Chennai, July 19 (IANS) French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja continued to lead the standings with a half -point advantage over India’s Arjun Erigaisi after all match in Round 4 ended in draws in the fourth edition of the Chennai Grand Masters 2026, India’s most prestigious classical chess tournament, at The Westin Chennai Velachery Hotel, here on Sunday.
Over 500 chess fans watched the Round 4 action live and also got an opportunity to interact with the legendary Viswanathan Anand, who also made the first move in the match between Erigaisi and M Pranesh.
The tournament witnessed eight grandmasters face-off in a 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 one 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 white pieces. The match stayed evenly balanced throughout, and the players opted for a draw after 34 moves.
World Champion D Gukesh tried his best to find a way past GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov with black pieces but ended up settling for a draw after 41 moves. Firouzja also played it safe with black against GM Hans Niemann and took the draw after 50 moves.
Round 4 Results:
• 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)
Round 5 Pairing (July 20, 3:00PM IST):
• GM M Pranesh vs GM Hans Niemann
• GM D Gukesh’s vs GM Arjun Erigaisi
• GM Nihal Sarin vs GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov
• GM Alireza Firouzja vs GM Dmitry Andreikin
–IANS
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