Chennai: French Grandmaster (GM) Alireza Firouzja eked out yet another gruelling victory to register his second straight win in the fourth edition of the Chennai Grand Masters 2026, India’s most prestigious classical chess tournament, at the Westin Hotel in Chennai on Friday.
Firouzja, who had defeated GM M Pranesh with black pieces on the opening day, got the better of world champion Dommaraju Gukesh after 69 moves to take his tally to two points after two rounds.
Organised by MGD1, the tournament witnesses eight grandmasters face off in a double-round robin format and offers a prize purse of Rs 75,00,000 and valuable FIDE Circuit points.
After Deepraj Mukherjee, General Manager of Westin Chennai Velachery, made the ceremonial first move in the game between Firouzja and Gukesh, the Frenchman opted for a Ruy Lopez opening with white. It looked like Gukesh could hold out against the French GM in a knight-pawn ending, but a pawn sacrifice by Firouzja opened the door for a clinical win. IANS
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