M. Pranesh posted the best win of his career by taking out World champion D. Gukesh at the Quantbox Chennai Grandmaster chess tournament in Chennai on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: B. VELANKANNI RAJ
It is not every day that you beat a reigning World champion, and that too from a losing position!
M. Pranesh, playing with white pieces, bounced back after finding himself in trouble to shock D. Gukesh in the sixth round of the Chennai Grand Masters at The Westin Chennai on Tuesday.
The 39-move victory for the 19-year-old pushed his tally to three points while his compatriot stayed at the bottom with 1.5 points.
Overnight joint leader Arjun Erigaisi went down to Nihal Sarin in 61 moves while France’s Alireza Firouzja was back in sole lead following a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Gukesh, whose struggles seem to be multiplying with each passing game and tournament, continued to sink further. It was his third defeat in the tournament.
The loss to Pranesh, the lowest-rated player here, saw his live rating dip to 2702.9 and he’s in danger of slipping out of the elite 2700-club if he meets a similar fate against American Hans Niemann in Wednesday’s final round.
For the second straight day, Gukesh let slip a winning position and allowed his opponent an opening. Pranesh didn’t let go of the opportunity offered on a platter.
Pranesh, who has been playing Gukesh since his younger days, said he was confident on the day and added beating the World champion was the best win of his career.
He also felt the pressure of being the World champion was probably affecting Gukesh’s play.
The results (sixth round): Hans Niemann (USA) 2.5 drew with Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 3, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 3.5 drew with Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 4, Arjun Erigaisi 3.5 lost to Nihal Sarin 3, M. Pranesh 3 bt D. Gukesh 1.5.
Published – July 21, 2026 09:57 pm IST
