I got to watch and listen to the Indian chess grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand, explaining this game, sitting just a few feet away.
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A very strong tournament is happening in Chennai, called Chennai Grandmasters 2025. This is the third year of the tournament, with the previous editions being 2023 and 2024. Happy to see such a strong closed event happening in India.
The venue is Hyatt Regency, Chennai. I visited Chennai on the weekend to attend this in person, and watched Round 3 (Saturday) and Round 4 (Sunday) there. This same hotel, Hyatt Regency, Chennai, was the venue of the World Championship match between Anand and Carlsen in 2013. I had also gone there that time and watched those games there, so the memories of that match were always on my mind while watching this tournament at the same venue.
The board after arriving at the venue
India’s strongest tournament indeed: 
For both days (Rounds 3 and 4), I had purchased what they called “VIP Tickets”. This gave reserved front-row seating next to the commentary stage, and most importantly, unlimited access to the playing hall (the general ticket holders are allowed to spend only 10 minutes in the actual playing hall). The VIP ticket also included an unlimited supply of snacks (pastries, sandwiches, etc) and tea/coffee. It was totally worth it to buy the VIP tickets. I absolutely enjoyed my experience there and had a great time.
The VIP ticket area; absolutely worth the experience: 
The front row reserved seating next to the commentary stage:
I had many memorable experiences there. I got to meet Sagar Shah there and chatted with him a bit, and even took a selfie with him. I met GM Sahaj Grover too (I really liked his commentary – he kept it simple and interesting for everyone to understand) and chatted with him too. Met a few other key people there and it was a great experience, to say the least, to talk to them and discuss chess and share our passion for chess.
By the way, the tournament arrangement was absolutely first class! The venue and the arrangements were as good as for any other top tournament in the world! Kudos to the organizers for such fantastic stuff. I am sure I will go there every year now, and this Chennai tournament will be part of my annual calendar now.
The best part of sitting there, in person, and listening to the live commentary was the interactive nature of the discussions. The commentary was interesting (Sagar Shah is a master of this art), and they kept asking questions to the audience and kept the discussion interactive and alive! I also got to answer a couple of questions, and when Sagar acknowledged my answers were correct, it felt great!
Of course, it is a standard rule now in any chess tournament that no mobile phones (and in fact, absolutely no electronics) are allowed in the playing hall. Here, too, we had to deposit phones and even watches at a special booth before entering the main playing hall. At the entry to the main playing hall, they were checking everyone again with a hand-held scanner, just like at airport security. It was done very professionally and politely. Once again, I must say absolutely top-class arrangements by the organizers!
One needs to deposit phones and all electronics before entering the playing hall: 
Of course, I have no photos from the main playing hall because of these standard rules. Photography is not permitted in the playing halls, except for the official event photographers.
Coming to actual chess, I was lucky to be there for Round 3. The most exciting round so far, with 4 out of 5 games in the Masters section being decisive! I would say the most thrilling day of the game was between GM Vidit Gujrathi and GM Nihal Sarin. Extremely tense battle.
Position after Nihal played 37 … Bc6, after which Nihal had a good advantage and it looked liked a difficult game for Vidit:
However, Nihal went a bit wrong with 40. … Qd8, and now Vidit had an advantage again:
Vidit had lost in time trouble in the previous round (Round 2), and here again, both players were sort of in time trouble (you can see in the above screenshot that both of them were down to about 3 minutes). Nihal is a beast in time trouble, and he thrives in complex action in a time scramble. The game had already gone up and down and when it entered time trouble, Vidit had a slight edge. The question was whether Vidit survives another time trouble, that too against Nihal. The commentary was quite exciting too, and it was great fun to follow this thrilling action there. This time Vidit did extremely well in time trouble, and won this game!! One of the most exciting games I got to see live!
There was an area set up called “Fan Zone” or something like that, where players could come after the game to meet the fans and allow them to take selfies too. Vidit came to the fan zone after this victory! Icing on the cake for me, I not only got to meet Vidit and say “congratulations” to him after this exciting win, but I also took a selfie with him.
