Arjun Erigaisi leads strong Indian presence in Sharjah Masters

Fourth seed Arjun Erigaisi will head a very strong 14-member Indian presence in the USD 60,000 Sharjah Masters that started on Saturday evening.

Russian Vladimir Fedoseev, playing under the FIDE flag, is the top seed, followed by Armenia’s Gabriel Sargissian and UAE’s Salem Saleh in the race for the winner’s share of USD 10,000.

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Following the in-form Arjun are compatriots S. L. Narayanan, D. Gukesh, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, B. Adhiban - all members of India’s 2022 Chess Olympiad teams. Of the 14 Indians, except Sankalp Gupta and International Master Aditya Mittal, all GMs are rated above 2600. The field is limited to 80 players, the rating eligibility being 2300.

Going by live ratings, Arjun is ranked 58th with a rating of 2680.6 while Gukesh is 68th, his rating being 2674.6. Among the top-100, the other two Indians are the 81st-ranked S. L. Narayanan (2662) and 94th-placed Nihal Sarin (2653.5). This nine-round competition carries added significance since it forms part of the preparatory events shortlisted by the members of the Indian Olympiad teams.