Grandmaster (GM) Aravindh Chithambaram (4.5 points) clinched the Masters title after tying for first place with GMs Levon Aronian (Armenia) and Arjun Erigaisi(India) and defeating Aronian in the final of the tiebreak with a 2-0 score at the 2nd edition of the Chennai Grandmasters 2024 held from 5th November to 11th November 2024 at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN).
- Meanwhile, in the Challengers category, GM Pranav Venkatesh (5.5 points) emerged victorious after drawing with Leon Mendonca (India) thus ending the competition with four wins and three draws.
- With this win, Pranav got an opportunity to play in the Masters section of next year’s event.
Prize Money:
i.Aravindh Chithambaram, Levon Aronian and Arjun Erigaisi tied on 4.5 points after seven classical rounds thus winning a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh each.
ii.Pranav won Rs 6 lakh in prize money from a total prize fund of Rs.20 lakh.
Highlights:
i.While the 1st three spots ended with a tie in the Masters section, Amin Tabatabaei (4 points) (Iran) secured the 4th spot and Maxie Vachier-Lagrave (3 points) (France) on the 5th spot respectively.
ii.Under the Challengers category, Leon Luke Mendoca (5 points) gained the 2nd spot followed by RaunakSadhwani (4 points) on 3rd, Kartikeyan Murali (3.5 points) and Abhimanyu Puranik (3.5 points) on 4th and 5th spots respectively.
Results – Masters:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aravindh Chithambaram (India) | 4.5 points |
| 2 | Levon Aronian (Armenia) | 4.5 points |
| 3 | Arjun Erigaisi (India) | 4.5 points |
| 4 | Amin Tabatabaei (Iran) | 4 points |
| 5 | Maxie Vachier-Lagrave (France) | 3 points |
Results – Challengers:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pranav Venkatesh (India) | 5.5 points |
| 2 | Leon Luke Mendoca (India) | 5 points |
| 3 | Raunak Sadhwani (India) | 4 points |
| 4 | Kartikeyan Murali (India) | 3.5 points |
| 5 | Abhimanyu Puranik (India) | 3.5 points |
About Aravindh Chithambaram:
i.Aravindh won the Indian Under 19 (U19) Chess Championship at the age of 12.
ii.He won his first major tournament in 2013 at the Chennai Grandmaster International Open, defeating four grandmasters and two international masters in the process making him earn his first grandmaster norm.
iii.He earned his international master title in 2014 and his grandmaster title in 2015.
iv.As of November 2024, he has a world ranking of 29 and a The International Chess Federation (FIDE) rating of 2706.
About Pranav Venkatesh:
i.Pranav earned the title in 2022 after securing his third norm at the 2022 Limpedea Cup, becoming the 75th grandmaster in Indian history.
ii.In October 2022, he played for India in the World U-16 Youth Olympiad alongside competing in the Magnus Carlsen Academy Challenge and won both the events.
iii.He was also the champion of the 2022 Challengers Chess Tour. In May 2024, Pranav won the first-ever Dubai Police Global Chess Challenge.
iv.As of November 2024, he has a world ranking of 169 and FIDE rating of 2602.
About Chennai Grandmasters 2024 :
i.The Chennai Grand Masters is an 8-player single round-robin with a time control of 90 minutes for the game plus 30-second increments per move.
ii.It is organised by MGD1 and sponsored by the Sports Development Authority of TN and features two categories- Masters & Challengers.
iii.The rating average of this tournament is 2729 according to the October rating list
iv.The Challengers section is the new addition to the Chennai Grandmasters.
