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All the players were confirmed safe and were shifted to a hotel nearby. The start of the event was also pushed by a day following the same.
Chess Representational Image. (Photo Credits: AFP)
A Hotel in the Tamil Nadu Capital City of Chennai, Hyatt Regency, the venue of the upcoming Chennai Grandmasters Chess tournament, caught fire on Tuesday.
All the players, who were housed in the hotel originally slated to host the event, were confirmed safe and were shifted to a hotel nearby. The start of the event was also pushed by a day following the same.
Srinath Narayanan acknowledged the news of the same with a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and confirmed the well-being of the contestants and the postponement of the beginning of the tournament.
Fire at Hotel Hyatt Regency last night, the venue of @Chennai_GM. All the players safe and shifted to another hotel nearby. Tournament postponed by a day— Srinath Narayanan (@srinathchess) August 5, 2025
The emergency situation transpired around midnight due to an electrical fire on the 9th floor of the hotel, and smoke filled the hotel. As a result, everyone had to be evacuated to a nearby property to avoid any breathing issues.
The organizers ensured that the players were all shifted as they realised that it would take a while for the smoke to clear out as the contestants were shifted to the Pullman Hotel.
The organising committee also moved the start of the tournament to the 7th of August from the originally scheduled 6th of the month on the back of the incident, making use of the rest day slated to be on the 11th of the month. As a result, there will be no rest day in the tournament going ahead. The players are expected to return to Hyatt Regency on the morning on 6th of August.
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- Location :
Chennai [Madras], India, India
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