GM Alireza Firouzja defeated GM Pranesh M to take the sole lead after round one of the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters. The other three games ended in draws.
GM Alireza Firouzja beat GM Pranesh M in round one to claim the early lead and return to the live top 10. He traded into an endgame with two pawns for the exchange and converted after the white d-pawn fell.
The remaining games produced no decisive results. GM Gukesh Dommaraju drew with GM Nihal Sarin, top seed GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew with GM Hans Niemann, and GM Dmitry Andreikin drew with GM Arjun Erigaisi after finding a saving perpetual check.
Round two is scheduled to begin on Friday, July 17 at 5:30 a.m. ET. The eight-player event runs through July 22 in Chennai with a top prize of ₹25,00,000.