At the closing ceremony of the Tata Steel Chess India three years ago, the wonderfully articulate Levon Aronian had an explanation why Arjun Erigaisi, just 18 then and nowhere near as well-known as he is now, did not also win the blitz title after winning the rapid.
The Armenian-born American Grandmaster, who won the title after beating him in the tie-breaker, said Arjun was a very strong chess player, but not strong enough physically to carry two cups. The full house at the National Library erupted in laughter.
Later on, during an interaction with Sportstar in which he spoke about Indian classical music and Satyajit Ray’s films, Aronian said Arjun was going to translate his strength in speed chess to the more demanding classical variety. The boy from Warangal didn’t let Aronian down.
He crossed the biggest barrier in chess in the latest rating list released by FIDE. He has touched 2800 Elo points. He is only the second Indian to do it and the 15th in the history of the game. The first Indian was Viswanathan Anand.
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Anand was there in Kolkata too for the Tata event, as the brand ambassador. He called Arjun a great discovery and new star of Indian chess.
Arjun said how much those words meant to him. He had also said that he wasn’t getting invitations for stronger tournaments and that was what prevented him from catching up with other Indian prodigies like R. Praggnanandhaa.
That scenario may not have changed, as he has had to gain his Elo points mostly from open tournaments, in which you are likely to come across weaker opponents and risk losing points. But, remarkably, he has risen to be the World No. 4.
“I can’t think of another top player who has scored so many points from open tournaments,” says Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay.
One may not be able to think of another player that plays chess with such creativity and fearlessness, either.
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