Chennai Grand Masters | Alireza Firouzja walks away with the title after a draw

A draw was enough for Alireza Firouzja in the seventh and final round of the Chennai Grand Masters on Wednesday as the Frenchman walked away with the title in a strong field.

Firouzja’s 41-move stalemate also ended his opponent Arjun Erigaisi’s chances of fighting for first place. The loss suffered by Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the hands of Dmitry Andreikin (Russia) cleared the path for Firouzja as the 23-year-old emerged champion with 4.5 points.

Andreikin proved to be the surprise packet, taking the runner-up spot with four points after remaining unbeaten (six draws and one win).

Firouzja, who didn’t lose a game through the week, received ₹25 lakh for his title-winning effort while Arjun took the third spot, followed by Abdusattorov and M. Pranesh. World champion D. Gukesh held Hans Niemann to a draw and finished with the wooden spoon (two points).

He narrowly avoided slipping out of the 2700-club, thanks to the stalemate against his American opponent; the 20-year-old, who had lost his previous two games, settled for a quick draw as the contest ended in 19 moves.

Nihal Sarin, who began with four straight draws, appeared to lose steam towards the business end and wound up with 3.5 points despite a well-crafted win against Arjun in the penultimate round. The fifth-place finish was a creditable performance by Pranesh, the lowest-rated player in the event who handed Gukesh a shock defeat.

The results: D. Gukesh 2 drew with Hans Niemann (USA) 3; Nihal Sarin 3.5 drew with M. Pranesh 3.5; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 4.5 drew with Arjun Erigaisi 4; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 4 beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 3.5.

Final placings: 1. Firouzja, 2. Andreikin, 3. Arjun, 4. Abdusattorov, 5. Pranesh, 6. Nihal, 7. Niemann, 8. Gukesh.