The third edition of the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 has been postponed by a day due to an unexpected incident at the venue. According to reports, a fire broke out at the Hyatt Regency Hotel late Tuesday night, August 5. All players are safe and have been shifted to a nearby hotel for the time being. The tournament will now officially begin on Thursday, August 7 at the same venue.
Indian Grandmaster and Tournament Director Srinath Narayanan confirmed the news of the postponement on X.
“Fire at Hotel Hyatt Regency last night, the venue of the Chennai GM. All the players are safe and have been shifted to another hotel nearby. Tournament postponed by a day,” he wrote.
The tournament is set to feature an elite lineup of 20 players, divided into Masters and Challengers sections, competing in an expanded format for crucial FIDE circuit points and a prize pool of ₹1 crore.
Both sections will follow a nine-round classical round-robin format. In the event of a tie after nine rounds, players will proceed to a two-game tiebreaker in a 3+2 time format, followed by an Armageddon game if necessary.
Masters Section Line-up: Anish Giri (Netherlands No. 1), Ray Robson and Awonder Liang (USA), Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Karthikeyan Murali, and Nihal Sarin (India), Vincent Keymer (Germany), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands), and Pranav V (India, Chennai).
Challengers Section (notable names): Abhimanyu Puranik, Leon Mendonca, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Adhiban Baskaran, Harshvardhan GB and others.
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