With his stellar run at FIDE World Cup, Arjun Erigaisi finally gets the big break that he had been hunting for

Of the 24 Indians who were part of the 206-player line up for the 2025 FIDE World Cup in Goa , Arjun Erigaisi and Pentala Harikrishna are the only members of the home contingent still alive in the competition. Only one of them, however, has advanced to the quarter-finals, with Pentala Harikrishna set to face Mexico’s Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara in the fifth-round tie-breaks on Sunday.

Arjun Erigaisi had confirmed his place in the last-8 after his victory over Levon Aronian, defeating the veteran American Grandmaster 1.5-0.5 on Saturday. And while Pentala is a class act and can certainly go the distance at Resort Rio in North Goa’s Arpora, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume that Arjun is India’s last hope as far as securing a spot in next year’s Candidates via a top-three finish in the World Cup is concerned.

Inability to clinch a Candidates spot so far worrying for Indian chess

For all the talk of India taking over the chess world with their ‘golden generation’ after an extraordinary 2024, the inability to secure a single spot in next year’s Candidates so far certainly is a worrying development.

And though R Praggnanandhaa remains in contention in the 2025 FIDE Circuit standings, in which he continues to occupy the top spot, Arjun will be hoping to ensure that at least one Indian makes it to the Candidates confirmed list by the time the World Cup draws to a close on 26 November.

It’s not just qualification for the Candidates that’s at stake for Arjun in Goa though. The 22-year-old currently is the top-ranked Indian in the FIDE ratings, and has been among the most consistent players in the world across formats over the last couple of years. And yet, he’s not talked about in the same breath as D Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa.

Gukesh is the youngest world champion in the history of the sport after all, having achieved the incredible feat with his victory over Ding Liren in Singapore last year. He had also become also the youngest champion in Candidates history in Toronto earlier that year.

And shortly after Gukesh’s triumph, Praggnanandhaa would win the prestigious Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee – pulling off the biggest victory of his career a year and a half after finishing runner-up to Magnus Carlsen in the 2023 FIDE World Cup.

And in the women’s section, Koneru Humpy had made history last December by becoming only the second player to win the Women’s Rapid World Championship more than once, while Divya Deshmukh had become the first Indian to win the Women’s World Cup in July.

Arjun still missing that defining triumph at a major event

Arjun has had his moments during this period; he had played a key role along with Gukesh in helping India land a gold in the ‘Open’ category at last year’s Olympiad in Budapest. He had also become only the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to breach the 2800-rating barrier.

And taking this year’s results into account, one can say with certainty that Arjun has outshone both Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh and has been the top Indian player across formats. Not only did he put up creditable performances at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour as well as the Esports World Cup, the world No 6 had also gone the further among Indians at the FIDE Grand Swiss in September, eventually finishing sixth.

As the tournament enters its business end starting with the quarters, Arjun certainly have his sights fixed on securing a top-three finish at the ongoing World Cup, where the absence of an Indian in the semi-finals will certainly be an embarrassing look for the host nation.

Arjun, however, will realise that the ongoing World Cup is the big break that he has been chasing throughout his career. And a victory in the final could have the same effect on his CV that the Tata Steel Chess did for ‘Pragg’ in February and the Women’s World Cup did for Divya later this year.

There’s little doubt over the fact that Arjun is among the top players in the world at the moment and deserves the No. 1 spot in his country. A victory at a prestigious event like the FIDE World Cup, however, will only help the young chess star from Andhra put a seal of authority of sorts on that claim and silence naysayers, if there are any.

Plenty of fans have turned up at Resort Rio to cheer for the home contingent so far in the World Cup. And going forward, Arjun can expect the loudest cheers of all the players that remain in the tournament, if he wasn’t already. Arjun also has momentum on his side at the moment, especially after beating Aronian, and will be hoping not to let it dissipate until the final hurdle is crossed.