Chennai Grand Masters: Arjun holds Aronian to draw; Vaishali earns first points

Chennai: India’s Arjun Erigaisi continued his strong start to the Chennai Grand Masters by holding the second-highest-ranked player in the tournament, American Grandmaster Levon Aronian, to a draw on Wednesday.

In the Challengers, Vaishali R, one of two female chess players debuting this year, earned her first points by holding top-seed Raunak Sadhwani.

The Chennai Grand Masters features two categories — Masters and Challengers.

With a rating average of 2729, the Masters presents a more competitive field this time around. The debuting Challengers, meanwhile, is designed to provide emerging Indian talent the chance to compete in a top-class tournament.

Playing with the white pieces, Arjun kicked things off with a Queen’s Pawn Opening, met by Aronian’s response in the Indian Game.

The two GMs exchanged tactical manoeuvres and strategic depth, pushing each other through every phase of the game before ultimately settling for a hard-fought draw, both showing immense skill and resilience.

Aravindh Chithambaram and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave drew their contest in a tactical stand-off.

Amin Tabatabaei scored a crucial win over Alexey Sarana, while Parham Maghsoodloo defeated Vidit Gujrathi, pushing the stakes higher in this FIDE Circuit qualifier.

Meanwhile, in the Challengers category, Pranesh M and Karthikeyan Murali plaued out a draw, while Leon Mendonca impressed with a strong victory over Harika Dronavalli.

V Pranav showcased his skill with a decisive win against Abhimanyu Puranik, adding momentum to his tournament run. Raunak and Vaishali, in an intense face-off, battled admirably before agreeing to a draw.

After two rounds, it’s a three-way tie at the top of the Masters category, with Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave, and Tabatabaei leading the charge.

Meanwhile, Leon and Pranav jointly lead the Challengers category, after two wins out of two.