Chennai, Aug 11 (IANS) German GM Vincent Keymer maintained his grip on the top of the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 table despite being held to his second consecutive draw, this time by GM Vidit Gujrathi in Round 5 on Monday.

The result kept Keymer a point clear of nearest rival Arjun Erigaisi, who was also held to a draw by compatriot Pranav V.

Erigaisi and Keymer will play each other in a clash between the table toppers on day 6, with the latter starting with whites.

Now in its third year, the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025 is India’s strongest classical chess event. Organised by MGD1, it features two elite 10-player round-robin sections—Masters and Challengers—across nine rounds in ten days. With a ₹1 Crore prize pool, the Masters winner earns ₹25 Lakhs, the Challengers winner ₹7 Lakhs and a coveted 2026 Masters berth. The event also offers FIDE Circuit points, with the Masters champion securing 24.5 toward 2026 Candidates qualification.

In the Masters section, Jorden van Foreest scored the only decisive result of the day, defeating American GM Ray Robson to go level on points with the latter at 2.0 apiece. Nihal Sarin drew with Awonder Liang, while Anish Giri split the point with Murali Karthikeyan in a balanced contest.

The Challengers section saw a remarkable sweep for the black pieces on the top boards, with leader GM Abhimanyu Puranik defeating GM Harika Dronavalli to extend his lead to a commanding full point. IM Harshavardhan GB scored a win with black by overcoming GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, while GM Leon Luke Mendonca held GM Pranesh M to a draw to remain in joint second. GM Iniyan Pa also split the point with GM Diptayan Ghosh.

–IANS

hs/