Chennai, Nov 9 (IANS): Grandmaster Levon Aronian of the United States registered a resounding victory over GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France to close the gap on table-topper GM Arjun Erigaisi, who was held to a draw by Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo, after the fifth round of the Chennai Grand Masters 2024 here on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in the Challengers category, the all-women clash between Dronavalli Harika and Vaishali Rameshbabu – a first for Chess Grand Masters – ended in a stalemate, with the two players cancelling each other out tactically.

Aronian, playing white, opted for the King's Indian Defence and his opponent responded with Alekhine Anti-Grunfeld Variation. The game looked evenly poised during the initial exchanges but Aronian took control of the board by the 30th move and MVL’s error of pushing his e-file pawn a few moves later cost him dearly. Aronian is now in second place with 3.5 points while Erigaisi continues to lead the standings with four points.

All other matches in the Masters' section ended in stalemate despite Erigaisi and the experienced Vidit Gujrathi pushing for a win. Gujrathi tried hard but had to settle for a draw after 57 moves against GM Amin Tabatabaei while GM Alexey Sarana and GM Aravindh Chithambaram signed the truce after 33 moves.

In the Challengers category, Pranav V’s run of four successive wins was halted by GM Raunak Sadhwani as the two Indians shared the point after 39 moves. Meanwhile, GM Murali Karthikeyan was the only player to claim a full point in Round 5 by beating compatriot GM Abhimanyu Puranik.

The Chennai Grand Masters 2024 is taking place at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai from November 5 to 11.

The Chennai Grand Masters 2024 features two categories–Masters & Challengers. With a rating average of 2729, the Masters presents a more competitive field this time around. The debuting Challengers, meanwhile, is designed to provide emerging Indian talent the chance to compete in a top-class tournament.