Chennai Grand Masters

Annual chess tournament in India

Chennai Grand MastersTournament information

Location| Chennai, India
Format| 7-round round-robin tournament
Current champion
Aravindh Chithambaram

Chennai Grand Masters is an annual closed chess tournament held in Chennai, India.

Aravindh Chithambaram is the current champion.

## 2023

[edit]

The 2023 Chennai Grand Masters was organized from December 15 to December 21 at the The Leela Palace Chennai.[1] It was organized by MGD1, NODWIN Gaming, and ChessBase India, with support from the Tamil Nadu Government and Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.[2]

The tournament was announced only 4 days prior to its start, which led to criticism that the tournament was held at the last minute to help Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2024. However, FIDE deputy president Vishiwanathan Anand explained that the organization of the tournament is within the rules.[3][4]

After the seventh round, Gukesh and Arjun were tied for the first place with 4.5 points each. The Sonneborn-Berger score was used as the tie-breaker, and Gukesh emerged victorious.[5]

1st Chennai Grand Masters, 15–21 December 2023, Chennai, India, Category XIX (2711)[6] | Player  | Rating  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | Points  | SB

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1  |  Gukesh Dommaraju (India) | 2720  | Does not appear | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | 1  | 1  | 4½ | 13.75
2  |  Arjun Erigaisi (India) | 2727  | ½  | Does not appear | 0  | ½  | ½  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 4½  | 13.00
3  |  Pentala Harikrishna (India) | 2696  | ½  | 1  | Does not appear | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | 4  | 14.25
4  |  Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine) | 2691  | ½  | ½  | ½  | Does not appear | ½  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 4  | 13.25
5  |  Levon Aronian (USA) | 2723  | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | Does not appear | ½  | ½  | ½  | 3½  | 12.25
6  |  Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) | 2742  | ½  | 0  | ½  | 0  | ½  | Does not appear | 1  | 1  | 3½  | 10.00
7  |  Sanan Sjugirov (Hungary) | 2703  | 0  | 0  | ½  | 1  | ½  | 0  | Does not appear | ½  | 2½  | 8.50
8  |  Alexandr Predke (Serbia) | 2689  | 0  | 0  | ½  | 0  | ½  | 0  | ½  | Does not appear | 1½  | 5.00

## 2024

[edit]

The 2024 edition was India's strongest classical super-tournament of the year. It was held between November 5th and November 11th at the Anna Centenary Library.[7]

After the seventh round, there was a three-way tie between Levon Aronian, Arjun Erigaisi, and Aravindh Chithambaram. Aravindh was declared the winner after tiebreaks. The challengers section was won by V. Pranav.[8]

### Masters

[edit]

2nd Chennai Grand Masters, 5–11 November 2024, Chennai, India, Category XIX (2725)[9] | Player  | Rating  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | Points

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1  |  Aravindh Chithambaram (India) | 2706  | Does not appear | ½  | 1  | ½  | ½  | 1  | ½  | ½  | 4½
2  |  Levon Aronian (USA) | 2739  | ½  | Does not appear | ½  | ½  | 1  | 1  | ½  | ½  | 4½
3  |  Arjun Erigaisi (India) | 2799  | 0  | ½  | Does not appear | 1  | ½  | ½  | 1  | 1  | 4½
4  |  Amin Tabatabaei (Iran) | 2686  | ½  | ½  | 0  | Does not appear | 1  | ½  | 1  | ½  | 4
5  |  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) | 2737  | ½  | 0  | ½  | 0  | Does not appear | 1  | ½  | ½  | 3
6  |  Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) | 2712  | 0  | 0  | ½  | ½  | 0  | Does not appear | ½  | 1  | 2½
7  |  Alexey Sarana (Serbia) | 2679  | ½  | ½  | 0  | 0  | ½  | ½  | Does not appear | ½  | 2½
8  |  Vidit Gujrathi (India) | 2739  | ½  | ½  | 0  | ½  | ½  | 0  | ½  | Does not appear | 2½

