Chennai Grand Masters 2025, Round 6: Top seeds Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer share spoils

Germany’s Vincent Keymer preserved his one-point lead in the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 after playing out a tense draw with India’s Arjun Erigaisi in the sixth round here on Tuesday.

Playing with the white pieces, Keymer had gained early control with an innovative opening play, only to be stonewalled by Erigaisi in the middle game. With no room left to manoeuvre for either, the two shook hands for a draw after 41 moves each.

Meanwhile, Nihal Sarin continued his topsy-turvy tournament as he stumbled to a defeat with white pieces against the Netherlands’ Jorden van Foreest.

It was a game to forget for Sarin as he made errors aplenty throughout the 51-move tie. In contrast, van Foreest was at his innovative best. The Dutch GM sacrificed his queen in the middle game to precipitate an advantageous position, before carving away his second win on the trot.

Indian GM V. Pranav’s confident run – he had held the top two seeds to draws in the last two rounds – came to an end following a defeat to American GM Awonder Liang, who moved to joint-second with Erigaisi at 3.5 points.

In the highlight game of the day, featuring modern chess’s most iconic friends, India’s Vidit Gujrathi and Dutch GM Anish Giri strived and struggled for more than four hours before settling for an entertaining draw.

Anish Giri and Vidit Gujarthi were in fourth and sixth places, respectively, with three points each.
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B JOTHI RAMALINGAM/The Hindu

Indian GM Karthikeyan Murali also found himself in a marathon game, which crept close to the five-hour mark, against the USA’s Ray Robinson.

Despite being a bishop down in the endgame, Karthikeyan defended valiantly to pinch half a point in what turned out to be the longest game of the tournament so far, lasting 123 moves.

The top-of-the-table clash between Keymer and Erigiasi began in compelling fashion. The German GM started with the Schallop variation of the Slav Defense, an opening he has rarely used in his career.

Erigaisi, though, invited the pressure before turning the tables on his opponent with some astute defending. Keymer soon found himself trailing the Indian GM by around 30 minutes on the clock with the board resting in a complex position.

But the picture simplified soon enough, following a queen and rook trade. The game then entered an equal endgame, forcing Keymer and Erigaisi to share points.

This was Keymer’s third consecutive draw, after starting the tournament with three straight wins, which took his tally to 4.5 points.

In the all-Indian Challengers section, M. Pranesh toppled overnight leader Abhimanyu Puranik with black pieces, while Leon Luke Mendonca beat Aryan Chopra.

Going into the seventh round, there is a three-way tie for the top spot in Challengers, between Pranesh, Puranik and Mendonca.