 "‘Arjun Erigaisi must sharpen his sense of danger, needs to know when to pull back’: Former coach")
Arjun Erigaisi’s former coach, Srinath Narayanan, feels that the Indian Grandmaster needs a few changes to his game to secure bigger wins in his career. Indian No 1 Erigaisi was eliminated from the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 on Wednesday after losing to Wei Yi in the quarter-finals tie-breaks.
The 22-year-old Erigaisi had Chinese No 1 Wei Yi on the mat in the second Classical game, but failed to find the winning move, forcing a tie-break. He drew the first Rapid game from a losing position, before surrendering in the second contest despite having the White pieces advantage.
The world No 6 Arjun was the highest-rated player left in the tournament, and his exit has come as a big shock to the Indian chess fraternity as he missed out on a spot in the FIDE Candidates 2026.
‘Arjun needs to learn when to pull back’
Grandmaster Narayanan, who captained the Indian team to a historic gold medal in 2024, in an interview with the Indian Express, said that Arjun needs to curb down his aggressive style a bit as he sometimes ends up taking too much risk.
“Arjun needs to work on a few things, like his sense of danger. Knowing when to attack and when to pull back. He sometimes over-extends and has to pay the price. It’s a side-effect of his super-aggressive style,” Srinath told the Indian Express.
“…This one is almost like a break-up. You have different expectations and then reality hits you.”
While explaining his point, Narayanan told IE that the 25.f4 move by Arjun in the second tie-break game was a moment where he over-extended.
Second tie-break between Wei Yi and Arjun:
Arjun is yet to speak up on his shocking loss, but he did share a heartbreak emoji on X on Wednesday. After his defeat, R Praggnanandhaa is likely the only Indian to qualify for the Candidates.
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