Alireza Firouzja secured clear first place in the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters by drawing with Arjun Erigaisi in the final round. Dmitry Andreikin defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov to claim second on tiebreaks. The tournament concluded on July 22 in Chennai, India.
GM Alireza Firouzja finished half a point ahead of Andreikin and Erigaisi after a solid performance that included an early lead. He attributed his success to winning his first two games, which allowed him to avoid unnecessary risks in later rounds.
Andreikin scored his only win of the event in the final round against Abdusattorov, who needed a victory to force a playoff for the title. Abdusattorov overpressed in the game and dropped from fifth to eighth on the live ratings.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju drew quickly with Hans Niemann by sacrificing a bishop, preserving his 2700 rating at 2703.1 despite finishing last. Niemann noted he saw a stronger line but did not believe the opportunity against the champion.
The eight-player round-robin ran from July 16 to 22 with a top prize of around $26,000. Firouzja earned 24.915 FIDE Circuit points from the victory.