Quantbox Chennai GM R6: Pranesh beats Abhimanyu, Leon joins them in the lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/08/2025

The highly anticipated battle between the sole leader, GM Vincent Keymer (GER) and his pursuer GM Arjun Erigaisi ended in a draw. The World no.5 thwarted all attempts made by Keymer to stir up trouble in Round 6 of Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025. GM Awonder Liang (USA) defeated GM Pranav Venkatesh with a beautiful exchange sacrifice in the endgame. This win helped Awonder reach 2700 in live ratings and also reduce the gap with Keymer. Both Arjun and Awonder are now at 3.5/6 each, a full point behind the Germany no.1. Awonder and Keymer will clash in the seventh round. In the Challengers section, GM Pranesh M defeated GM Abhimanyu Puranik to join him in the lead. GM Leon Luke Mendonca also scored a full point over GM Aryan Chopra. Thus, three players are now at 4.5/6 each. Round 7 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Dr. Vidhi Karelia

Three games go beyond 100 moves

GM Vincent Keymer (GER) might seem to run away with the Masters section, the Challengers has a slightly different scenario. GM Pranesh M defeating the sole leader, GM Abhimanyu Puranik threw the tournament wide open. Not only, Pranesh joined Abhimanyu in the lead but GM Leon Luke Mendonca's win over GM Aryan Chopra also propelled him to the top. Pranesh, Abhimanyu and Leon, all three are now at 4.5/6 each. GM Awonder Liang (USA) has a great opportunity to get himself in the lead if he manages to topple Keymer.

Masters: Awonder Liang reaches 2700, reduces the gap with Keymer

Keymer - Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5

GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2730) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2776) have played plenty of games against each other, yet the number of Classical rated games between them are only five. Four of them ended in draws. The sole win was scored by Arjun two years ago at 56th Biel Chess Festival GMT. Their sixth battle had the same outcome as they had earlier this year at 87th Tata Steel Masters, draw.

GM Vincent Keymer (GER) - GM Arjun Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5

GM Karthikeyan Murali defended a rook vs rook and bishop endgame well which lasted 123 moves against GM Ray Robson (USA)

Nihal - Jorden: 0-1

GM Nihal Sarin (2692) has played only two Classical rated games against GM Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2697), not to be confused with his younger brother, Lucas van Foreest who is also a GM. Nihal got his bishop trapped in the middle of the board. He opted to trade his rook and bishop for his opponent's queen in a not-so-ideal way.

Position after 22...b5

Computer recommends to give away the bishop 23.Bxf7+! Kxf7 24.b4 this keeps the b-file semi-closed instead of what ensued 23.b4 bxc4 24.Ra1 Qb3 25.Rdb1 axb4 26.Rxb3 cxb3 Jorden thrives in dynamic imbalanced positions like this. So getting into something like this was not the best choice by Nihal. 27.Bb2 Nd5 28.Rc1 Nc3 29.Bxc3?? another mistake bxc3 and Black went on to win the game.

GM Nihal Sarin suffered his second loss of the event while GM Jorden van Foreest (NED) scored his second win

Pranav - Awonder

Position after 25.Be2

GM Awonder Liang (USA, 2696) made a beautiful practical exchange sacrifice 25...Rxe3! 26.fxe3 Nxe4 27.Kg2 N6c5. Black's knights are powerful and he gained one more pawn after few moves to increase his advantage and eventually win the game. This win pushed Awonder to 2700 in the live ratings for the first time in his career.

Final moments of Awonder's win + interview | Video: ChessBase India

GM Awonder Liang (USA) scored a wonderful win by a well-timed exchange sacrifice

GM Awonder Liang now has an exact 2700 in live ratings | Source: 2700chess.com

Two good friends, GM Anish Giri (NED) and GM Vidit Gujrathi had a 109-move long draw

Challengers: Leon and Pranesh make it a three-way at the top with Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu - Pranesh

Position after 33.c4?

33.c4? is an unforced error by White. The break was not needed. 33...dxc4 34.Qc3 Na4 35.Qa3 Nb2 36.Rc1 Nd3 and Black won the game in ten more moves.

GM Abhimanyu Puranik suffered his first loss of the tournament against GM Pranesh M who got himself in the lead 4.5/6

Harshavardhan - Iniyan: 0.5-0.5

IM Harshavardhan G B (2454) displayed the perfect technique in the queen vs queen and pawn endgame to hold a draw against GM Iniyan Pa (2586).

