World champion D Gukesh suffered his second straight defeat at the Chennai Grand Masters after losing to GM M Pranesh, while GM Nihal Sarin defeated compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the penultimate round of the tournament on Tuesday.

Erigaisi's defeat handed French GM Alireza Firouzja sole lead in the standings after the top seed drew his Round 6 game against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Firouzja now has four points, while Erigaisi and Abdusattorov are tied for second place with 3.5 points each heading into the final round.

Organised by MGD1, the eight-player tournament is being played in a round-robin format and offers a prize purse of Rs 75 lakh along with valuable FIDE Circuit points.

After Narendra Kumar, Managing Trustee of Chola Foundation, and WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy made the ceremonial first move, it looked like Gukesh could finally open his account with a victory. However, the reigning world champion made more than one error in his calculations, allowing Pranesh to capitalise and register his first win of the competition in just 39 moves.

The victory was also Pranesh's maiden win of the tournament, while Gukesh remained on 1.5 points after six rounds.

Erigaisi needed only a draw against Nihal Sarin to remain level with Firouzja at the top of the standings. For most of the contest, the result appeared headed in that direction before Nihal produced a brilliant rook sacrifice that decisively shifted the balance in his favour. Erigaisi had no way back and resigned after 60 moves.

The result lifted Nihal to three points and left the title race wide open heading into the seventh and final round.

In the day's other matches, Hans Niemann and Dmitry Andreikin played out a draw, while Abdusattorov and Firouzja also shared the points, enabling the French Grandmaster to take sole possession of the lead.

Round 6 Results:

GM Hans Niemann (2.5) drew with GM Dmitry Andreikin (3)

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (3.5) drew with GM Alireza Firouzja (4)

GM Arjun Erigaisi (3.5) lost to GM Nihal Sarin (3)

GM M Pranesh (3) beat GM D Gukesh (1.5)

- Ends

Published By:

Saurabh Kumar

Published On:

Jul 21, 2026 22:29 IST