Chess
Chennai Grandmasters 2026: Gukesh falls to Firouzja, Pranesh holds Andreikin
Alireza Firouzja defeated world champion Gukesh Dommaraju to stay unbeaten, while Pranesh M earned his first half-point with a draw against Dmitry Andreikin.
Gukesh Dommaraju defeated Vladimir Fedoseev in round 8 of Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee 2026.(Eteri Kublashvili/FIDE)
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju suffered his first defeat of the Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters 2026 after going down to France's Alireza Firouzja in a tense Round 2 encounter on Friday.
Playing with the white pieces, Firouzja prevailed after 69 moves in a hard-fought endgame to register his second consecutive victory and move clear at the top of the standings with two points from two rounds.
The win continued Firouzja's strong start to the tournament after he had defeated India's Pranesh M in the opening round.
Pranesh earns first half-point
Pranesh bounced back from his opening-round defeat by holding Russia's Dmitry Andreikin to a draw with the black pieces. The game ended after just 18 moves by repetition, giving the young Indian his first half-point of the tournament.
Elsewhere, Arjun Erigaisi and top seed Nodirbek Abdusattorov shared the points after drawing their contest in 43 moves.
Another marathon battle saw Nihal Sarin hold American grandmaster Hans Niemann to a draw after 132 moves.
After two rounds, Firouzja leads the standings on a perfect two points, while Gukesh will look to recover in the remaining rounds of the double round-robin tournament as he continues his campaign against a strong field featuring Erigaisi, Abdusattorov and Niemann.