India had a recent victory at the 2024 Chess Olympiad. They won a rare double gold at the competition in Budapest, Hungary. The nation won first place in both the open event and the women’s team competitions. These victories will undoubtedly be remembered as some of India’s finest sporting feats. Among the new bunch of Indian chess stars, Arjun Erigaisi has been one name known for his risky style of play.
The 21-year-old Grandmaster was India’s highest-ranked player as of September 2024, overtaking former world champion Viswanathan Anand. This showcases his talent. He walked away with a slice of history last week. He became only the second Indian and 16th chess player in the world to cross the 2800 live rating milestone. However, he will not feature as a 2800 player in November’s published ratings, just 14 players have done so thus far.
A draw in the European Club Cup final round versus Vasyl Ivanchuk caused him to slide in the ratings. In an interview with HT, the World No. 3 discussed his incredible run of performances this year, reaching the 2800 threshold, the Candidates, and how D Gukesh’s victory changed everything for him. However, missing out on the competition for him does not make any difference to his skill and testament.
Arjun Erigaisi is an asset for Indian chess
Arjun Erigaisi said, I thought did not have special ambitions. Honestly, all I was hoping for was that our team (Alkaloids) would win. I wanted the tournament to finish before I could enjoy and celebrate my 2800 mark. The one thing I’ve consciously worked on is detaching myself from my results, and it has helped. I lost three games this year, but each time, it didn’t affect my next game.
Can Arjun Erigaisi’s Positive Thinking Overcome the Odds? He often passes through periods of temporary stagnation. However, he believes that during those times, his level is genuinely increasing, even though his rating does not reflect it. Once his rating begins to improve, it tends to rise steadily. He added that this had happened to him several times previously.
