Chennai grand masters: Erigaisi takes lead with third win

Pranav V extended his flawless run at the Chennai Grand Masters with a fourth consecutive victory, defeating Vaishali R in the Challengers category here on Friday. World No. 2 Arjun Erigaisi triumphed over Amin Tabatabaei in a pivotal clash of the Masters category to take sole lead at the top of the standings.

The event features two distinct categories — Masters and Challengers. With an impressive rating average of 2729, the Masters tournament offers a highly competitive field, while the Challengers category provides emerging Indian talent the chance to shine on the big stage.

Coming into the match on the back of a perfect start, Pranav sacrificed his queen early, taking away Vaishali’s corresponding piece in a bold play. With the field levelled, the pair exchanged heavy blows across the board before Pranav, playing with black pieces, forced his opponent into a corner and claimed the win.

In the Masters category, Arjun continued his unbeaten run in the tournament by defeating Tabatabaei in a battle of the table-toppers. The recently-crowned world No. 2 has accumulated 3.5 points after four rounds and now stands alone on top of the charts.

Vidit Gujrathi and Aravindh Chithambaram held Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian, respectively, to stalemates, while Parham Maghsoodloo and Alexey Sarana too played out a draw.

In the Challengers category, Leon Mendonca and Abhimanyu Puranik played out a balanced draw, while Karthikeyan Murali secured a strong win over Harika Dronavalli, showcasing his skill in a competitive game.

Raunak Sadhwani and Pranesh M also concluded their match with a well-contested draw but lost ground on runaway leader Pranav as a consequence.