Arjun Erigaisi clinches victory at first leg of the MPL Indian Chess Tour

A fantastic year for Arjun

Arjun Erigaisi’s run of good form started last summer at the Goldmoney Asian Rapid, when he reached the quarterfinals against incredibly strong opposition. Then he won the rapid section of the Tata Steel India tournament in Kolkata and the Challengers in Wijk aan Zee. The current Indian national champion has now grabbed another victory, at the first leg of the MPL Indian Chess Tour, an online event which serves as a qualifier to the elite Meltawer Champions Tour.

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At the 15-round tournament, a football scoring system was in place, with 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Arjun collected 8 wins, 6 draws and 1 loss for a 30/45 final score. In sole second place, three points back, finished 16-year-old Raunak Sadhwani, while Gukesh and Surya Ganguly each got 25 points to get third and fourth places respectively.

On Sunday, Arjun, who was already the sole leader, defeated Sankalp Gupta with the black pieces in his first game of the day.

In this knight endgame with equal material, White made a couple of consecutive inaccuracies, as 33.h3 e5 34.c4 turned things in Black’s favour.

Arjun had a 5-point lead with two rounds to go, and secured first place with draws against Sethuraman and Adhiban in his last two games of the event. He later tweeted:

In the official FIDE ratings list of classical chess for April, Arjun is ranked number 4 in India, only behind Anand, Vidit and Harikrishna. Given his great form, he is likely to make it into the national team at this year’s Olympiad — India will host the massive team event in about three months’ time.

Final standings (win = 3 pts; draw = 1 pt)

