Chess | Firouzja gets the better of Pranesh; other games end in draws

Alireza Firouzja got off to a winning start, dismantling M. Pranesh in a longish game, at the Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament at Hotel Westin Velachery on Thursday.

The Frenchman, entering the event in good nick after a title-winning run in the Grand Chess Tour-Croatia leg, wore down the young Indian in a 79-move game. He had to dig deep as the match went into the fifth hour before taking the point with black pieces. The Frenchman emerged with a slight edge from a Sicilian Defence before Pranesh’s 36th move allowed him a breakthrough.

The 23-year-old Firouzja was the only winner on the opening day as World champion D. Gukesh was held by compatriot Nihal Sarin while Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the highest-rated player in the tournament, split the point with USA’s Hans Moke Niemann and local hope Arjun Erigaisi shared honours with Russian Dmitry Andreikin.

Abdusattorov held firm despite coming under pressure from Niemann for a major part of the game.

The Gukesh-Nihal encounter saw the former, playing with white pieces, finding himself in time trouble in the middle before emerging unscathed. The Chennai GM, playing in the city for the first time since his epochal triumph, ensured a stalemate in 47 moves once he neutralised Nihal’s advantage.

Arjun and Andreikin signed the peace treaty after 42 moves. The Russian found counter-play against the exposed white king and forced a draw through a succession of queen checks.

The results (first round): Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) drew with Hans Niemann (USA), Arjun Erigaisi drew with Dmitry Andreikin (Rus), M. Pranesh lost to Alireza Firouzja (Fra), D. Gukesh drew with Nihal Sarin.