Arjun Erigaisi discusses strategy ahead of Freestyle Chess debut in Paris: 'I have noticed centre control...'

After a disappointing start to the year with a 10th-place finish at the Tata Steel Chess event in Netherlands, Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi will be eyeing a much better performance in the second leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour that takes place in Paris next month. And joining the world No 5 in the ‘City of Light’ are reigning world champion D Gukesh, Tata Steel Chess 2025 champion R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi, besides Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura – the top-two players in the world.

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Freestyle Chess, also known as Fischer Random or Chess960, has been an interesting challenge for some of the biggest names in the sport, and is as unpredictable as the arrangement of pieces on the board – which are randomly picked minutes before the start of a game.

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Gukesh had been enjoying a red-hot run in the Classical format in recent months, which included his triumph in the World Championship in Singapore, but failed to win a single game in the opening event in Weissenhaus . Carlsen and Nakamura, meanwhile, finished third and fifth respectively, with local favourite Vincent Keymer winning the Weissenhaus event ahead of them.

Arjun Erigaisi emphasises on ‘centre control’ ahead of Freestyle Chess Paris event

Ahead of his Freestyle Chess debut, Erigaisi appears to have discovered a strategy that could help him in his battles against compatriots Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa as well as against Carlsen, Nakamura, Keymer and the rest of the field.

“Something I recently discovered is this: Initially, I thought in Freestyle you often need to quickly open diagonals for bishops or queens,” Erigaisi said in an interview with Freestyle Chess that was published on Friday.

“But I have noticed centre control—like playing e4 or d4—still matters greatly, even if these moves don’t immediately open lines. More often than not, having strong centre control turns out to be critical. So, yes, controlling the centre still matters in Freestyle,” he added.

Erigaisi had won a hat-trick of Freestyle Friday events on Chess.com in the build-up to the Paris event, and will be hoping to go the distance in the Paris event, which takes place from 7 to 14 April.