Arjun Erigaisi’s remarkable win at the Abu Dhabi Masters

by Shahid Ahmed
8/29/2022 – Arjun Erigaisi won his final-round game against David Anton to clinch first place at the 28th Abu Dhabi Masters. He played with the sole purpose of winning the game, as he kept manoeuvring until his opponent broke and made a mistake. Javokhir Sindarov and Jorden van Foreest claimed second and third place, scoring 7/9 and 6½/9 points, respectively. Six out out of top ten places were claimed by Indians. | Photo: Rupali Mullick
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

An impressive Indian contingent

Indian players had outstanding performances in the Abu Dhabi Masters as they claimed six out of the top ten places. A total of five Indians obtained norms. Apart from Aditya Samant, IM P Shyam Nikhil is the only other IM to finish in the top 25. Shyam scored 6/9 to finish in 21st place. He is one GM norm away from becoming India’s next Grandmaster.

Arjun Erigaisi won his final-round game against David Anton to clinch first place. He played with the sole purpose of winning the game, as he kept manoeuvring until his opponent broke and made a mistake. Javokhir Sindarov and Jorden van Foreest claimed second and third place, scoring 7/9 and 6½/9 points, respectively.

The eventual champion, 18-year-old Arjun, opted for the Exchange Variation when he faced Anton’s Caro-Kann Defence.

 
Arjun vs. Anton
Position after 28.Nb4

Arjun’s knights are stronger than Black’s bishop pair, due to the almost grid-locked pawn structure. White slowly manoeuvred his king to a3 and then started rearranging his pieces to find the best squares and the best plan.

 
Position after 43...Qh8

Black decided to give up the f5-pawn as it did not make a big difference. It was more important to control the h-file, thus 43...Qh8 preventing an immediate Rh1. The game continued 44.Nxf5+ Bxf5 45.Qxf5 Qh3 46.Qd3 Qg2 47.Re1 Qf2 48.Re3 Qg1 49.Ne1 preventing all possibilities of a queen invasion on the queenside.

 
Position after 63...Kf8

Eventually Black crumbled: 63...Kf8 64.c6+- Rc4 65.Qb2 Rxa4+?? 66.Rxa4 Qxa4+ 67.Qa3+. Black resigned as the resultant pawn ending is completely winning for White. Thus, Arjun Erigaisi won the game and became the champion of 28th Abu Dhabi Masters.

The final moments of the deciding game

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 244 c6 34 2.d4 8 d5 6 3.exd5 22 cxd5 8 4.c4 6 Nf6 30 5.Nc3 45 Nc6 82 6.Nf3 107 a6 34 7.Bg5 479 Be6 61 8.Be2 115 g6 136 9.Bxf6 299 exf6 27 10.0-0 6 Be7 1863 11.c5 447 f5 203 12.b4 96 0-0 483 13.Rb1 114 Bf6 48 14.a4 54 g5 117 15.b5 13 axb5 7 16.Bxb5 173 16.axb5 Ne7 17.b6± 16...Ne7 145 17.Be2 164 g4 216 18.Ne1 73 Nc6 204 19.Nc2 46 Ra7 110 20.f4 198 h5 323 21.Qd2 338 Bg7 87 22.Bb5 255 h4 340 23.Bxc6 234 bxc6 4 24.Rfe1 19 Bd7 181 25.Rb6 234 Re8 83 26.Kf1 19 Rxe1+ 228 27.Kxe1 458 Qa8 330 28.Nb4 124 Kf8 528 29.g3 443 Be8 118 30.Qd3 173 Qc8 61 31.Kd2 22 Bd7 174 32.Kc1 123 Ra8 40 33.Qe3 215 Be8 87 34.Kb2 26 Ra7 31 35.Ka3 32 Qa8 29 36.Kb2 134 Re7 37 37.Qd2 35 Ra7 24 38.Qd3 91 Qc8 35 39.Ka3 24 hxg3 15 40.hxg3 4 Bd7 36 41.Nc2 37 Bf6 31 42.Ne3 47 Kg7 28 43.Rb1 61 Qh8 46 44.Nxf5+ 67 Bxf5 4 45.Qxf5 6 Qh3 13 46.Qd3 18 Qg2 23 47.Re1 403 Qf2 67 48.Re3 89 Qg1 23 49.Nd1 22 Ra8 58 50.Qd2 57 Qf1 30 51.Qd3 74 Qh1 5 52.Re2 91 Qf1 55 53.Rd2 24 Qe1 31 54.Qc3 23 Qe7 32 55.Ne3 61 Qa7 23 56.Qc2 4 Qa5 29 57.Nxg4 22 Rb8 19 58.Nxf6 44 Kxf6 49 59.Rh2 72 Qb4+ 18 60.Ka2 5 Qxd4 26 61.Rh6+ 30 Ke7 4 62.Rxc6 6 Rb4 70 63.Ra6 168 Kf8?? 33 63...Kd8 64.c6+- 68 Rc4 26 65.Qb2 4 Rxa4+ 28 66.Rxa4 5 Qxa4+ 4 67.Qa3+ 15 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Erigaisi,A2689Anton Guijarro,D26681–02022B1328th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festi9.1

Arjun Erigaisi is currently the second-highest rated Indian player in the world. At 18, he has climbed to the world top 25 in the live ratings list!

Arjun Erigaisi

Source: 2700chess.com

The one who inspired the nation and beyond, Vishy Anand, congratulated Arjun.

Javokhir Sindarov

Runner-up - GM Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) scored 7/9 points | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Jorden van Foreest

In third place - GM Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) scored 6½/9 points | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Interview with Arjun Erigaisi

Final standings

A total of 148 players from 31 countries, including 43 GMs, 35 IMs, 7 WGMs and 3 WIMs, took part. The tournament was organized by the Abu Dhabi Chess Club & Mind Games from on August 17-25. The 9-round Swiss tournament had a time control of 90 minutes plus 30- second increments from move one.

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Erigaisi Arjun 7,5 0
2 Sindarov Javokhir 7 0
3 Van Foreest Jorden 6,5 0
4 Robson Ray 6,5 0
5 Yakubboev Nodirbek 6,5 0
6 Nihal Sarin 6,5 0
7 Sethuraman S.P. 6,5 0
8 Samant Aditya S 6,5 0
9 Karthikeyan Murali 6,5 0
10 Aryan Chopra 6,5 0
11 Ter-Sahakyan Samvel 6,5 0
12 Anton Guijarro David 6 0
13 Tomashevsky Evgeny 6 0
14 Indjic Aleksandar 6 0
15 Arjun Kalyan 6 0
16 Salem A.R. Saleh 6 0
17 Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 6 0
18 Tabatabaei M. Amin 6 0
19 Adhiban B. 6 0
20 Vokhidov Shamsiddin 6 0

...148 players

All available games

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Links

Shahid Ahmed is the senior coordinator and editor of ChessBase India. He enjoys covering chess tournaments and also likes to play in chess events from time to time.
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.