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	TB	Perf.
1	GM	Erigaisi Arjun GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 1 GM Harika,D 2517 1 2 GM Ganguly,S 2627 ½ 3 GM Mendonca,L 2536 0 4 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 5 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 1 6 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 1 7 GM Gukesh D 2614 1 8 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 ½ 9 GM Gupta,A 2628 1 10 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 11 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 ½ 12 GM Puranik,A 2618 1 13 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 14 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 15 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ Ø 2594 30/15	2633		30.0	15		½	½	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	½	0.00	2769
2	GM	Sadhwani,R GM Sadhwani,R 2616 1 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 2 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 1 3 GM Gupta,A 2628 1 4 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 5 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 0 6 GM Puranik,A 2618 0 7 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 8 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 ½ 9 GM Adhiban,B 2648 1 10 GM Harika,D 2517 0 11 GM Ganguly,S 2627 1 12 GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 13 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 14 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 1 15 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 ½ Ø 2595 27/15	2616		27.0	15	½		1	0	½	0	1	1	1	0	½	0	1	1	1	1	0.00	2690
3	GM	Ganguly,S GM Ganguly,S 2627 1 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 ½ 2 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 ½ 3 GM Adhiban,B 2648 1 4 GM Harika,D 2517 1 5 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 1 6 GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 7 Narayanan.S.L 2658 0 8 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 0 9 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 ½ 10 GM Gukesh D 2614 ½ 11 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 12 GM Gupta,A 2628 1 13 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 14 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 0 15 GM Puranik,A 2618 1 Ø 2594 25/15	2627		25.0	15	½	0		½	0	1	1	1	0	1	½	0	½	1	1	1	0.50	2666
4	GM	Gukesh D GM Gukesh D 2614 1 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 1 2 GM Gupta,A 2628 1 3 GM Iniyan,P 2516 ½ 4 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 0 5 GM Puranik,A 2618 0 6 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 7 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 8 GM Adhiban,B 2648 1 9 GM Harika,D 2517 1 10 GM Ganguly,S 2627 ½ 11 GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 12 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 13 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 0 14 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 1 15 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ Ø 2595 25/15	2614		25.0	15	0	1	½		½	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	½	½	0.50	2667
5		Narayanan.S.L	2658		23.0	15	½	½	1	½		½	0	0	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	0.00	2664
6	GM	Puranik,A GM Puranik,A 2618 1 GM Mendonca,L 2536 ½ 2 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 3 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 0 4 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 1 5 GM Gukesh D 2614 1 6 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 1 7 GM Gupta,A 2628 1 8 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 9 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 1 10 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 11 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 0 12 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 13 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ 14 GM Harika,D 2517 0 15 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 Ø 2595 22/15	2618		22.0	15	0	1	0	1	½		½	1	0	0	1	1	0	½	1	½	0.00	2616
7	GM	Mendonca,L GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 GM Puranik,A 2618 ½ 2 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 3 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 1 4 GM Adhiban,B 2648 1 5 GM Harika,D 2517 ½ 6 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 7 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 1 8 Narayanan.S.L 2658 1 9 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 0 10 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 ½ 11 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 12 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 13 GM Gupta,A 2628 0 14 GM Iniyan,P 2516 0 15 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 1 Ø 2600 21/15	2536		21.0	15	1	0	0	0	1	½		0	0	½	½	1	1	1	0	1	0.00	2600
8	GM	Gupta,A GM Gupta,A 2628 1 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 ½ 2 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 3 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 4 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 5 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 6 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 ½ 7 GM Puranik,A 2618 0 8 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 ½ 9 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 10 GM Adhiban,B 2648 1 11 GM Harika,D 2517 0 12 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 13 GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 14 Narayanan.S.L 2658 1 15 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 1 Ø 2594 19/15	2628		19.0	15	0	0	0	0	1	0	1		1	0	½	½	½	1	1	½	1.00	2573
9	GM	Karthikeyan,M GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 1 GM Iniyan,P 2516 ½ 2 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 ½ 3 GM Puranik,A 2618 1 4 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 ½ 5 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 6 GM Adhiban,B 2648 0 7 GM Harika,D 2517 1 8 GM Ganguly,S 2627 1 9 GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 10 Narayanan.S.L 2658 0 11 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 12 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 0 13 GM Gukesh D 2614 1 14 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 15 GM Gupta,A 2628 0 Ø 2594 19/15	2622		19.0	15	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0		1	0	½	½	0	½	½	1.00	2573
10	GM	Harika,D GM Harika,D 2517 1 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 2 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ 3 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 4 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 5 GM Mendonca,L 2536 ½ 6 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 7 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 0 8 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 ½ 9 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 10 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 1 11 GM Gupta,A 2628 1 12 GM Iniyan,P 2516 ½ 13 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 ½ 14 GM Puranik,A 2618 1 15 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 Ø 2601 19/15	2517		19.0	15	0	1	0	0	½	1	½	1	0		½	½	1	½	½	½	1.00	2601
11	GM	Aryan Chopra GM Aryan Chopra 2585 1 GM Gupta,A 2628 ½ 2 GM Iniyan,P 2516 ½ 3 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 1 4 GM Puranik,A 2618 0 5 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 6 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 7 GM Adhiban,B 2648 0 8 GM Harika,D 2517 ½ 9 GM Ganguly,S 2627 ½ 10 GM Mendonca,L 2536 ½ 11 Narayanan.S.L 2658 0 12 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 1 13 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 1 14 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 15 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 ½ Ø 2597 18/15	2585		18.0	15	0	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	1	½		1	1	0	½	1	1.00	2576
12	GM	Lalith Babu M R GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 1 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 2 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 ½ 3 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 0 4 GM Gukesh D 2614 1 5 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 1 6 GM Gupta,A 2628 ½ 7 GM Iniyan,P 2516 0 8 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 1 9 GM Puranik,A 2618 0 10 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 0 11 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 ½ 12 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ 13 GM Harika,D 2517 ½ 14 GM Ganguly,S 2627 1 15 GM Mendonca,L 2536 0 Ø 2598 18/15	2563		18.0	15	½	1	1	1	½	0	0	½	½	½	0		0	½	0	1	0.00	2577
13	GM	Sankalp Gupta GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 1 GM Ganguly,S 2627 ½ 2 GM Mendonca,L 2536 0 3 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ 4 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 ½ 5 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 0 6 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 7 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 8 GM Gupta,A 2628 ½ 9 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 10 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 1 11 GM Puranik,A 2618 1 12 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 13 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 14 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ 15 GM Harika,D 2517 0 Ø 2600 15/15	2536		15.0	15	0	0	½	0	½	1	0	½	½	0	0	1		½	1	½	0.00	2528
14	GM	Adhiban,B GM Adhiban,B 2648 1 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 ½ 2 GM Harika,D 2517 ½ 3 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 4 GM Mendonca,L 2536 0 5 Narayanan.S.L 2658 0 6 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 1 7 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 1 8 GM Gukesh D 2614 0 9 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 10 GM Gupta,A 2628 0 11 GM Iniyan,P 2516 ½ 12 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 ½ 13 GM Puranik,A 2618 ½ 14 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 ½ 15 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 ½ Ø 2593 13/15	2648		13.0	15	½	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	½	1	½	½		½	½	0.00	2498
15	GM	Iniyan,P GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 ½ 2 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 ½ 3 GM Gukesh D 2614 ½ 4 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 5 GM Gupta,A 2628 0 6 GM Sethuraman,S 2619 0 7 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 1 8 GM Puranik,A 2618 0 9 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 0 10 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 0 11 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ 12 GM Harika,D 2517 ½ 13 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 14 GM Mendonca,L 2536 1 15 Narayanan.S.L 2658 ½ Ø 2601 12/15	2516		12.0	15	0	0	0	½	½	0	1	0	½	½	½	1	0	½		0	0.00	2476
16	GM	Sethuraman,S GM Sethuraman,S 2619 1 GM Adhiban,B 2648 ½ 2 GM Sadhwani,R 2616 0 3 GM Harika,D 2517 ½ 4 GM Gupta,A 2628 ½ 5 GM Ganguly,S 2627 0 6 GM Iniyan,P 2516 1 7 GM Mendonca,L 2536 0 8 GM Lalith Babu M R 2563 0 9 Narayanan.S.L 2658 0 10 GM Puranik,A 2618 ½ 11 GM Karthikeyan,M 2622 ½ 12 GM Sankalp Gupta 2536 ½ 13 GM Aryan Chopra 2585 0 14 GM Erigaisi Arjun 2633 ½ 15 GM Gukesh D 2614 ½ Ø 2594 11/15	2619		11.0	15	½	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	1		0.00	2469
TBs: Direct encounter, Wins, Koya

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