GM Alireza Firouzja has won the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters outright, taking clear first place after drawing with GM Arjun Erigaisi in the final round.2
GM Dmitry Andreikin snatched second place on tiebreaks after beating GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who could have forced a playoff but instead overpressed and lost.2 Firouzja finished half a point clear of Andreikin and Arjun, with Andreikin holding the better tiebreak score.2
How the Chennai Grand Masters final round played out
Andreikin's win over Abdusattorov was his first victory of the event, coming in the last round when it mattered most.2 Abdusattorov needed a win to force a playoff for the title, but instead lost the game.2
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju made a quick draw against GM Hans Niemann by sacrificing a bishop, preserving his 2700 rating status.2 Both players missed that Niemann could have continued playing for more.2
GM Nihal Sarin and GM Pranesh M produced the day's other draw, with both players finishing the tournament on 50 percent.2
Final standings at the Chennai Grand Masters
Firouzja took first place, with Andreikin in second and Arjun rounding out the podium places on tiebreaks.2 Gukesh finished a point behind the leaders, in last place among the field.2
This was the fourth edition of the Chennai tournament, and Firouzja had already shown strong form earlier in the event, registering his second straight win in the second round to extend his lead after beating Gukesh.
Other tournaments making chess news
Elsewhere on the circuit, 14-year-old German IM Christian Gloeckler won the Masters Open Tournament at the Biel Chess Festival with a round to spare, scoring 8/9 and securing his first grandmaster norm with a 2689 performance rating.3 Gloeckler entered as the ninth seed and won his last four games in a row.3
In the Biel Masters Triathlon, Levon Aronian was reported to be leading before the final round, with Aydin Suleymanli still in contention.3
In the Netherlands, Sergei Tiviakov won his fourth national championship, beating 24-year-old Liam Vrolijk 2-0 in a blitz tie-break after their classical games ended level.5 Machteld Van Foreest won the women's title, beating Anna-Maja Kazarian 2-0 in the final.5
What to watch after Chennai
Firouzja's Chennai win adds to a busy stretch of tournament chess in the second half of 2026, alongside strong results from young players like Gloeckler at Biel.23 Gukesh's ability to hold his 2700 rating under pressure, as seen in the final round draw with Niemann, will likely stay a storyline in his next events.2