Nineteen-year-old Arjun Erigaisi misplaced his greatest likelihood to make it to the 2024 Candidates Tournament when he got here second-best to youthful compatriot R Praggnanandhaa in a marathon blitz spherical of the quarterfinal on the FIDE World Cup on Thursday. While it was a bitter capsule to swallow, the World No. 32 is just not fretting about it. He slightly prefers to have a look at how far he has come prior to now 5 years.
Back in 2018, Erigaisi was a younger participant with loads of promise, with Indian chess badly in quest of somebody who may carry Viswanathan Anand’s legacy ahead, or not less than do effectively on the worldwide stage. That 12 months, Erigaisi earned all six norms (three International Master and three Grandmaster) in a interval of eight months to change into a Grandmaster on the age of 14.
Erigaisi confirmed a variety of spark for a teen however there was only one downside — he appeared flustered when it got here to enjoying the massive names.
#FIDEWorldCup
The second Praggnanandhaa drive Arjun Erigaisi to Tiebreak pic.twitter.com/FhuIpGpmkU
— MasGanteng Sun 🌞 (@MasGanteng_69) August 16, 2023
The first step in rectifying a downside is just not being shy in asking for assist. And Erigaisi actually needed assist. It was throughout that point that he interacted with Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan, with the latter travelling with the Indian U-16 group which Erigaisi was part of, for a match in Turkey.
They acquired speaking, and Srinath began serving to him although the 29-year-old formally turned his full-time coach solely in December final 12 months.
“When I first started analysing his game, I noticed that his opening preparation was very raw and he was scared of facing opponents he believed were stronger than him. His opening is one of the things that he has improved remarkably. He really turned his weakness into his strength and with that he has also become confident when it comes to facing tougher opponents. Now even if he has to face Magnus Carlsen, he’s not going to be intimidated,” Srinath informed The Indian Express.
“One of his special qualities is that if you give him clear directions, he executes them perfectly. He absorbs everything that you tell him and is always keen on learning. There’s no ‘off’ switch when it comes to chess for him.”
Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay says what separates Erigaisi from the remaining is that his tactical imaginative and prescient is limitless.
What a match what a drama…
The second Praggnanandhaa remove Arjun Erigaisi on sudden dying #FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/xHXhMpe9Q4
— MasGanteng Sun 🌞 (@MasGanteng_69) August 17, 2023
“He can almost see 30 moves into the future. Erigaisi may not have the best opening game as compared to say D Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa but his strength lies in his originality and ability to survive a difficult position and make continuous efforts to mend his position,” Thipsay mentioned.
Blessing in disguise
The Covid-19 pandemic actually modified Indian chess for the higher. It gave India’s golden technology comprising gamers like Erigaisi, Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin the prospect to coach extensively within the comforts of their properties and never fear about travelling for tournaments.
Once the world re-opened, the outcomes began exhibiting. Erigaisi received the Rapid part of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament and did effectively in different occasions too, however it was in 2022 that he actually confirmed his class.
After successful the Tata Steel Challengers, Erigaisi performed and received the National Championships forward of Gukesh. He then received the Delhi Open, received a person silver medal on the Chess Olympiad, and in addition clinched the Abu Dhabi Masters. The medals did him a world of fine however the spotlight was beating five-time world champion Carlsen in a web-based sport. He pumped up his score that 12 months by 100 ELO factors to be ranked among the many top-25 on this planet. Then he acquired a name that he had by no means imagined he would ever get.
An organization needed to sponsor him. And it wasn’t a meagre quantity. It was $1.5 million for a interval of 5 years. That translated into roughly Rs 2.5 crore a 12 months.
It wasn’t the cash that actually motivated him although. It was the truth that somebody had such belief in him and his skills.
Pragg emulates Vishy!
By edging out Arjun Erigaisi and coming into the semifinals of the #FIDEWorldCup in Baku, @rpragchess has just about secured a spot within the Candidates match. So, for the primary time, the Candidates will characteristic an Indian apart from @vishy64theking. pic.twitter.com/AsI9OyqKnU
— Santhosh Kumar (@giffy6ty) August 17, 2023
For him, it has been fairly a journey that began as a seven-year-old after his household moved to Warangal from Tirupati.
“Before we moved to Warangal, my teacher in Tirupati had told my mother to enroll me at a chess academy as I was good with math calculations. My sister and I tried different activities like swimming and skating, but it was chess that stood out. I got completely attracted to it and wanted to keep playing it the entire day,” Erigaisi informed The Indian Express.
Academics the casualty
Travelling for tournaments everywhere in the nation and past meant that he would usually miss college and together with his post-pandemic success, he simply couldn’t sustain with school. Coming from a household of docs (his father is a health care provider, his mom the managing director of their hospital, and his sister can be pursuing an MBBS diploma), Erigaisi not less than needed to get a level however simply couldn’t handle it.
“When I decided to quit college and focus fully on chess, they (family) only encouraged me,” he mentioned. “They have all been extremely supportive throughout. My mother used to travel with me a lot when I was young and having constant support as a youngster makes a huge difference.”
Travelling additionally implies that he hasn’t had time to make buddies exterior chess.
“There’s some sacrifice. I am hardly in touch with my school friends but do have chess friends to compensate for that,” he says.
Praggnanandhaa not solely defends a shedding place towards Arjun Erigaisi, however wins it! Now Arjun has to win on demand or he’s out of the #FIDEWorldCup: https://t.co/zDDS9eBM8E pic.twitter.com/wabfjWbEWj
— chess24.com (@chess24com) August 17, 2023
His ‘chess friends’ Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Sarin have change into a good unit and it’s their companionship at tournaments that retains them sane. They don’t simply accept board video games. They’re fairly aggressive in relation to desk tennis and foosball too.
Though Erigaisi was enjoying Pragnanandhaa within the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup, they spent many of the evenings collectively, discussing chess and every part else.
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“We’re fierce rivals across the board but good friends off it. That’s all,” Erigaisi says.
It’s their rivalry that’s, in a manner, instrumental in elevating India’s place in world chess however ask them individually, and so they’ll say they’ve only one purpose — to win The Candidates and problem the World Champion.
Praggnanandhaa has a foot within the door. Gukesh is India’s highest-rated participant. Erigaisi can’t be far behind.
