 "Explained: Why world No 4 Arjun Erigaisi's hopes of competing in Candidates 2026 are over")
After an extraordinary run throughout the year, 2024 ended on a disappointing note for Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi. The 21-year-old from Warangal had starred in India’s historic campaign in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest and had recently become the first Indian since the legendary Viswanathan Anand to achieve the coveted 2800 ELO rating.
The year, however, would end on a heartbreaking note for Arjun as he failed to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
Why Arjun Erigaisi failed to make the cut for Candidates 2026
Arjun, who currently sits at the fourth spot in the FIDE Classical Rating ahead of world champion D Gukesh, had arrived in New York City as one of the favourites for the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships.
Arjun, however, was presented with a straightforward task – he had to win the ‘Open Rapid’ Championship that got underway on Thursday, 26 December and came to a conclusion on Sunday. And doing that was far easier said than done, given the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura were competing at the event.
The path for Arjun to qualify for the Candidates was through FIDE Circuit Rating points, where he was trailing world No 2 Fabiano Caruana by just six points . And for him to eclipse the Italian-American GM, Arjun had to win the Rapid event in Wall Street, New York City – either as the sole leader or by winning the tie breaks after finishing in the joint-lead.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts🇺🇸 @FabianoCaruana has officially secured his spot in the next #FIDECandidates tournament through the #FIDECircuit! ♟️ 👏 🔥
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 30, 2024
Mathematically, there is no scenario in which his closest pursuer, Arjun Erigaisi, can catch up to him on the FIDE Circuit leaderboard, including at the… pic.twitter.com/1RB9L2rDlt
Despite beginning his campaign with four wins in five rounds on Day 1, Arjun ended up finishing on nine points, tied with five other players . Russia’s Volodar Murzin won the Rapid title after finishing as the sole leader with 10 points while compatriots Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi finished with 9.5 points each.
As a result of Erigaisi’s inability to win the rapid title in the ‘Big Apple’, Caruana became the first player to qualify for the 2026 Candidates.
The Candidates Tournament features a total of seven players, comprising the top three from the Chess World Cup, two from FIDE Grand Swiss and the top-ranked player in the Circuit Rating.
The last spot is awarded to the player with the highest rating average between the months of August and January before the tournament – which takes place in the first half of an even-numbered year.
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