Chennai Grandmasters postponed till today after fire in hotel, many players from India and abroad are part of the tournament

The Chennai Grandmasters Chess Tournament has been rescheduled to Thursday after a fire was reported in the venue Hyatt Regency Hotel. The tournament was scheduled to begin from Wednesday according to the pre-planned schedule. Most renowned players of India and other countries are taking part in this tournament.

Indian Grandmaster and Tournament Director Srinath Narayanan posted on his X that there was a fire incident last night at Hotel Hyatt Regency, which is the site of the Chennai Grandmasters (GM). Everybody is safe and was relocated to another hotel nearby. The tournament has been rescheduled for a day.

The players have returned to the hotel again, but the tournament will start a day later after a fresh security check. According to ChessBase India, an emergency situation arose at the Hotel Hyatt Regency in Chennai around midnight. Due to a fire on the ninth floor, the entire hotel was filled with smoke and everyone was evacuated from the hotel before it became difficult to breathe.

The organizers said that the timing of the matches will remain the same, but now the rest day has been removed from the schedule. He said that the time will remain the same and the tournament will end on August 15. There was a rest day in between and now it is not a part of the schedule. The prize money of Chennai Grandmasters is Rs 1 crore.

Famous players like India's number one player Arjun Erigesi, experienced Vidit Gujarati and Netherlands' Anish Giri are participating in this tournament. World number five player Erigesi will start his campaign against America's Evander Liang.