 "Chennai Grand Masters 2025: Arjun Erigaisi stays in hunt as Vincent Keymer leads after Round 3")
A fine win by India’s Arjun Erigaisi kept him in sole second place after Round 3 of the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 on Saturday, August 9. The world No. 5 beat American GM Ray Robson with the white pieces to reach 2.5 points, just behind leader Vincent Keymer of Germany.
Keymer continued his perfect run with a third straight victory, defeating Karthikeyan Murali to stay on top with 3 points. Keymar is now in the top 15 of the FIDE rankings and will be eying a top-10 spot. “Today’s game was maybe the smoothest I’ve had so far,” he said after making it three out of three.
In other Masters games, Vidit Gujrathi bounced back strongly to beat Nihal Sarin, while American GM Awonder Liang shocked Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest to register his first win. Indian GM Venkatesh Pranav impressed by holding Dutch GM Anish Giri to a draw.
In the Challengers section, Abhimanyu Puranik maintained his steady rise with victory over Harshavardhan GB, while M Pranesh defeated P. Iniyan. Leon Luke Mendonca overcame R. Vaishali, while Adhiban Baskaran split point with D. Harika. Aryan Chopra and Diptayan Ghosh also played out a draw.
Chennai Grand Masters 2025: Masters standings after Round 3
| Rank | Player | Country | Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vincent Keymer | Germany | 2730 | 3 |
| 2 | Arjun Erigaisi | India | 2776 | 2.5 |
| 3 | Ray Robson | USA | 2687 | 1.5 |
| 4 | Anish Giri | Netherlands | 2748 | 1.5 |
| 5 | Awonder Liang | USA | 2696 | 1.5 |
| 6 | Vidit Gujrathi | India | 2720 | 1.5 |
| 7 | Jorden van Foreest | Netherlands | 2697 | 1 |
| 8 | Karthikeyan Murali | India | 2658 | 1 |
| 9 | V Pranav | India | 2597 | 1 |
| 10 | Nihal Sarin | India | 2692 | 0.5 |
Chennai Grand Masters 2025: Challengers standings after Round 3
| Rank | Player | Country | Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M Pranesh | India | 2589 | 2.5 |
| 2 | Abhimanyu Puranik | India | 2635 | 2.5 |
| 3 | Diptayan Ghosh | India | 2576 | 2 |
| 4 | Leon Luke Mendonca | India | 2606 | 2 |
| 5 | Adhiban Baskaran | India | 2534 | 1.5 |
| 6 | P Iniyan | India | 2586 | 1.5 |
| 7 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | India | 2476 | 1 |
| 8 | Aryan Chopra | India | 2634 | 1 |
| 9 | Harika Dronavalli | India | 2487 | 0.5 |
| 10 | Harshavardhan G B | India | 2454 | 0.5 |
(With agency inputs)
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