American Grandmaster Hans Niemann is known more for controversies than his exploits on the board.

He was involved in a public feud with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen over the cheating allegations levelled against him by the Norwegian. Despite his achievements and avowed ambition to become the best player on the planet, his straight-talking seems to put him in a spot more often than not.

After the end of the Chennai Grand Masters here, the 23-year-old took a dig at reigning World champion D. Gukesh and his predecessor Ding Liren, saying that they had never been the best players in spite of winning the game’s top prize.

“The main reason we’ve seen Ding and Gukesh do poorly is that they were never the best players in the world. Not even close to it,” Niemann said on Wednesday.

He also criticised the World Championship format with “limited number of games” and said that it does not necessarily identify the strongest player over a sustained period. Despite that, Niemann felt Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov was a deserving challenger for the title.

As for the match itself, he opined that Gukesh — whose confidence has been dented by a succession of poor results — could return to form with a bright start.

“If he starts well, regains his confidence and takes control, his prime form could return. But if he starts poorly, it is just going to be a reminder of all the bad results. In one match of 14 games, anything can happen.”

A draw was enough for Alireza Firouzja in the seventh and final round of the Chennai Grand Masters on Wednesday as the Frenchman walked away with the title in a strong field.

Firouzja’s 41-move stalemate also ended his opponent Arjun Erigaisi’s chances of fighting for first place. The loss suffered by Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the hands of Dmitry Andreikin (Russia) cleared the path for Firouzja as the 23-year-old emerged champion with 4.5 points.

Andreikin proved to be the surprise packet, taking the runner-up spot with four points after remaining unbeaten (six draws and one win).

Firouzja, who didn’t lose a game through the week, received ₹25 lakh for his title-winning effort while Arjun took the third spot, followed by Abdusattorov and M. Pranesh. World champion D. Gukesh held Hans Niemann to a draw and finished with the wooden spoon (two points).

He narrowly avoided slipping out of the 2700-club, thanks to the stalemate against his American opponent; the 20-year-old, who had lost his previous two games, settled for a quick draw as the contest ended in 19 moves.

Nihal Sarin, who began with four straight draws, appeared to lose steam towards the business end and wound up with 3.5 points despite a well-crafted win against Arjun in the penultimate round. The fifth-place finish was a creditable performance by Pranesh, the lowest-rated player in the event who handed Gukesh a shock defeat.

The results: D. Gukesh 2 drew with Hans Niemann (USA) 3; Nihal Sarin 3.5 drew with M. Pranesh 3.5; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 4.5 drew with Arjun Erigaisi 4; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 4 beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 3.5.

Final placings: 1. Firouzja, 2. Andreikin, 3. Arjun, 4. Abdusattorov, 5. Pranesh, 6. Nihal, 7. Niemann, 8. Gukesh.

Alireza Firouzja is in a rich vein of form, and the confidence is evident. The Frenchman took down home favourite and World champion D. Gukesh in the second round of the Chennai Grand Masters at The Westin Velachery on Friday as he jumped to the lead.

It was the only decisive result on the day, with Firouzja keeping his poise to outwit his opponent in 69 moves. The victory also lifted him to No. 9 in the live world rankings. Beginning the tournament outside the top 10, the 23-year-old gained ground by beating M. Pranesh before scoring over Gukesh with white.

Gukesh, who is playing his first event at home after becoming the World champion, endured another setback as he prepares to defend his title. He remained on half a point from two games and slipped below Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus to World No. 28 in the live ratings.

In another contest, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Arjun Erigaisi shared the honours. The Indian played aggressively and gained the advantage in the middle, but he couldn’t navigate his way to a win in a 30-move game.

Nihal Sarin held Hans Niemann to a draw after 132 moves. Niemann had the better chances at different stages of the Nimzo-Indian encounter, but Nihal defended accurately to deny the American. Pranesh and Dmitry Andreikin played out a 18-move draw as the match concluded in about an hour.

The results (second round): Hans Niemann (USA) 1 drew with Nihal Sarin 1; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 2 bt D. Gukesh 0.5; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 1 drew with M. Pranesh 0.5; Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 1 drew with Arjun Erigaisi 1.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov has good memories of Chennai. He was at the forefront of Uzbekistan’s spectacular run in the chess Olympiad in nearby Mamallapuram in 2022, with his defeat of D. Gukesh on the top board ensuring the gold for his team.

Abdusattorov is back in the city for the Chennai Grand Masters tournament and is more than happy to return. The 21-year-old Uzbek, who is part of a group of rising stars from the Central Asian republic, said he was looking forward to the match against the World champion but wasn’t focussing only on it.

“This tournament is very short. In some rounds, anything can happen, because it’s a very young field,” the former World Rapid champion said in an interaction.

Abdusattorov has slipped under the radar in recent times with his compatriot Javokhir Sindarov stealing the spotlight with a triumph in last year’s World Cup in Goa before dominating the field in the Candidates to set up a World championship match against Gukesh.

He said he would help Sindarov in his preparation for the title clash. “I had joined his training camp for a week before the Candidates. For the upcoming World championship match, for sure, I will be part of his team. I will be training with him. From my perspective, he’s my friend, he’s close to me, and I will do my best to help him,” Abdusattorov said.

It is not common for chess players to have friendships, especially with rivals, but the young Uzbek superstars seem to be different.

The Abdusattorov-Sindarov friendship could be crucial as Uzbekistan aims to win the Olympiad gold to be held back home in Samarkand.