The former Asian Junior Open champion, IM Harshavardhan G B defended perfectly against the reigning National Rapid champion, GM Iniyan Pa

GM Adhiban Baskaran handed GM Diptayan Ghosh his first loss of the event

GM Leon Luke Mendonca scored a smooth win against GM Aryan Chopra

GM Harika Dronavalli won the sole all-woman clash of the event against GM R Vaishali who blundered in an equal rook vs rook and pawn endgame

Birthday celebration of the revered GM Vishnu Prasanna, the man who shaped the 18th World Champion, GM D Gukesh

For more Round 6 photos, please click here.

Round 6 recap by GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

Interview with Kincso Toth | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 6 live stream

Replay Round 6 live commentary by CM Sahil Tickoo, Kincso Toth (HUN), IM Sagar Shah and GM Sahaj Grover | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 6 Masters games

Replay Round 6 Challengers games

Masters Round 6 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	10	2658	India	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	½ - ½	GM	Robson, Ray	2687	USA	8	PGN
2	9	2692	India	GM	Nihal, Sarin	0 - 1	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2697	Netherlands	7	PGN
3	1	2597	India	GM	Pranav, V	0 - 1	GM	Liang, Awonder	2696	USA	6	PGN
4	2	2730	Germany	GM	Keymer, Vincent	½ - ½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2776	India	5	PGN
5	3	2748	Netherlands	GM	Giri, Anish	½ - ½	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720	India	4	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2730	Germany	4,5	0	11,75	3	1
2	5	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2776	India	3,5	1	10,75	2	0
3	6	GM	Liang, Awonder	USA	2696	USA	3,5	0	8,75	2	1
4	10	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2658	India	3	0	8,50	1	0
5	3	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2748	Netherlands	3	0	8,50	0	0
6	4	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2720	India	3	0	8,25	1	0
7	7	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2697	Netherlands	3	0	7,75	2	1
8	8	GM	Robson, Ray	USA	2687	USA	2,5	0	7,75	1	0
9	9	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2692	India	2	0	6,75	1	0
10	1	GM	Pranav, V	IND	2597	India	2	0	6,25	0	0

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	4	2720	India	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi		GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2658	India	10
2	5	2776	India	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Giri, Anish	2748	Netherlands	3
3	6	2696	USA	GM	Liang, Awonder		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2730	Germany	2
4	7	2697	Netherlands	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		GM	Pranav, V	2597	India	1
5	8	2687	USA	GM	Robson, Ray		GM	Nihal, Sarin	2692	India	9

Details

Challengers Round 6 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	10	2454	India	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	½ - ½	GM	Iniyan, Pa	2586	India	8	PGN
2	9	2534	India	GM	Adhiban, B.	1 - 0	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2576	India	7	PGN
3	1	2606	India	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	1 - 0	GM	Aryan, Chopra	2634	India	6	PGN
4	2	2635	India	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	0 - 1	GM	Pranesh, M	2589	India	5	PGN
5	3	2476	India	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	0 - 1	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2487	India	4	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	5	GM	Pranesh, M	IND	2589	India	4,5	1,5	15,25	3	1
2	2	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	IND	2635	India	4,5	1	10,75	4	2
3	1	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	IND	2606	India	4,5	0,5	8,25	4	1
4	9	GM	Adhiban, B.	IND	2534	India	3,5	0	10,00	1	0
5	7	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	IND	2576	India	3,5	0	8,25	2	2
6	8	GM	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2586	India	3,5	0	6,25	2	0
7	10	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2454	India	2	0	3,50	1	1
8	6	GM	Aryan, Chopra	IND	2634	India	1,5	0	4,50	0	0
9	4	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2487	India	1,5	0	2,75	1	1
10	3	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	IND	2476	India	1	0	3,50	0	0

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	4	2487	India	GM	Dronavalli, Harika		IM	Harshavardhan, G B	2454	India	10
2	5	2589	India	GM	Pranesh, M		GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	2476	India	3
3	6	2634	India	GM	Aryan, Chopra		GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2635	India	2
4	7	2576	India	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan		GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2606	India	1
5	8	2586	India	GM	Iniyan, Pa		GM	Adhiban, B.	2534	India	9

Details

Prize

The total prize fund is ₹1 Crore, for Masters it is ₹7500000, an increase of 50% from previous edition. The top three prizes are ₹2500000, ₹1500000 and ₹1000000. The prize fund in Challengers section is ₹2500000. The top three prizes are ₹700000, ₹400000 and ₹325000.

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