Indian Chess has been on the rise recently and one of the biggest contributors to its rise has been the 21-year-old Arjun Erigiasi. It won’t be any wrong to say that he along with Gukesh D and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa have been three of India’s shining prodigies in the world of Chess. And on Sunday, Arjun Erigaisi was looking to cross a mark in chess that only 14 others in the history of the game have crossed.
That being the FIDE Rating mark of 2800 points in the Classical Format of the game. Only 14 players have crossed it ever in the history of the game with those 15 names being: Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren, Alexander Grischuk, and Alireza Firouzja.
But in the process of crossing the 2800 Elo mark, Arjun Erigaisi would’ve become the third youngest in the history of the game to cross that mark with only Alireza Firouzja and Magnus Carlsen ahead of him. But in the recent Bundesliga West 2023/24, against a 15-year-old Turkish Prodigy in Ediz Gurel, Arjun Erigaisi fumbled.
Playing for a win right from the start, India’s number 1, prior to his defeat played really well against a tricky opponent. Up until the last moment, Arjun Erigiaisi could have easily got the draw but kept pushing on for a win in hopes of getting to the 2800 mark. But instead in the crucial moments of the game after opting for a Queen Endgame, he made a small mistake by moving the King to the A-file instead of moving it closer to the opponent’s passed pawn allowing Ediz Gurel to move in for the kill.
With his greed of playing for the win, Arjun instead faced the jaws of defeat. This has pushed him down from the rankings and now he is the World Number 5 with an Elo of 2789.9 behind his national compatriot Gukesh D who sits 4th. What is truly commendable about Arjun is the fact that there is possibly no other Grandmaster in the world above a rating of 2750 who plays as aggressively and creatively for the win as Arjun does, except for Magnus Carlsen.
Arjun sees the game of chess a little differently from everybody else. And this loss will just be a small setback for the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad Gold Medallist in his quest for 2800. Do you think Arjun Erigaisi will cross the 2800 mark in 2024? Let us know in the comments below.
