Chennai Grand Masters 2026: Pranesh stuns Gukesh, Nihal Sarin upsets Arjun Erigaisi in Round 6

Indian Grandmaster M. Pranesh handed world champion D. Gukesh his second successive defeat, while Nihal Sarin upset Arjun Erigaisi in the sixth round of the Chennai Grand Masters on Tuesday, leaving France’s Alireza Firouzja alone at the top of the standings.

Firouzja drew with Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov to move to four points, after Erigaisi’s loss dropped the Indian into a tie for second place with Abdusattorov on 3.5 points with one round remaining.

Pranesh capitalised on a series of calculation errors by Gukesh to secure his first victory of the tournament in 39 moves, leaving the world champion on 1.5 points after six rounds.

Erigaisi needed only a draw against Nihal to remain joint leader, but the latter’s rook sacrifice turned the game decisively in his favour before Erigaisi resigned after 60 moves.

In the day’s other game, Hans Niemann drew with Dmitry Andreikin.

The eight-player round-robin tournament, India’s leading classical chess event, carries a prize purse of ₹7.5 million and FIDE Circuit points.

Round 6 results:

-Hans Niemann drew with Dmitry Andreikin
-Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew with Alireza Firouzja
-Nihal Sarin beat Arjun Erigaisi
-M. Pranesh beat D. Gukesh

Round 7 pairings:

-D. Gukesh vs Hans Niemann
-Nihal Sarin vs M. Pranesh
-Alireza Firouzja vs Arjun Erigaisi
-Dmitry Andreikin vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov

(With agency input)