Chennai Grand Masters 2024 guide: Preview, player list, pairing, full schedule, FIDE circuit points at stake

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Chennai Grand Masters chess event, which is scheduled to start on November 5 in Chennai.

File image of Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The second edition of the Chennai Grand Masters will be held in the city from November 5 to November 11.

With an official average rating of 2711 Elo, the inaugural edition held last year is the strongest tournament of classical chess held on Indian soil.

Last year, D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi were tied for the top spot but the former triumphed due to better tiebreaks record. The result helped Gukesh gain crucial FIDE circuit points and make the cut for the FIDE Candidates tournament where he turned out to be the eventual champion. Gukesh will challenge China’s Ding Liren for the World Championship, which will be held in Singapore from November 23 to December 15.

The tournament has also added a Challengers section. The winner in this section will qualify for the Masters section for next year’s tournament.

Schedule

The Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament will begin on November 5 and will go on till November 11, 2024.

Where is the event happening?

The Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament will take place at the Anna Centenary library in Chennai.

What is the average rating at the Chennai Grand Masters?

The average rating for the upcoming edition, which will have seven rounds of classical chess, is 2729.

Full participants list

Masters: Arjun Erigaisi (2797), Levon Aronian (2738), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2735), Vidit Gujrathi (2726), Parham Maghsoodloo (2719), Alexey Sarana (2717), Amin Tabatabaei (2702), and Aravindh Chithambaram (2698)

Challengers: Raunak Sadhwani (2659), Abhimanyu Puranik (2639), Karthikeyan Murali (2624), Leon Mendonca (2622), Pranav V. (2609), Pranesh M. (2580), Harika Dronavalli (2493), and R. Vaishali (2486)

How many FIDE circuit points can a participant earn?

Sole 1st - 24.5

Joint 1st - 22.3

2nd - 17.8

3rd - 15.6

Pairings

Masters

Round 1: Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. vs Amin Tabatabaei; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Parham Maghsoodloo; Vidit Santosh Gujrathi vs Arjun Erigaisi; Levon Aronian vs Alexey Sarana

Round 2: Tabatabaei M. Amin vs Alexey Sarana; Arjun Erigaisi vs Levon Aronian; Parham Maghsoodloo vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi; Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Round 3: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Tabatabaei M. Amin; Vidit Santosh Gujrathi vs Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.; Levon Aronian vs Parham Maghsoodloo; Alexey Sarana vs Arjun Erigaisi

Round 4: Tabatabaei M. Amin vs Arjun Erigaisi; Parham Maghsoodloo vs Alexey Sarana; Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. vs Levon Aronian; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

Round 5: Vidit Santosh Gujrathi vs Tabatabaei M. Amin; Levon Aronian vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Alexey Sarana vs Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.; Arjun Erigaisi vs Parham Maghsoodloo

Round 6: Tabatabaei M. Amin vs Parham Maghsoodloo; Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. vs Arjun Erigaisi; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Alexey Sarana; Vidit Santosh Gujrathi vs Levon Aronian

Round 7: Levon Aronian vs Tabatabaei M. Amin; Alexey Sarana vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi; Arjun Erigaisi vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Parham Maghsoodloo vs Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.

Challengers

Round 1: Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Mendonca Leon Luke; Sadhwani Raunak vs Karthikeyan Murali; Pranesh M vs Puranik Abhimanyu; Pranav V vs Dronavalli Harika

Round 2: Mendonca Leon Luke vs Dronavalli Harika; Puranik Abhimanyu; Karthikeyan Murali vs Pranesh M; Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Sadhwani Raunak

Round 3: Sadhwani Raunak vs Mendonca Leon Luke; Pranesh M vs Vaishali Rameshbabu; Pranav V vs Karthikeyan Murali; Dronavalli Harika vs Puranik Abhimanyu

Round 4: Mendonca Leon Luke vs Puranik Abhimanyu, Karthikeyan Murali vs Dronavalli Harika; Vaishali Rameshbabu vs PRanav V; Sadhwani Raunak vs Pranesh M

Round 5: Pranesh M vs Mendonca Leon Luke; Pranav V vs Sadhwani Raunak; Dronavalli Harika vs Vaishali Rameshbabu; Puranik Abhimanyu vs Karthikeyan Murali

Round 6: Mendonca Leon Luke vs Karthikeyan Murali; Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Puranik Abhimanyu; Sadhwani Raunak vs Dronavalli Harika; Pranesh M vs Pranav V

Round 7: Pranav V vs Mendonca Leon Luke; Dronavalli Harika vs Pranesh M; Puranik Abhimanyu vs Sadhwani Raunak; Karthikeyan Murali vs Vaishali Rameshbabu