Erigaisi wins; Gukesh draws in Chennai GM Chess C'ship

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi outwitted Serbia's Alexandr Predke in the third round of the Chennai Grand Masters Chess Championship in Chennai on Sunday to secure his maiden win in the tournament.

It was the only decisive result in the third round with the other three games ending in draws.

Teenaged Grandmaster and local star D Gukesh held Iran's Parham Maghsoodloo in 30 moves with black pieces for his third straight draw. He has 1.5 points and is placed fifth in the standings.

Erigaisi edged Predke in a 71-move game with white pieces to move up to 1.5 points after having started with a loss to experienced compatriot P Harikrishna.

Harikrishna and Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine) settled for a draw after 34 moves.

Harkrishna and Hungary's Sanan Sjugirov are at the top of the standings with 2 points apiece.

Gukesh and Erigaisi are competing for a spot in next year's Candidates tournament and a good performance here will boost their prospects.

Results:

Round 3: Parham Maghsoodloo drew D Gukesh, Pentala Harikrishna drew Pavel Eljanov, Sanan Sjugirov drew Levon Aronian (USA), Arjun Erigaisi beat Alexandr Predke.

Standings after round three: 1-2. Sanan Sjugirov, P Harikrishna - 2 points, 3. Aronian - 1.5, 4. Eljanov - 1.5, 5. Gukesh - 1.5, 6. Erigaisi - 1.5, 7. Predke - 1, 8. Maghsoodloo - 1.