Arjun Erigaisi: The Indian chess sensation close to equalling Viswanathan Anand's historic feat

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi is on the verge of repeating history. Indian chess legend Vishwanathan Anand is the only player from the country to cross the 2800 Elo rating points mark but Erigaisi can be the second as he currently stands on the 2796.1 mark. He recently earned 27.84 rating points by winning the WR Chess Masters 2024 .

Erigaisi could have breached the 2800 mark had he won the WR Chess Masters final on Thursday against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the two classical games, but he eventually captured the title by winning via Armageddon. Nonetheless, Erigaisi’s rapid rise in the recent past only suggests that he will not only cross the 2800 milestone but is a serious threat to the world’s No.1 ranking.

With 2796.1 points to his name, the 21-year-old from Warangal is currently ranked fourth in live chess rating, marginally behind Hikaru Nakamura (2802).

He is also currently at the top of the FIDE Circuit leaderboard for 2024.

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Know for his attacking game, Erigaisi, who turned Grandmaster at the age of 14 in 2018, also played a starring role in India's historic gold medal win at the 45th Chess Olympiad . Playing on Board three, Erigaisi won nine matches and drew two, finishing with the best score of 10/11. He also won the individual gold on Board 3.

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The Chess Olympiad heroics have now put the limelight on the 21-year-old Arjun but he had been doing well for two years now.

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Who is Arjun Erigaisi?

It all, however, started in kindergarten when his teacher asked his parents to make Arjun play chess as he already knew the capitals of 70 countries, and their currencies and was able to recite multiplication tables in reverse.

Arjun’s father, who is a neurosurgeon, decided to give him chess training at the age of 11 as the youngster joined BS Chess Academy in Hanamkonda followed by Race Academy in Kothapet.

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Soon he became a Grandmaster and is being counted among top young chess players in India.

World No.1 and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen had once described Erigaisi as a “madman” while talking about his game.

“Arjun is just a complete madman at the board. He wants to kill you in every single game. Has crazy preparation and plays extremely ambitiously and that’s what makes him very dangerous,” Carlsen told the Indian Express.

Erigaisi is currently coached by former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Arjun’s memorable wins

In January 2022, Arjun clinched the Tata Steel Chess 2022 Challenger, breaking into the top 100 in the Classical format world rankings. Two months later, in March, he won the Indian National Championship and then triumphed at the Delhi Open, narrowly defeating D Gukesh and Harsha Bharathakoti in a tiebreaker. His winning streak continued in August 2022 when he secured the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, and in September, he surpassed the 2700 Elo rating.

In December 2022, Arjun added another title to his collection by winning the Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Blitz, marking his third triumph in Tata Steel events.

Arjun’s success carried into 2024, where he won the Menorca Open A in April and the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 before winning the gold with the Indian team.

His rapid rise has seen his ranking leap into the top 5 from outside the top 100 just two years ago.

With age and form on his side, Arjun is expected to win more laurels for India as he chases the 2800 Elo rating and the world No. 1 ranking.