World Champion Gukesh Struggles at Chennai Grand Masters

World Champion Finishes Last

Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning world chess champion, finished at the bottom of the standings at the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters.⁴ GM Alireza Firouzja took clear first place after making a draw with GM Arjun Erigaisi in the final round.⁴ GM Dmitry Andreikin snatched second place on tiebreaks after beating GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who overpressed trying to force a playoff.⁴

Gukesh Preserves His 2700 Rating

Gukesh preserved his 2700 status by sacrificing a bishop to make a quick draw against GM Hans Niemann in the final round.⁴ He ended the tournament on a rating of 2703.1.⁴ Both Gukesh and Niemann overlooked that Niemann could have played on rather than accepting the draw.⁴

Firouzja finished half a point clear of Andreikin and Arjun Erigaisi, with Andreikin holding better tiebreaks for second place.⁴ Gukesh finished a point adrift of those players in last place.⁴ The Instagram post for the event congratulated winners Alireza Firouzja, Dmitry Andreikin, and Arjun Erigaisi.²

A Difficult Year for the Young Champion

Gukesh, at 19 the youngest ever world champion, has struggled for form throughout 2026.⁶ He totalled a modest 50% score at Wijk aan Zee and then finished joint last in Prague with 3.5 out of 9 points.⁶ His only victory in Prague came in the ninth and final round.⁶

Prague was won by Nodirbek Abdusattorov on 6 out of 9 points, continuing his winning streak from the London Classic and Wijk aan Zee.⁶ The contrast with Gukesh's results has been sharp across multiple top-level events this year.⁶

The Title Defense Looms

Despite the recent results, Gukesh still has his world title to defend later in 2026.⁵ The World Chess Championship 2026 will be played between Gukesh and challenger Javokhir Sindarov, the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026.⁵ A reigning world chess champion had not played a serious game in Czechia for exactly 95 years before Gukesh's Prague appearance this year.⁷

Gukesh had expressed hope for better results in the events following Prague, including Norway Chess at Oslo.⁶ The championship defense against Sindarov will be the defining test of his year.⁵

What to Watch Next

The chess world will be watching closely to see whether Gukesh can recapture form before his title defense.⁵ Sindarov earned his shot at the crown by winning the Candidates Tournament 2026.⁵ A stumbling champion facing a fresh challenger makes for a compelling match-up.

Armenian grandmaster Zaven Andriasyan took second place in the blitz tournament at World Open 2026 in Washington, held from July 1 to 5. In the classical section of the same event, Andriasyan scored 7 out of 9 points and shared 4th through 8th place.

World Open 2026 is one of the largest open chess tournaments in North America. Results like Andriasyan's silver in blitz show the depth of talent competing at the top level this year.

If you want to play chess with a friend, you can generate a private game code and play together online at Friend Chess.