Explained: Why Arjun Erigaisi's win over Abdusattorov is a big relief for Indian chess grandmaster

Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi finally ended his winless run after he defeated Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round 12 of the 2025 Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands on Saturday. Erigaisi, playing with white pieces against Nodirbek, clinched he victory in 46 moves and that took his points tally in the Tata Steel Chess tournament to 4.5. And while his title hopes are over, this win would have brought a huge relief for the 21-year-old.

How win over Nodirbek would have brought Arjun a big relief

After multiple difficult outings in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, Erigaisi finally scripted a victory at the Tata Steel Chess tournament. He had been winless in 24 games in Masters section at the Tata Steel Chess tournament since clinching the Challengers section in 2022. At the 2025 Tata Steel Chess tournament, Arjun had registered four losses and seven draws prior to his victory over Nodirbek.

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Tata Steel Chess: Indians rule as Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa share lead in Masters standings; Arjun registers first win Chess rankings: D Gukesh is new World No 3 in live ratings; Arjun Erigaisi slips to sixth

In the last week of January, world chess champion Gukesh became the highest-ranked Indian in the FIDE rankings after he surpassed Arjun Erigaisi. At the start of January, Gukesh had 2777 rating points whereas Arjun had 2801 rating points. In December, Arjun had become only the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand to surpass the 2800 Elo rating barrier.

However, following a forgettable start to his Tata Steel Chess campaign, Erigaisi’s rating dipped to 2779.5 points and slipped to fifth place, whereas Gukesh climbed to fourth place with 2784 points at the time. Currently, as per FIDE’s official ratings list, Arjun is back in fourth place with 2801 points, whereas Gukesh is in fifth place with 2777 points.

Gukesh, however, is ahead of Arjun in the LIVE chess ratings. Gukesh is in third place with 2791.9 points whereas Arjun is in fifth place with 2772 points.

While Gukesh (8.5 points) currently share a joint-lead in the Tata Steel Chess standings with R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi is in 13th place with 4.5 points. Gukesh has clinched five wins and drawn seven games, whereas Praggnanndhaa has won six and drawn six. The 13th and the final round of the tournament will be played on Sunday.