Quantbox Chennai GM R4: Nihal Sarin stuns World no.5, Arjun Erigaisi

by Shahid Ahmed - 11/08/2025

GM Anish Giri (NED) halted GM Vincent Keymer's (GER) winning streak in the fourth round of Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025. GM Nihal Sarin won a topsy-turvy battle against GM Arjun Erigaisi. This was Nihal's first win and Arjun's first loss of the event. It resulted in Keymer increasing his sole lead by a full point 3.5/4. Only Arjun is at 2.5/4, followed by five players at 2/4. GM Karthikeyan Murali scored the only other victory of the round in Masters as he got the better of the reigning Dutch champion, GM Jorden van Foreest (NED). In the Challengers, GM Abhimanyu Puranik defeated GM R Vaishali to emerge sole leader 3.5/4. Birthday boy, GM Diptayan Ghosh scored a win against IM Harshavardhan G B to move to 3/4. Round 5 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Nihal's win helps Keymer extend his sole lead

Four out of five games ended decisively in the Challengers section. GM Iniyan Pa bounced back with a win over GM Aryan Chopra who allowed to be dominated by his opponent. GM Leon Luke Mendonca got the better of GM Harika Dronavalli to move to 3/4, a half point behind the sole leader, GM Abhimanyu Puranik. GM Pranesh M, GM Diptayan Ghosh and Leon are at 3/4 each, followed by Iniyan at 2.5/4.

Masters: Nihal - Arjun: 1-0

GM Nihal Sarin (2692) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2776) played five Classical rated games against each other. All of them ended in draws. This is their first Classical battle in over three years.

Position after 22.Ne4

22...Bf5? 23.Nxf6+ Bxf6 24.Nh5 gave the upper hand. 22...Nxe4 23.Bxe4 Qh4 would have been relatively better. 24...Nf3+ 25.Rxf3 Bxb2 26.Raf1 Qh4 27.Ng3? instead White needed to 27.Rxf5 gxf5 28.Ng3 to maintain his advantage. The position eventually liquidated into a knight and three pawns vs rook.

Position after 52.bxc5+

The above endgame can end in a draw but with correct play. Only White can play for a win. 52...Ke7? 53.d6+ Ke6 54.Nf4+ Kd7 55.Ng6 White went on to win the game after Black blundered his rook while trying to capture the pawns.

Final moments: Nihal Sarin vs Arjun Erigaisi + interview with Nihal | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal Sarin vs Arjun Erigaisi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal Sarin won a wild game against Arjun Erigaisi

Karthikeyan - Jorden: 1-0

GM Karthikeyan Murali (2658) played two Classical rated games against GM Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2697). Both of them were at French Top 16 team event. The battle ended in a draw last year. A few months ago Jorden won their rematch. Karthikeyan on both occasion had the black pieces. This time Jorden had black. He opted for the Berlin Defence in Ruy Lopez which is known for its drawish nature. However, Karthikeyan avenged his loss occurred less than two and a half months ago.

Position after 32.Nf5

Black made the grave mistake of playing 32...Nf3? 33.Bxf6 Nd2 34.Re1 Ne4+ this tactic does not work as White sacrifices the exchange 35.Rxe4 Bxe4 36.f4! c5? another mistake 37.bxc5+- b5 38.fxg5 b4 39.Kf4! ensuring the bishop can stop the b-pawn b3 40.c4 Bd3 41.h4 Ra6 42.h5 Rxf6 43.gxf6 Bxc4 44.h6 two virtually split passed pawns are too difficult to stop for a bishop Bg8 45.c6+! Ka7 46.Nd4 stopping the passed b-pawn. A beautiful game by Karthikeyan.

GM Karthikeyan Murali scored his first win of the event against GM Jorden van Foreest (NED)

GM Ray Robson (USA) - GM Awonder Liang (USA): 0.5-0.5

GM Pranav Venkatesh - GM Vidit Gujrathi: 0.5-0.5

GM Anish Giri (NED) halted GM Vincent Keymer's (GER) winning streak

The only two-time World Cup winner in history, GM Levon Aronian tweeted

Arjun - Robson: 1-0

The only time GM Arjun Erigaisi (2776) faced GM Ray Robson (USA, 2687) in a Classical rated game was nearly three years ago. It had ended in a draw. Arjun got a lot stronger since then. Robson made a questionable choice of opening. Arjun got a dream position for English opening players, gained an exchange and managed to convert his advantage into a win with ease.

