Arjun Erigaisi (born 3 September 2003)[1] is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 13 days. In September 2024 he became India's top rated player, and in December 2024 he achieved his peak rating of 2801 which makes him the fifteenth-highest rated player in history and second Indian ever to cross the 2800 threshold after Viswanathan Anand.[2]
Early life and background
He was born into a Telugu family in Warangal, Telangana.[3] His father is a neurosurgeon and his mother is a housewife.[4] He studied chess at the BS Chess Academy in Hanamkonda.[4]
He was studying data science until December 2021, before deciding to drop out of college during the first year to focus on his chess career.[5][6]
Career
2015–2018
In 2015, Arjun won a silver medal in the 2015 Asian Youth Championship in Korea.[7]
In October 2021, Arjun placed 2nd at the Junior U21 Round Table Open Chess Championship (Classical) held in Bulgaria. He scored 7/9, along with Alexey Sarana.[10]
In November 2021, Arjun placed 3rd/82 in the Lindores Abbey Blitz Tournament at Riga ahead of players such as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian, David Navara, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler and many others.[11] Later that month, Arjun won the Rapid section of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament (Rapid and Blitz). He scored 6.5/9, ahead of Vidit Gujrathi, Levon Aronian, Sam Shankland and Lê Quang Liêm.[12] He clinched the win by holding Levon Aronian to a draw in a losing position.[13]
2022
In January 2022, Arjun won Tata Steel Chess 2022 Challengers,[14] qualifying him to play in the masters section in the next Tata Steel Chess tournament. His final score was 10.5/13 and his TPR in the tournament was 2800+ which propelled his FIDE Rating to 2659.5 thereby breaking into the top 100 in Classical format.
In March 2022, he was crowned the Indian National Champion by winning the 58th MPL National Championship of India 2022 with a score of 8.5/11. Furthermore, in March Arjun won the 19th Delhi Open- edging out Gukesh D and Harsha Bharathakoti on tie-break after all scored 8.5/10.[15]
In August 2022, Arjun won the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival with 7.5/9 and a performance rating of 2893.[16]
In December 2022, Arjun won Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Blitz with 12.5/18, which was his third victory in Tata Steel events to date.[17]
2024
In April 2024, Arjun won Menorca Open A on superior tie-break score after he tied with 2 others with a score of 7.5/9.[18]
In June 2024, Arjun won the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 with a round to spare.[19]
In September 2024, Arjun took part in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest as part of the Indian team. He was the only player in the Open section to score six straight wins in the first six rounds.[20] He finished the event with 10 points in 11 rounds. His performance rating of 2968 earned him an individual gold medal on board three, and helped India to win their first ever team gold medal at the olympiad.[21]
In October 2024, Arjun won the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup in London by defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in an armageddon tiebreak in the final.[22]
^Subrahmanyam, V. V. (2 August 2016). "Hanamkonda boy set to create ripples in chess world". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2018 – via thehindu.com. Erigaisi Arjun, a Class VIII student, qualifies for World Youth Chess championship, and the Asian championship
^Rao, Rakesh (30 June 2021). "Arjun falls to Aronian in tiebreaker". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021. Arjun Erigiasi's gallant show against Levon Aronian ended in the blitz tiebreaker