Vidit at the fan zone after his exciting win: 
One of the stars of the event is GM Vincent Keymer of Germany, who had won the first two rounds, and again won in Round 3. His games had been the most classical and clean, and with 3 out of 3 wins, he was leading the event after Round 3. He came to the commentary box after his win, and it was a great experience listening to him analyzing his own win, sitting in the front row!
Keymer analyzing his win in the commentary box: 
Round 4: One of the most exciting agendas for Round 4 on Sunday was that Vishy Anand was going to attend the event and do commentary! Of course, I was super excited to hear this and was looking forward to listening to him from a close distance. The hall was quite crowded on Sunday, mostly with many kids, who had all come to see Vishy Anand. It was amazing to see the energy and the enthusiasm in the kids, and them discussing chess moves and ideas. Indeed, a memorable experience for a chess fan!
Before the start of Round 4, Keymer was leading the tournament with 3/3, but Arjun Erigasi, India’s top-rated player, was giving him a close chase on 2.5/3. And in Round 4, Arjun was playing Nihal, who was in bad form. Thus, if Arjun defeated Nihal, he had a good chance to catch up with Keymer or at least stay close behind. The game Nihal-Arjun was the most exciting game of the day.
As it happened, Nihal opened with 1. Nf3 followed by 2. b3, and quickly went into an unusual and unorthodox position. Soon, the below position was reached, where it looked like something had gone wrong for white.
It felt like Nihal had missed something after 13. … h3: 
While we were engrossed in trying to understand this position and the ideas, this is when the legend, Vishy Anand entered the hall to a standing ovation from the audience. He joined Sagar and Sahaj for commentary, and for me, sitting in the front row, this was an unforgettable experience.
Vishy Anand commenting on Round 4: 
And immediately it was clear how much his understanding of the game is better than anyone else there (well, almost anyone in the whole world). He quickly explained that Nihal’s position was not that bad, and showed many ideas which we had missed earlier. He quickly explained how White could develop a playable setup from the above position, with knights of g3 and f4, and Bishop of f3. Now it started looking more exciting than at first.
And indeed, Nihal developed similarly and soon had a playable setup. And at that time, the strangest thing happened. It was Arjun who misread the position, and went with dubious 18 … Nfg4, and lost two tempi after 20. … Nf6. It was here when Anand pointed out how Black went wrong and his insights and explanations were amazing to listen to.
Soon, the following position was reached (after 22. … Bf5? which looked like a mistake), where, for some reason, the commentator’s engine said 23. Nxf6+ was the only move for white that retained the advantage (and other moves were noticeably worse than this). Anand instantly challenged that, and he immediately calculated that 23. Ng5+ was actually winning! And indeed he was right! A little analysis quickly showed 23. Ng5+ was indeed winning.
Position after 22. … Bg5. What is white’s best plan?
As it turned out Nihal went 23. Nxf6+. And after 23. … Bxf6 , 24. Nh5! The tables turned so quickly and now White was winning. Nihal played a brilliant game from here on, and completely outplayed Arjun to win a long endgame. Another thrilling and exciting game that I got to watch, and moreover, listening to Vishy Anand explaining this game, sitting just a few feet away, was a magical experience!
The leader Keymer drew his game against Anish Giri in Round 4. When I was walking outside the playing hall, I saw Giri and Keymer standing there discussing their just-concluded game. I stood there and listened to them for a while. Listening to top GMs immediately after their games is always a great experience (always interesting to understand what their idea was in a certain position and compare it with what the rest of the world assumed).
Listening to Giri and Keymer discuss their game: 
Finally, for the sake of nostalgia, and a feeling that only tournament players can understand, a photo of the pairings and results posted there, the original paper with hand-written updates by the officials: 
Overall, a great experience for me and I loved every bit of time I spent there. Came back with new energy and a resolve to spend time on my own chess again. And for sure, I will be there watching this tournament in 2026 too. What a lovely tournament and what fantastic organization! Absolutely world-class!
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