Jorden, Awonder win, Keymer leads @ Quantbox Chennai GM

GM Vincent Keymer (4.5) drew top seed GM Erigaisi Arjun (3.5) maintaining his lead after the sixth round of the Rupees 10,000,000 (approx USD 114133) prize money Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters 2025 at Hotel Hyatt Regency Chennai. GM Erigaisi Arjun along with GM Awonder Liang share the second spot with 3.5 points. With just three rounds remaining, it’s time for Grandmaster’s behind the tournament leader to serve their aces and make a real go for the title.

In the Challengers section, GM Pranesh Munirethinam defeated overnight leader GM Abhimanyu Puranik throwing the event wide open. Pranesh scored a fine win, moving into shared lead at 4.5 points along with fellow GMs Abhimanyu Puranik and Mendonca Leon Luke. Further one behind at 3.5 points were GMs Adhiban Baskaran, Ghosh Diptayan and Iniyan Pa. In the all-women Grandmaster duel Dronavalli Harika got the better of a fighting Vaishali Rameshbabu. The Chennai Grand Masters 2025 is sponsored by Quantbox, organised by MGD1 and supported by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

In the game of the day, Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest landed his second successive win right after two defeats, displaying the fighting chess he’s known for. Wading through the King’s Indian Attack former Asian Blitz Champion Nihal Sarin found the going slow. Just when things appeared lull, a brilliant queen sacrifice by Jorden shattered the peace. The former TATA Steel champion followed up his middle-game stunner with deft piece maneuvers taking the game in 51 moves. The high energy win took the Dutch star back to 50% score and a shared fourth place at 3.0 points along with GMs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Anish Giri and Karthikeyan Murali.

Earlier, leader Keymer consolidated his stay on top holding top seed Erigaisi to a draw. In other games, American Awonder Liang defeated World Junior Champion Pranav Venkatesh, while the games between Karthikeyan Murali – Ray Robson (123 moves), Anish Giri – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (109 moves) ended in marathon hard fought draws.

The seventh round starts by Wednesday, 13th August at 5:30 AM ET/11:30 CEST/3 PM IST.

Round 7 pairings (Masters): Vidit – Karthikeyan Murali, Erigaisi – Giri, Liang – Keymer, van Foreest – Pranav, Robson – Nihal

Round 7 pairings (Challengers): Harika – Harshavardhan, Pranesh – Vaishali, Chopra – Puranik, Ghosh – Mendonca, Iniyan – Adhiban

Round 6 results (Masters): Karthikeyan Murali (3.0) drew with Ray Robson (2.5), Nihal Sarin (2.0) lost to Jorden van Foreest (3.0), Pranav Venkatesh (2.0) lost to Awonder Liang (3.5), Vincent Keymer (4.5) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (3.5), Anish Giri (3.0) drew with Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (3.0)

Round 6 results (Challengers): Harshavardhan G B (2.0) drew with Iniyan Pa (3.5), Adhiban Baskaran (3.5) beat Diptayan Ghosh (3.5), Leon Luke Mendonca (4.5) beat Aryan Chopra (1.5), Abhimanyu Puranik (4.5) lost to Pranesh M (4.5), Vaishali Rameshbabu (1.0) lost to Dronavalli Harika (1.5)

Pranav Venkatesh (2597) – Liang Awonder (2696) 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Bf4 h6 7. a4 Nc6 8. c3 a5 9. Na3 Nh5 10. Bd2 e5 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Nf6 13. Qe2 Bxa3 14. Rxa3 b6 15. b4 Qe7 16. Qc4 Qd6 17. Rfa1 Be6 18. Qe2 Bg4 19. b5 Nd8 20. h3 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Ne6 22. Be3 Rad8 23. Qc4 Qd3 24. Qxd3 Rxd3 25. Be2 Rxe3 26. fxe3 Nxe4 27. Kg2 N6c5 28. Rd1 Nd6 29. Rd5 Re8 30. g4 g6 31. Kf1 Kg7 32. Ke1 Kf6 33. h4 Ke6 34. Rd1 h5 35. gxh5 gxh5 36. Ra2 Rg8 37. Bf3 Nf5 38. Kf2 Nxh4 39. Bd5+ Ke7 40. Rh1 Rg4 41. c4 Nd3+ 42. Kf1 Nf5 43. Rh3 Ng3+ 44. Kg2 h4 45. Kg1 e4 46. Rah2 Ne5 47. Ra2 f5 48. c5 Ne2+ 49. Kf1 Nc3 50. Rd2 Nf3 51. Rxf3 exf3 52. Bc6 h3 53. Rd7+ Ke6 54. Rxc7 h2 55. Bxf3 Rg1+ 56. Kf2 Ne4+ 57. Ke2 Ng5 58. Rc6+ Ke7 59. cxb6 Nxf3 60. b7 h1=Q 61. b8=Q

61…Qg2+ 0-1

Nihal Sarin (2692) – Jorden van Foreest (2697) 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 d6 5. Bg2 e5 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 c6 8. d3 a5 9. a3 Na6 10. Nbd2 Rb8 11. Qc2 Re8 12. Rac1 b6 13. Rfd1 Bd7 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Nd2 Bg7 17. Bc3 d5 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Bxd5 Qxa3 20. Ne4 Rec8 21. Qd2 Nc7 22. Bc4 b5 23. b4 bxc4 24. Ra1 Qb3 25. Rdb1 axb4 26. Rxb3 cxb3 27. Bb2 Nd5 28. Rc1 Nc3 29. Bxc3 bxc3 30. Nxc3 Be6 31. Rb1 h6 32. h4 Rc6 33. Nd1 Rc2 34. Qa5 Rxe2 35. h5 gxh5 36. Kf1 Ra2 37. Qc7 Raa8 38. Qc6 Rc8 39. Qe4 Ra2 40. Qb7 Rd2 41. Ne3 Rxd3 42. Kg2 Rcd8 43. Qb5 e4 44. Qb6 Rc8 45. Re1 b2 46. Rb1 Rb3 47. Qa7 Kh7 48. Qa4 Rc1 49. Qxe4+ Kg8 50. Kh2 Rxb1 51. Qxb1

51…Rb8 0-1

Adhiban Baskaran (2534) – Ghosh Diptayan (2576) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 a5 6. a3 Be7 7. Qc2 O-O 8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. Rd1 c6 11. h4 Qb6 12. O-O Qa6 13. e4 e5 14. dxe5 Ng4 15. e6 fxe6 16. e5 Ndxe5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. Bg5 Bxg5 19. hxg5 Nd3 20. Be4 b5 21. Rxd3 cxd3 22. Bxd3 h6 23. Qe2 Ra7 24. Qe4 Rf5 25. gxh6 gxh6 26. Qh4 Rf8 27. Ne4 Qb7 28. Nf6+ Rxf6 29. Qxf6 Qg7 30. Qd8+ Qf8 31. Qb6 Rd7 32. Be4 Rd2 33. Qxa5 Rxb2

34. Qc7 1-0

Photo courtesy: MGD1

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