Alireza Firouzja starts with a win at the 4th Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters 2026

by Devansh Singh - 17/07/2026

Alireza Firouzja is in red-hot form from the past few events, and he is keeping up the same form at the 4th Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters too. Alireza defeated Pranesh M with white pieces in the 1st Round. The other 3 games ended in a draw. World Champion D Gukesh drew against Nihal Sarin, Hans Niemann drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Dmitry Andreikin drew against Arjun Erigaisi. The 2nd round will start on 17th July at 3:30 PM IST. Photos: Tushar Damor

Firouzja takes the early lead

Playing against the underdog Pranesh, Alireza got an early opening advantage and sacrificed the exchange to get an extra 2 pawns, and he managed to convert the endgame with ease to gain the early lead.

Pranesh M vs. Alireza Firouzja (0-1)

Black to Play, Find the best move

Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. Hans Niemann (0.5-0.5)

D Gukesh vs. Nihal Sarin (0.5-0.5)

Arjun Erigaisi vs. Dmitry Andreikin (0.5-0.5)

Arjun Erigaisi, the current India no.1, is back in action - this time at the Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters 2026. He played GM Dmitry Andreikin in round 1. We bring you this thrilling back along with commentary by IM Sagar Shah.

Replay Round 1 Games

Round 1 Results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	1	2766	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	½ - ½	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2730	8
2	2	2757	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	½ - ½	GM	Andreikin, Dmitry	2710	7
3	3	2666	GM	Pranesh, M	0 - 1	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	2749	6
4	4	2717	GM	Gukesh, D	½ - ½	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2717	5

Details

Round 2 Pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	8	2730	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke		GM	Nihal, Sarin	2717	5
2	6	2749	GM	Firouzja, Alireza		GM	Gukesh, D	2717	4
3	7	2710	GM	Andreikin, Dmitry		GM	Pranesh, M	2666	3
4	1	2766	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2757	2

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

Video Gallery: Here

Check out the starting moments of round 1 | Video: ChessBase India

Lineup

Lineup (Hans was not present during the opening ceremony)

Tournament Format & Details

Format: 8-Player Single Round-Robin (7 rounds of classical chess).
Time Control: 90 minutes for the entire game, with a 30-second increment starting from move 1.
Venue: The Westin Chennai Velachery.
Prize Fund: ₹75,00,000.

Prizes

With massive FIDE Circuit points on the line for the next Candidates cycle and a grand prize pool of ₹75,00,000,

Venue: The Westin Chennai Velachery

Previous winners

Winner	Runner-up	Year
GM Vincent Keymer	GM Anish Giri	2025
GM Aravindh Chithambaram	GM Levon Aronian	2024
GM Gukesh Dommaraju	GM Arjun Erigaisi	2023

Important Links

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