GM M Pranesh continued his impressive run by defeating defending world champion D Gukesh for the second consecutive time at the Chennai Masters, while GM Nihal Sarin defeated Arjun Erigaisi in a crucial Round 6 match on Tuesday. The results reshaped the leaderboard, with French grandmaster Alireza Firouzja the sole leader with four points after a draw with grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Erigesi’s defeat left him tied with Abdusatorov on 3.5 points heading into the final round. Organized by MGD1, this elite eight-man round-robin tournament features some of the world’s leading grandmasters and has a prize pool of Rs 7.5 million, along with valuable FIDE Tour points. The day’s ceremony saw the ceremonial first steps taken by Narendra Kumar, Managing Trustee of the Chola Foundation, and Aarthie Ramaswamy, the lady guru. Much of the focus was on Gukesh, who seemed to be in a good position to take his first win of the tournament. However, the world champion faltered due to a series of inaccurate calculations, allowing Pranesh to seize the initiative. The youngster seized on the mistake and scored his first win of the match in 39 moves, while also handing Gukesh a losing streak. On the adjacent board, Erigaisi’s match against Nihal Sarin required just a draw to stay at the top of the table with Firouzja. This outcome looked likely for much of the race, then Nihal made a shocking car sacrifice that completely changed the course of the race. The tactical blow was decisive, forcing Eligues to resign after 60 moves. Elsewhere, Hans Niemann and Dmitry Andreikin were tied on points after the race ended in a draw, while Firouzja stayed ahead with a draw with Abdusatorov. Sixth round results:
- Hans Niemann (2.5) drew with Dmitry Andreikin (3)
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (3.5) drew with Alireza Firouzja (4)
- Nihal Sarin (3) defeated Arjun Erigaisi (3.5)
- M Pranesh (3) defeated D Gukesh (1.5)
