
Chennai Grand Masters 2025: Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer kick off exciting Day 1 with victories
World No. 5 Arjun Erigaisi and Germany's Vincent Keymer began their campaigns with strong wins on Day 1 of the Chennai Grandmasters 2025, which got underway on Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency.
Erigaisi showcased dominance to beat American GM Awonder Liang, while Keymer produced a technically sound performance to outplay India's Nihal Sarin. These were the only decisive results in the Masters section, with the remaining games ending in draws.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
A high-profile Chennai derby between Pranav V and Karthikeyan Murali ended in a hard-fought draw. Former World No. 6 Anish Giri split points with American GM Ray Robson, and Vidit Gujrathi held Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest to a draw.
Masters – Round 1 Results:
Arjun Erigaisi 1–0 Awonder Liang
Vincent Keymer 1–0 Nihal Sarin
Anish Giri ½–½ Ray Robson
Vidit Gujrathi ½–½ Jorden van Foreest
Pranav V ½–½ Karthikeyan Murali
In the Challengers section, Indian GMs Diptayan Ghosh, Leon Luke Mendonca, and M Pranesh made early statements with first-round victories. GM Vaishali Rameshbabu and GMs Abhimanyu Puranik and Iniyan Pa drew their games, while senior players Harika Dronavalli, Aryan Chopra, and Harshavardhan GB faced opening round losses.
Challengers – Round 1 Results:
Diptayan Ghosh 1–0 Harika Dronavalli
Leon Mendonca 1–0 Harshavardhan GB
M Pranesh 1–0 Aryan Chopra
Adhiban Baskaran ½–½ Abhimanyu Puranik
Vaishali Rameshbabu ½–½ Iniyan Pa
The third edition of the Chennai Grandmasters is now India's leading classical chess tournament, featuring 20 elite players across Masters and Challengers categories. With rupees 1 Crore prize pool and valuable FIDE Circuit points at stake
Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


India.com
5 minutes ago
- India.com
Inside India's Unbreakable Test Streak: Why No Team Has Won by an Innings Here Since 2010
In the cutthroat world of modern Test cricket, sustained dominance is a rare feat. Yet, India's red-ball team has maintained a remarkable record that has stood the test of time. For 15 years, no visiting side has managed to beat India by an innings on home soil—a statistic that cements their status as the most formidable home side in the longest format. Gill's Men Impress in England Amid Transition India's ongoing Test journey entered a new chapter under the leadership of Shubman Gill, with a spirited 2-2 draw in England. Facing a well-set English side in their own backyard, few expected India to challenge, let alone dominate key sessions. But with sharp bowling spells, gritty batting displays, and tactical flexibility, Gill's side exceeded expectations. While inexperience cost them a potential series win, the resilience on display hinted at a promising future for India's next generation. For a side in transition—following the gradual phasing out of stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from all formats—the series was a statement that Indian cricket's fighting spirit remains intact. The Last Time India Suffered an Innings Defeat at Home You have to go all the way back to February 2010 to find India's last innings defeat at home—a bruising loss to South Africa in Nagpur. That match featured the legendary Dale Steyn at his destructive best, dismantling India with a reverse-swing masterclass. The Proteas side of that era was a juggernaut, winning everywhere with a balanced attack that thrived in all conditions. Since that defeat, India have hosted and humbled giants—Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan—on a variety of pitches. While many teams complain about spin-friendly surfaces, the reality is that India's success lies not just in conditions, but in their world-class spinners, relentless batting depth, and ability to adapt to any challenge thrown their way. How India's Fortress Compares Globally When it comes to avoiding innings defeats at home, only a handful of nations have come close. Australia and New Zealand are next best, last suffering such a loss in 2016. Every other major Test side—England, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies—has been humbled by an innings at least once in the past five years. This underscores the difficulty of dismantling India in their own backyard. Winning a Test in India demands not just skill but also mental toughness. Touring sides often select spinners just to 'tick the box' for subcontinental conditions, but without the skill to exploit turn and bounce effectively, they end up as passengers rather than match-winners. Why the Streak Might End—But Not Easily India's aura at home took a small hit when New Zealand broke their 12-year unbeaten home series streak in 2024. That defeat echoed England's shock 2012 triumph—both coming against an ageing Indian side during transitional phases. With new leaders emerging, the streak of avoiding innings defeats is still alive, but cricket history warns us that such records can fall suddenly. The challenge for Gill's side will be to maintain intensity across the upcoming home season, especially with teams like Australia and England eyeing opportunities in the next World Test Championship cycle. A Legacy Worth Protecting India's 15-year record without an innings defeat at home is more than just a statistic—it's a testament to their resilience, adaptability, and tactical superiority in familiar conditions. While their overseas form has shown volatility, their home dominance has remained a constant, inspiring awe and frustration in equal measure among opponents. As the next home season beckons, visiting sides will arrive with plans to breach the fortress. But history suggests they'll need more than ambition—they'll need a performance of near-perfect execution to hand India an innings defeat at home for the first time since 2010.


Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Viswanathan Anand's strange take on Magnus Carlsen - 'He used to be quite a limited player'
Five-time World Champion has made a startling revelation that used to be a 'limited' player in his younger days. Interestingly, it was Carlsen who ended Anand's long reign at the pinnacle of the sport. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'Magnus (Carlsen) used to be quite a limited player, very, very good in that specific area,' Anand said on Prakhar Gupta's podcast. 'He limited himself to areas where no one else was really focusing, like the endgame and dry technical positions. 'He saw potential where others basically saw paint drying, and he was able to lure a lot of unsuspecting chess players to their doom over and over again. 'He was really cashing in those points before people learned the hard way to take those positions seriously and start working on them,' he added. Poll Do you believe Magnus Carlsen has evolved from his earlier playing style? Yes, he has improved significantly. No, he was always a strong player. Anand also reflected on his matches against Carlsen in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, Anand lost his World Championship title to Carlsen and then failed to recapture it in 2014 after winning the Candidates. 'I was in a chess crisis from roughly the end of 2010 until, well, after the match in 2013. 'I was really struggling with my game, and while I was working, I think I was unable to adapt to the new trends and developments. 'At the same time, I was working harder and harder in my old ways, trying to catch up, and it wasn't working. This frustration climaxed in a pretty pathetic defeat in Chennai. 'But then I suddenly had this realisation… when I took a lot of pressure off myself and just tried to play for fun and experiment a bit more. 'I eventually won the Candidates in 2014 and played Magnus again. I think I played much better this time… a lot of the games were at least two-way battles that could have gone either way before they went in his favour. So that's my story,' said Anand.


NDTV
35 minutes ago
- NDTV
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma To Play India A Matches? Report Highlights Ajit Agarkar Factor
Speculation over Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's ODI future has intensified, but the Indian cricket board is in no rush to take a call on the two maestros. With the Bangladesh series scheduled in August being called off, India's next ODI assignment will be an away series from October 19-25 against Australia. However whether Rohit and Kohli will be playing ODIs post Australia tour is a thing of conjecture. There is a school of thought in the BCCI that, for the duo to get ready for the Australia series Down Under, they can play a couple of India A games in India when the Australia A team — which will have Jake Fraser-McGurk in its ranks — tours. The three List A games will be played in Kanpur on September 30, October 3 and October 5, at the same time the senior team plays the first Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad. Indian cricket runs on narratives and currently it is about whether Kohli and Rohit, with a cumulative 83 ODI hundreds and 25,000-plus runs, can last till the October 2027 ODI World Cup when they would be 39 and 40-year old respectively. "Obviously, if they (Rohit and Kohli) have something in mind, they would tell the BCCI brass like they did before the England Test tour. But from an Indian team's perspective, the next big assignment is the T20 World Cup in February and preparations before that. The immediate focus will be on sending the best team for the Asia Cup T20 tournament, hoping all players are fit and available," a BCCI source privy to the developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity. The BCCI never believes in taking decisions in haste and would always gauge the mood and public perceptions before taking a call, which is sensitive in nature considering the massive fan following of the two players. The last tournament that they played was the Champions Trophy in Dubai where Kohli scored a hundred in a successful chase against Pakistan at the group league stage, while Rohit starred with a sublime half-century in the chase during the final. However, both have not played competitive cricket since the conclusion of the Indian Premier League. Kohli, who is now a resident of London, had recently posted an Instagram story after an indoor nets session, which is an indicator that he has started training. Rohit, who was also in the UK on a break post IPL, is recently back in Mumbai and would certainly be expected to start training in a few days. While there are some media reports about BCCI offering the duo a farewell game at Sydney on October 25, the BCCI source in the know of things said that as of now, no such discussions have taken place. As far as playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy is concerned, the source said that the national One-Day Championship starts on December 24, 2025 and even before that, there is another three-match ODI series at home against South Africa starting November 30. "Even if they play Vijay Hazare, before that there would already be six ODIs that will be played. In between the Australia ODIs and the South Africa ODIs, there is an India A series against South Africa A where three List A games (50 overs) will be held at Rajkot on November 13, 16 and 19 respectively. "Now, will the duo want to play those three A games, or possibly two, before the South Africa series is the question. Even more important is whether Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues would want that," he said. "Overlapping the Vijay Hazare Trophy (December 24, 2025 - January 18, 2025) will be the three ODIs between India and New Zealand (January 11, 14, 18). So even if they play the Vijay Hazare Trophy, it can't be for more than two to three games," he added.