2nd Chennai Grand Masters is Bigger and Stronger
Chennai Grand Masters continues to be the strongest classical super tournament to take place in India. The average rating of the Masters section is 2725, 14 points more than the inaugural edition. For, Challengers, it is 2594. Masters participants - Arjun Erigaisi, Levon Aronian (USA), Vidit Gujrathi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI), Aravindh Chithambaram, M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) and Alexey Sarana (SRB). Challengers - Raunak Sadhwani, Abhimanyu Puranik, Leon Luke Mendonca, Karthikeyan Murali, Pranav V, Pranesh M, Harika Dronavalli and R Vaishali. The event is sponsored and supported by Tamil Nadu Government and Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The total prize fund in Masters is ₹5000000 (≈US$ 60000). The top three prizes are ₹1500000 (≈US$ 18000), ₹1000000 (≈US$ 12000) and ₹800000 (≈US$ 9600). Round 1 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: IM Sagar Shah
The strongest Classical Super tournament in India
The tournament, being the strongest ever classical super tournament in India, becomes double this year. The introduction of Challengers section gives an opportunity to a lot of players who are yet to play super tournaments regularly. It has a huge prize fund of ₹2000000. The top three prizes are ₹600000, ₹400000 and ₹320000. Apart from the cash prizes, the winner of the Challengers section will advance to the Masters in the next edition.
Photo Gallery
Two people who have played a big role in making the Chennai Grandmasters come to life - Atulya Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government and Meghanath Reddy, Member Secretary Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.
While he was growing up, his parents dreamed that he would become one of the best players in the world. GM Srinath Narayanan went one step ahead and has managed to create multiple champions for the country! It is amazing to see how Srinath is contributing to the growth of chess in India. Captain of India's gold medal winning team, trainer to some of the best budding talents in the country and now the organizer of the Chennai Grand Masters 2024 - the strongest classical tournament on Indian soil. He works extremely hard, speaks little, lets his work do the talking and gets things done! You can see the pride and happiness in the eyes of his parents as they attended the opening ceremony of the Chennai Grand Masters 2024.
For more photos, please click here.
Video Gallery
The details of the tournament has already been mentioned in the tournament announcement article
Masters Round 1 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2706 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | 2686 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2737 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2712 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2739 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2799 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 2739 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2679 | 5 |
Challengers Round 1 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2490 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2631 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2677 | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | 2625 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2580 | GM | Pranesh, M | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | 2652 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 2602 | GM | Pranav, V | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2493 | 5 |
Where to watch
The entire event will be live-streamed on ChessBase India youtube channel. You can also visit the venue by getting the tickets from Bookmyshow.
