Grandmaster Pranesh M defeats world champion D Gukesh in Chennai tournament
Chennai: Grandmaster Pranesh M achieved one of the most significant victories of his career on Tuesday, defeating world champion D Gukesh in the penultimate round of the Chennai Grand Masters tournament. The 39-move classical game result places Pranesh among a select group known informally as the Chigorin Club – grandmasters who have beaten a reigning world champion in classical chess.
Pranesh, who qualified for the tournament by winning the Challengers event last year, has been steadily improving his rating towards the 2700 mark, a threshold currently held by only 32 grandmasters worldwide. After losing his opening game to Alireza Firouzja, he held his own against elite players such as Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, and Hans Moke Niemann, drawing with each before his breakthrough win against Gukesh.
The game saw several momentum shifts. Gukesh initially held a significant advantage, but a series of time-pressure errors turned the tide. Key mistakes included placing his rook on d5 (25... Rd5), advancing the b-pawn (29... b5), moving his king to d8 (31... Kd8), and a queen move to e4 (34... Qe4) that left him in a losing position. At the start of this sequence, Gukesh was two pawns up.
Pranesh noted that he felt capable of beating Gukesh, having competed against him since the under-7 age group. 'I had beaten him once in a tournament in Mumbai in the U13 category, where he had gone on to win the title,' Pranesh said after the match.
Pranesh began playing chess at age five and soon won state-level tournaments before training under coach RB Ramesh at Chess Gurukul. He trained alongside stars like R Praggnanandhaa, R Vaishali, and Aravindh Chithambaram, but unlike them, he had fewer opportunities for elite invitational events. His recent performance may change that.
Asked about areas for improvement, Pranesh said, 'I think I have to improve on all levels, but mainly openings.' He was sent by his coach to Cyprus as part of Vaishali's support team for the Candidates tournament, where his role included easing tension. He described himself as 'just a fun guy' and said observing high-level chess up close helped him improve.
Pranesh has a notably relaxed attitude: 'If I lose a game, I just forget about the defeat and continue. But if I have too many draws then (I don't like it). If it's a complicated draw, that's fine. And even if I lose many games, it's fine. I just don't want to draw.'
