Pranesh shocks Gukesh again, Nihal knocks out Erigaisi Chennai Grand Masters Chess News:

Pranesh hands Gukesh another defeat (X-Chess Base India)

GM M Pranesh continued his impressive run at the Chennai Grand Masters by defeating reigning world champion D Gukesh for the second time in a row, while GM Nihal Sarin defeated Arjun Erigaisi in the crucial Round 6 encounter on Tuesday. The results changed the leaderboard, with French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja taking the sole lead with four points after his match against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Erigaisi’s loss tied him with Abdusattorov at 3.5 points heading into the final round. Organized by MGD1, the elite eight-player round-robin tournament features some of the world’s top grandmasters and carries a prize of ₹75 lakh along with valuable FIDE Circuit points. The day’s events began with Narendra Kumar, Managing Trustee of the Chola Foundation, and Woman Grandmaster Aarthie Ramaswamy taking the ceremonial first step. Most of the attention was on Gukesh, who was well placed to register his first win of the tournament. However, the world champion failed with a series of inaccurate calculations, allowing Pranesh to take the initiative. The youngster capitalized on the mistakes and wrapped up the victory in 39 moves to claim his first victory in the competition while handing Gukesh his second straight defeat. On the neighboring board, Erigaisi entered his match against Nihal Sarin needing only a draw to stay level with Firouzja at the top of the standings. For most of the contest, that outcome was likely before Nihal made a stunning rook sacrifice that completely changed the course of the game. The tactical blow proved decisive, forcing Erigaisi to resign after 60 moves. Elsewhere, Hans Niemann and Dmitry Andreikin shared the points after their match ended in a draw, while Firouzja continued his lead by drawing with Abdusattorov. Round 6 results: