Chess History in a Nutshell 106 – Arjun Erigaisi
Arjun Erigaisi (born September 3, 2003) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Widely considered a chess prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 13 days. In September 2024, he became India’s highest-rated player, and by December of that year, he reached a peak rating of 2801—making him the fifteenth player in history to surpass this magical threshold. He is also only the second Indian ever to cross the 2800 mark, after former world champion Viswanathan Anand.
Magnus Carlsen once referred to him as "the Mad Man" of chess due to his uncompromising, attacking style.
Arjun comes from an academically inclined family—his father is a neurosurgeon—and it was initially expected that he would pursue higher education. Until December 2021, he studied data science, but he chose to drop out during his first year to fully dedicate himself to chess. His rise was meteoric.
In 2015, Arjun won a silver medal at the Asian Youth Championship in Korea. Over the following years, it became increasingly clear that he had the potential to compete with the world's best.
The year 2021 was a major breakthrough for Arjun. He became the first Indian to qualify for the Goldmoney Asian Rapid in the Champions Chess Tour, where he defeated top players like Alireza Firouzja, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler, and Vidit Gujrathi. He eventually lost in a hard-fought tiebreak against Levon Aronian.
In October of the same year, Arjun finished second at the Junior U21 Open Chess Championship in Bulgaria, scoring 7/9 alongside Alexey Sarana. That year also saw him place third in the Lindores Abbey Blitz Tournament in Riga, ahead of top grandmasters such as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian, David Navara, Daniil Dubov, and Peter Svidler.
Later that month, Arjun won the Rapid section of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament (Rapid and Blitz), finishing with 6.5/9. He defeated players like Vidit Gujrathi, Levon Aronian, Sam Shankland, and Lê Quang Liêm, securing the title by holding Aronian to a draw in a lost position.
The year 2022 was another great success. In January, he won the Challengers group of the Tata Steel Tournament, qualifying for the Masters section in the following edition. He scored an impressive 10.5/13, with a tournament performance rating (TPR) of 2804, which raised his rating to 2660 and propelled him into the world’s top 100.
In March, Arjun became the Indian national champion by winning the 58th MPL National Championship with 8.5/11. Later that month, he also won the 19th Delhi Open, defeating Gukesh (who would go on to become World Champion the following year!) and Harsha Bharathakoti in a tiebreak, after all three players finished with 8.5/10.
More strong performances followed, but one of his most remarkable achievements came in September 2024, when he represented India at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. He was the only player in the Open section to win his first six games consecutively. He finished with 10 points out of 11 and a performance rating of 2968, earning an individual gold medal on board three and helping India secure their first-ever team gold at the Olympiad.
In December 2024, Arjun officially crossed the 2800 rating threshold on the FIDE list, becoming the sixteenth player in history to achieve this milestone.
In the current position, Arjun had voluntarily trapped his own queen on h6. Playing hxg6 would open the h-file and free the queen, but doing so immediately would leave Black with a significant advantage. What did Erigaisi have in mind by doubling his heavy pieces on the h-file?
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