali Rameshbabu (0); Adhiban Baskaran (1) bt Diptayan Ghosh (0); Pa Iniyan (½) drew with GB Harshavardhan (½).

Placings: 1. M Pranesh 4.5, 2. Abhimanyu Puranik 4.5, 3. Leon Luke Mendonca 4.5, 4. Adhiban Baskaran 3.5, 5. Diptayan Ghosh 3.5, 6. Pa Iniyan 3.5, 7. GB Harshavardhan 2, 8. Aryan Chopra 1.5, 9. Dronavalli Harika 1.5, 10. Vaishali Rameshbabu 1.