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Arjun Erigaisi secured the €20,000 first prize at the WR Chess Masters Cup in London by defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in an Armageddon tiebreak. Arjun had previously knocked out Bodhana Sivanandan, Vidit Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to reach the final. In a dramatic finish, he overcame MVL to claim the title.
The two finalists reached the deciding match through contrasting paths. While Arjun won each of his previous encounters in the classical portion, MVL advanced by winning Armageddon tiebreakers in every round. After two drawn classical games in the final, the psychological advantage seemed to favour MVL (due to his having played three tiebreakers before), but Arjun's cool-headed play in the tiebreaker helped him prevail with the black pieces.
The first classical game was a quiet 30-move draw out of a French Defence, while the second game featured a sharp Najdorf Sicilian from MVL, which led to a chaotic position. Neither player had castled by move 14, and both faced tough tactical challenges. One of the key moments occurred when Arjun could have played 15.Bxb7, leading to a complex sequence favouring White, but opted for 15.Ne4 instead.
Here the game could have followed 15.Bxb7 Bc4+ 16.Kg1 Bxb3 (diagram below), and now 17.Bxa8 fails to 17...Qc5+ 18.Kf1 Qf2#. In this line, White is even slightly better after 17.Ne4, but the variation still demonstrates the complications faced by the contenders in this double-edged struggle.
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Both players navigated the complications well, though, and after the queens were exchanged on move 21, the game headed towards a balanced - yet tricky - ending. A draw was agreed on move 38 in a position with opposite-coloured bishops and asymmetrical pawn structures.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave playing white against Arjun Erigaisi in the final match of the London event | Photo: ChessBase India / Abhyudaya Ram
In the Armageddon, Arjun got the black pieces (and draw odds) after bidding 6 minutes and 58 seconds. Not one to fear a tactical struggle, Vachier-Lagrave (who started with 10 minutes on the clock) created an imbalanced position early on.
White's 21.Nxf7 was a correct sacrifice, though after 21...Rxf7, the most precise continuation would have been 22.Rb5, instead of the direct 22.Be6 as played in the game.
Despite being down on the clock, Arjun kept his composure in the tense finale. With MVL desperately seeking winning chances, Arjun gradually gained the upper hand and forced resignation on move 69.
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The action was followed closely by Sagar Shah and Vidit Gujrathi, who provided exciting commentary for ChessBase India.
