Chennai Grand Masters 2025: Vincent Keymer closes in on title with win | Chess News

Chennai: Vincent Keymer has been an unstoppable force in Chennai and is showing no signs of slowing down. At the end of the seventh round, he remains untouchable, and that flawless run propelled him to the World No. 10 spot in live ratings for the first time. The German youngster (5.5 points) converted his opening advantage into a win against Awonder Liang and stretched his lead to 1.5 points, inching closer to the masters title. A better result than Arjun Erigaisi and Karthikeyan Murali — joint second on the table with four points — on the penultimate day could all but seal the title for him. After the win, Keymer said: “It has been a nice game and the tournament has been really going well for me. I got surprised by the opening and was down for quite a bit, but the game just developed. We reached a rather asymmetrical position which was probably slightly better for me. Then a big mistake from him made me feel it was a game I should win.” A few boards away, Anish Giri is making waves of a different kind. Seven draws in as many games, and the internet troll of ‘Drawnish Giri’ is doing the rounds again. Speaking after the stalemate with Arjun, who is down with flu, Anish said: “It’s (the troll) probably not entirely unfair because I am, again, making a lot of draws. It’s because I’m a very good defender. When I have a bad tournament, I often manage not to lose those bad games. Had I been a worse defender, I’d have lost a couple and nobody would be bullying me… so I’m happy with what I have.” The Dutch GM recalled one event where his defence faltered and the losses piled up. “At that moment I told myself: ‘never again will you be ungrateful and annoyed when you make all the draws’.”