GM M Pranesh continued his impressive run at the Chennai Grand Masters by defeating reigning world champion D Gukesh for the second consecutive time, while GM Nihal Sarin outclassed Arjun Erigaisi in a crucial Round 6 clash on Tuesday. The results reshaped the standings, with French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja moving into a single four-point lead after drawing his game against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Erigaisi’s defeat left him tied with Abdusattorov on 3.5 points in the final round. Organized by MGD1, the elite eight-player round-robin tournament features some of the world’s leading grandmasters and carries a prize pool of ₹75 lakh along with valuable FIDE Circuit points. The day’s proceedings began with Narendra Kumar, Managing Trustee of the Chola Foundation, and Grand Master Aarthie Ramaswamy making the ceremonial first move. Most of the attention was on Gukesh, who looked well placed to register his first win of the tournament. However, the world champion messed up with a series of inaccurate calculations, which allowed Pranesh to take the initiative. The youngster capitalized on the mistakes and wrapped up victory in 39 moves to claim his first win of the competition while handing Gukesh a second straight defeat. On the near side, Erigaisi entered his clash against Nihal Sarin needing only a draw to stay level with Firouzja at the top of the standings. For most of the contest, that outcome looked likely before Nihal produced a stunning rook sacrifice that completely changed the course of the game. The tactical blow was decisive, forcing Erigaisi to resign after 60 moves. Elsewhere, Hans Niemann and Dmitry Andreikin shared the points after their game ended in a draw, while Firouzja maintained his lead by drawing with Abdusattorov. The results of the 6th round:
- Hans Niemann (2.5) drew with Dmitry Andreikin (3)
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (3.5) drew with Alireza Firouzja (4)
- Nihal Sarin (3) beats Arjun Erigaisi (3.5)
- M Pranesh (3) beats D Gukesh (1.5)