Aravindh Clinches Chennai Grand Masters 2024, Pranav wins Challengers

The second edition of the Chennai Grand Masters concluded with an exhilarating finish on November 11th. The players fought it off fiercely over the 64 squares, leading to thrilling spectacles of strategy and resilience.
In the Masters tournament, the final day brought intense drama as Arjun Erigaisi, Levon Aronian, and Aravindh Chithambaram all had chances to clinch the title. Arjun and Levon drew their respective games, while Aravindh secured a crucial win over Parham Maghsoodloo in the final round. All of them had 4.5 points after 7 rounds. In the subsequent playoffs, Levon Aronian overcame Arjun Erigaisi by drawing with the black pieces in the Armageddon. The final showdown saw Aravindh defeat Levon in a dominant 2-0 victory, earning him his first Super GM tournament win.

Top 3 finishers in the Masters Tournament:

  1. Aravindh Chithambaram
  2. Levon Aronian
  3. Arjun Erigaisi

Heading into the final round of the Challengers tournament, Grandmasters Pranav V and Leon Mendonca were the only players in contention for the championship. Leon needed a victory, while Pranav required only a draw to secure the title. The final game concluded in a draw after 41 moves, sealing Pranav’s victory. Pranav finished with an impressive 5.5 points from 7 rounds, achieving a remarkable rating performance of 2823. His performance earned him a 19-point rating gain and, notably, a qualification for the Masters event of the next edition.

Top 3 finishers in the Challengers Tournament:

  1. Pranav V
  2. Leon Mendonca
  3. Raunak Sadhwani

The top 3 finishers of both sections remained undefeated throughout the tournament! This year, the audience had a chance to watch their favourite players live in action. We witnessed an exciting crowd that included kids from various chess academies of the city, and chess enthusiasts, who were equally excited to get a glimpse of the players!

Picture of Anshika

Anshika

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