Chennai, Nov 5: World No four Indian chess grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, playing for the first time in India after crossing the historic 2800 ELO ranking mark, will open his Chennai Grand Masters campaign against compatriot Vidit Gujarathi in the opening round on Tuesday at the  Anna Centenary Library.  

The eight-player strong classical event will see Aravindh Chithambaram take on Iranian, Amin Tabatabaei, Vachier-Lagrave Maxime will face Maghsoodloo Parham and American Grandmaster, Levon Aronian will dual with Alexey Sarana in the opening round.

The draw for seven round all-play-all event, the strongest classical event in India, was made at a special ceremony on Monday. The second edition of the competition will also feature a Challengers event featuring female players for the first time.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Atulya Misra, Additional Chief Secretary, Youth Welfare and Sports Development, said, “Chennai has become the city of Grand Masters, we started with Chess Olympiad to Chennai Grand Masters last year we are now back with a grandeur Chennai Grand Masters this year. With Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minster’s support who are very passionate about promoting Chess, as well to make Chennai the sporting state, we are able to achieve these and make TN the best sporting state.”

In the Challenger category, Vaishali will take on Mendonca Leon Luke while Harika will play Pranav V. In the other two matches, Raunak Sadhwani will face off against Karthikeyan Murali and Pranesh M will play Abhimanyu Puranik

“When we first got approached with the idea, a week before the event, our Deputy Chief Minister and Atulya Misra, Additional Chief secretary were keen on doing the event every year from now on, cause it will be a game changer for a lot of talents like how the tournament helped Gukesh last year,” said Thiru. J. Meghanatha Reddy, Member Secretary, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.

The Challengers event, which is introduced for this year, will give Indian prodigies the chance to compete in top-level tournaments. The event will also feature two women–a first for Chennai Chess Grand Masters–Harika Dronavalli and Vaishali Rameshbabu, sister of R Praggnanandhaa. The Challengers participants, will fight for a prize pool of 20 Lac, with the winner claiming 6 Lac and a direct berth in the Masters next year.

Gukesh had won the inaugural edition last year but will miss this year’s competition as he is preparing for the world championships title against Ding Liren of China.

--IANS