Firouzja takes half-point lead into final round

Alireza Firouzja will enter the final round of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters as the sole leader after drawing with Nodirbek Abdusattorov while former co-leader Arjun Erigaisi lost to Nihal Sarin. Firouzja stands half a point ahead of both Erigaisi and Abdusattorov, with the title still undecided.

Both decisive results in round six came in all-Indian encounters. Nihal defeated Erigaisi, while Pranesh M scored his first win of the tournament by beating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. Dmitry Andreikin and Hans Niemann drew the remaining game.

Erigaisi had the better position for much of his meeting with Nihal and would have taken the outright lead with a victory. After his advantage disappeared, the game appeared to be heading towards a routine draw as pieces were exchanged. However, Nihal retained a bishop against Erigaisi's knight, and had slim practical chances of fighting to get a tangible advantage.

With both players reduced to around a minute on the clock, Erigaisi - already a pawn down by that point -mistakenly agreed to trade rooks and found himself in a lost minor-piece endgame.

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Nihal converted the advantage to record his first victory of the event and prevent his compatriot from beginning the final round in first place.

Nihal Sarin defeated Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Tushar Damor

Pranesh, the clear rating underdog in Chennai, responded to his opening-round defeat against Firouzja with four consecutive draws before breaking through against Gukesh. He bravely chose to try the uncommon 6.h4 against the world champion's Caro-Kann, but later came under heavy pressure after Gukesh launched an attack.

The good-looking 21...Nxb4! gave Gukesh a clearly superior position, as Pranesh was forced to rely largely on practical chances and his opponent’s shortage of time.

For the second successive day, Gukesh allowed a substantial advantage to slip away after falling well behind on the clock.

Even after losing his winning position, Gukesh still had opportunities to defend. He failed to find the necessary continuations, and Pranesh eventually obtained an overwhelming advantage. The result left Gukesh close to falling below 2700 in the live ratings list.

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Firouzja secured the outright lead with his fourth consecutive draw, this time against Abdusattorov. Playing the French Defence, he obtained the more promising chances, as he emerged with an extra pawn, but the advantage proved insufficient in the resulting rook endgame. The draw kept Abdusattorov half a point behind the leader and preserved his chances of reaching a playoff.

Meanwhile, Andreikin took the initiative against Niemann by sacrificing a bishop on h3, but the complications soon subsided and the players agreed a draw. Andreikin has now drawn all six of his games, while Niemann remains without a victory and has one defeat.

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Nodirbek Abdusattorov v. Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Tushar Damor

The final round will feature the direct encounter between Firouzja and Erigaisi. Firouzja will win the tournament outright if he grabs a full point, while a draw may also be sufficient. At worst, half a point would leave him facing a playoff against Abdusattorov, provided the Uzbek GM defeats Andreikin.

The final round will begin one hour earlier than the previous rounds.

Standings after round 6

All games

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