Vincent Keymer takes sole lead; Robson stuns Vidit in round 2 at Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025

CHENNAI: Round 2 of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025, taking place at the Hyatt Regency in Chennai, saw Germany’s Vincent Keymer emerge as the sole leader in the Masters section at the end of Day 2, with a commanding win over India’s V Pranav, according to a release from Chennai Grand Masters.

Meanwhile, American GM Ray Robson delivered the biggest upset of the day, defeating Vidit Gujrathi in a sharp tactical battle.

Top seed Arjun Erigaisi was held to a draw by Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest, while Anish Giri and Nihal Sarin shared the spoils in a well-balanced clash. The showdown between Karthikeyan Murali and Awonder Liang also ended in a draw.

Heartbreak for Nihal

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— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) August 8, 2025

Masters – Round 2 Results:

Vincent Keymer (1.0) def. V Pranav (0)
Ray Robson (1.0) def. Vidit Gujrathi (0)
Arjun Erigaisi ( 1/2 ) drew Jorden van Foreest ( 1/2 )
Anish Giri ( 1/2 ) drew Nihal Sarin ( 1/2 )
Karthikeyan Murali ( 1/2 ) drew Awonder Liang ( 1/2 )

In the Challengers section, Indian GM Iniyan Pa impressed with a clinical win over GM Harika Dronavalli, while GM Abhimanyu Puranik bounced back with a victory over Leon Luke Mendonca.

The remaining games, Diptayan vs Pranesh, Adhiban vs Vaishali, and Harshavardhan vs Aryan, ended in close draws.

Challengers – Round 2 Results:

Harshavardhan GB ( 1/2 ) drew Aryan Chopra ( 1/2 )
Diptayan Ghosh ( 1/2 ) drew M Pranesh ( 1/2 )
Iniyan P (1) def. Harika Dronavalli (0)
Adhiban B ( 1/2 ) drew Vaishali R ( 1/2 )
Abhimanyu Puranik (1) def. Leon Luke Mendonca (0)
Now in its third edition, the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters, sponsored by Quantbox, is India’s premier classical-format tournament, organised by MGD1. Featuring 20 elite players across two categories (Masters and Challengers), the nine-round, ten-day event offers a prize pool of ₹1 Crore and valuable FIDE Circuit points. (ANI)