Chess
Chennai Grand Masters: Nihal loses to Jorden; Arjun Erigaisi remains in top-3
Germany's Vincent Keymer maintains one-point lead after six rounds.
Nihal Sarin went the entire tournament undefeated. (File Photo: Lennart Ootes)
German GM Vinent Keymer maintained his one-point lead in the Masters Category after a draw with India's Arjun Erigaisi in the sixth round of Chennai Grand Masters 2025, on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, youngsters Nihal Sarin and V Pranav were pushed back in the standings after facing defeats in their respective games against Jorden Van Forest of the Netherlands and Awonder Liang of the USA, respectively.
Vincent, playing with the white pieces, had a slight advantage from the opening, but a couple of inaccuracies in the middlegame brought the game back to level terms, forcing him to play for a draw with Arjun.
After six rounds, Vincent is in sole lead on the leaderboard with 4.5 points and has a comfortable advantage over the chasing pack of Arjun and Awonder, who are tied in second place with 3.5 points each.
The other two Indians, Vidit Gujrathi and Karthikeyan Murali, also played out a draw in the sixth round against Dutch no.1 Anish Giri and American player Ray Robson, placing them just outside the top 3 with 3 points each.
In the Challengers category, M Pranesh upset the leader Abhimanyu Puranik in the sixth round, joining him and Leon Mendonca at the top with 4.5 points each.
Meanwhile, seasoned Indian player Adhiban Baskaran secured his first tournament victory against Diptyan Ghosh with the white pieces, placing him fourth, one point behind the leaders.
On the other hand, in an all-woman clash, veteran Harika Dronavalli defeated R Vaishali with the black pieces, climbing to ninth place on the leaderboard.
