Germany’s Vincent Keymer continued his flawless start at the Chennai Grand Masters on Saturday, chalking up a third straight win to maintain sole lead in the Masters section. The 19-year-old defeated India’s Karthikeyan Murali with clinical precision in the classical chess round-robin, taking his score to a perfect 3/3.
India’s Arjun Erigaisi also had a productive day, overcoming USA’s GM Ray Robson to move into second place after three rounds. The 20-year-old now sits just half a point behind Keymer on 2.5 points, keeping the title race wide open with six rounds still to play.
Elsewhere in the Masters category, Vidit Gujrathi bounced back strongly after a slow start, defeating compatriot Nihal Sarin in a crucial all-Indian clash. Nihal, still searching for his first win, remains on just half a point. American GM Awonder Liang recorded his first victory of the tournament, stunning Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest, while 17-year-old V Pranav impressed by holding top seed Anish Giri to a well-fought draw.
Masters Round 3 results: Vincent Keymer bt Karthikeyan Murali; Arjun Erigaisi bt Ray Robson; Awonder Liang bt Jorden van Foreest; V Pranav drew with Anish Giri; Vidit Gujrathi bt Nihal Sarin.
Standings: 1. Keymer – 3; 2. Arjun – 2.5; 3-5. Robson, Liang, Giri – 1.5; 6. Vidit – 1.5; 7-9. Jorden, Pranav, Karthikeyan – 1; 10. Nihal – 0.5.
In the Challengers section, Abhimanyu Puranik and M Pranesh continued their strong starts, both securing wins to share the lead on 2.5 points each. Abhimanyu defeated Harshavardhan GB, while Pranesh overcame P. Iniyan in a tense battle. Leon Luke Mendonca also impressed, beating R. Vaishali, and Adhiban Baskaran split the point with D. Harika. Aryan Chopra and Diptayan Ghosh also played out a draw.
Challengers Round 3 results:
Abhimanyu Puranik bt Harshavardhan GB; M Pranesh bt P. Iniyan; Leon Luke Mendonca bt R. Vaishali; Adhiban Baskaran drew with D. Harika; Aryan Chopra drew with Diptayan Ghosh.
Standings: 1-2. Pranesh, Abhimanyu – 2.5; 3-4. Ghosh, Mendonca – 2; 5-6. Adhiban, Iniyan – 1.5; 7-8. Vaishali, Aryan – 1; 9-10. Harika, Harshavardhan – 0.5.
With six rounds remaining, the competition is poised for tense battles as players jostle for the top spots in both categories.
– Ends