#### Tiebreaks

[edit]

The tiebreak was a two-game blitz match, followed by an armageddon if necessary. The time control was 3 minutes with a 2-second increment per move.[10] Aravindh was given a bye because he had a better score in terms of direct encounters, beating Arjun in their game.[8] He then won the final match against Levon Aronian, who proceeded after holding a draw as black in the armageddon game.

| Semifinals | | | Finals |

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| | | | | | | | |
| | | | 1 |  Aravindh Chithambaram | 2 |
| 2 |  Levon Aronian | 1½ | | | 2 |  Levon Aronian | 0 |
| 3 |  Arjun Erigaisi | 1½ | | | |

### Challengers

[edit]

1st Chennai Grand Masters Challengers, 5–11 November 2024, Chennai, India, Category XIV (2594)[11] | Player  | Rating  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | Points

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1  |  Pranav V | 2602  | Does not appear | ½  | ½  | 1  | 1  | ½  | 1  | 1  | 5½
2  |  Leon Luke Mendonca | 2631  | ½  | Does not appear | ½  | 1  | ½  | ½  | 1  | 1  | 5
3  |  Raunak Sadhwani | 2677  | ½  | ½  | Does not appear | 1  | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | 4
4  |  Karthikeyan Murali | 2625  | 0  | 0  | 0  | Does not appear | 1  | ½  | 1  | 1  | 3½
5  |  Abhimanyu Puranik | 2652  | 0  | ½  | ½  | 0  | Does not appear | 1  | ½  | 1  | 3½
6  |  Pranesh M | 2580  | ½  | ½  | ½  | ½  | 0  | Does not appear | ½  | 1  | 3½
7  |  Harika Dronavalli | 2493  | 0  | 0  | ½  | 0  | ½  | ½  | Does not appear | ½  | 2
8  |  Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2490  | 0  | 0  | ½  | 0  | 0  | 0  | ½  | Does not appear | 1

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Venkatesan, S. Prasanna (2024-11-05). "Chennai Grandmasters | Arjun rallies to post a win over Vidit on opening day". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
2. ^ "Chennai Grand Masters 2023 - India's strongest ever Classical Super Tournament - ChessBase India". www.chessbase.in. 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
3. ^ Venkata Krishna B. (2023-12-16). "Chess controversy: Is Chennai Grand Masters held just to help Gukesh & Erigaisi make candidates cut? 'Within rules' says Viswanathan Anand". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
4. ^ Mayank (2023-12-18). "Anand weighs in on Chennai Grand Masters controversy, says tournament within FIDE rules". Sportstar. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
5. ^ "Gukesh wins title on tie-break, becomes frontrunner for FIDE Circuit Candidates berth". The Hindu. 2023-12-21. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
6. ^ "Chennai Grand Masters 2023". Chess-results.com.
7. ^ Team Sportstar (2024-11-04). "Chennai Grand Masters 2024 guide: Preview, player list, pairing, full schedule, FIDE circuit points at stake". Sportstar. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
8. ^ a b Venkatesan, S. Prasanna (2024-11-11). "Aravindh stuns Aronian to claim top prize". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
9. ^ "Chennai Grand Masters 2024". Chess-results.com.
10. ^ Saravanan (VSaravanan), Venkatachalam (2024-11-11). "Aravindh Wins 2024 Chennai Grand Masters Through Tiebreak". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
11. ^ "Chennai Grand Masters Challengers 2024". Chess-results.com.

* v
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Major recurring international chess tournaments

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Major present
(average rating > 2700;
round-robin system generally)|

* Chennai Grand Masters (since 2023)
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* Norway Chess (since 2013)
* Prague Chess Festival (since 2019)
* Shamkir Chess (since 2014)
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Other present
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Recently cancelled
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* Alekhine Memorial (1956–2013, irregular)
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*[India]: India
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