Arjun Erigaisi - Ray Robson, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi had a relatively easy day at the office

GM Awonder Liang (USA) continues his steady climb towards 2700 as he defeated the reigning Dutch champion - GM Jorden van Foreest (NED)

Challengers: Abhimanyu emerges sole leader, Diptayan wins on his birthday

Harshavardhan - Diptayan

Position after 65...f5

White needed to get rid of the immediate threat first 66.gxf5+ instead, he opted for 66.Rxb5?? fxg4-+ 67.a4 Ra3 68.a5 f6 a human move preparing h5. Computer suggests to play 68...h5 directly. 69.Rb8?? White's last chance 69.Rd5. 69...h5-+ 70.Rh8 Ra4 71.Rg8+ Kf5 72.Rb8 h4 73.Ke3 Ra3+ 74.Kd4 g3 75.Rg8 h3 76.a6 h2 and it's over.

The National Rapid and Blitz 2024 champion, GM Diptayan Ghosh won on his birthday against the former Asian Junior champion, IM Harshavardhan G B | Photo: Dr. Vidhi Karelia

GM Aryan Chopra allowed to be dominated by GM Iniyan Pa

GM Adhiban Baskaran - GM Pranesh M: 0.5-0.5

GM Leon Luke Mendonca handed GM Harika Dronavalli her third loss of the event

GM Abhimanyu Puranik defeated GM R Vaishali to score a hat-trick and emerge sole leader 3.5/4 | Photo: Dr. Vidhi Karelia

For more Round 4 photos, please click here.

Vishy Anand arrives at Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025 and joins the commentary | Video: ChessBase India

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Replay Round 4 live commentary by CM Sahil Tickoo, Kincso Toth (HUN), IM Sagar Shah and GM Sahaj Grover | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 4 Masters games

Replay Round 4 Challengers games

Masters Round 4 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	10	2658	India	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	1 - 0	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2697	Netherlands	7	PGN
2	8	2687	USA	GM	Robson, Ray	½ - ½	GM	Liang, Awonder	2696	USA	6	PGN
3	9	2692	India	GM	Nihal, Sarin	1 - 0	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2776	India	5	PGN
4	1	2597	India	GM	Pranav, V	½ - ½	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720	India	4	PGN
5	2	2730	Germany	GM	Keymer, Vincent	½ - ½	GM	Giri, Anish	2748	Netherlands	3	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2730	Germany	3,5	6,00	3	1
2	5	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2776	India	2,5	4,50	2	0
3	3	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2748	Netherlands	2	4,25	0	0
4	8	GM	Robson, Ray	USA	2687	USA	2	4,00	1	0
5	6	GM	Liang, Awonder	USA	2696	USA	2	3,00	1	0
6	4	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2720	India	2	2,75	1	0
	10	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2658	India	2	2,75	1	0
8	9	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2692	India	1,5	3,50	1	0
9	1	GM	Pranav, V	IND	2597	India	1,5	3,00	0	0
10	7	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2697	Netherlands	1	2,25	0	0

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	3	2748	Netherlands	GM	Giri, Anish		GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2658	India	10
2	4	2720	India	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2730	Germany	2
3	5	2776	India	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Pranav, V	2597	India	1
4	6	2696	USA	GM	Liang, Awonder		GM	Nihal, Sarin	2692	India	9
5	7	2697	Netherlands	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		GM	Robson, Ray	2687	USA	8

Details

Challengers Round 4 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	10	2454	India	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	0 - 1	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2576	India	7	PGN
2	8	2586	India	GM	Iniyan, Pa	1 - 0	GM	Aryan, Chopra	2634	India	6	PGN
3	9	2534	India	GM	Adhiban, B.	½ - ½	GM	Pranesh, M	2589	India	5	PGN
4	1	2606	India	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	1 - 0	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2487	India	4	PGN
5	2	2635	India	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	1 - 0	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	2476	India	3	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	IND	2635	India	3,5	5,50	3	1
2	5	GM	Pranesh, M	IND	2589	India	3	6,00	2	0
3	7	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	IND	2576	India	3	3,00	2	2
4	1	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	IND	2606	India	3	2,00	3	1
5	8	GM	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2586	India	2,5	2,00	2	0
6	9	GM	Adhiban, B.	IND	2534	India	2	4,00	0	0
7	3	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	IND	2476	India	1	2,25	0	0
8	6	GM	Aryan, Chopra	IND	2634	India	1	1,75	0	0
9	4	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2487	India	0,5	1,00	0	0
10	10	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2454	India	0,5	0,50	0	0

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Club/City		White	Result		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	3	2476	India	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu		IM	Harshavardhan, G B	2454	India	10
2	4	2487	India	GM	Dronavalli, Harika		GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2635	India	2
3	5	2589	India	GM	Pranesh, M		GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2606	India	1
4	6	2634	India	GM	Aryan, Chopra		GM	Adhiban, B.	2534	India	9
5	7	2576	India	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan		GM	Iniyan, Pa	2586	India	8

Details

Prize

The total prize fund is ₹1 Crore, for Masters it is ₹7500000, an increase of 50% from previous edition. The top three prizes are ₹2500000, ₹1500000 and ₹1000000. The prize fund in Challengers section is ₹2500000. The top three prizes are ₹700000, ₹400000 and ₹325000.

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