It was throughout the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest that the Indian males’s crew attracted loads of eyeballs, not notably for the immense firepower that the crew possessed, but additionally for the board order during which the crew would play. The highest three names for India had been R. Praggnanandhaa, D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, with every having the calibre to take the highest board. Arjun was the highest-ranked Indian at the moment and, naturally, a really perfect match to take the highest board in opposition to the world’s finest.
Reduce to the tip of the occasion, India had gained their historic maiden gold medal, and Arjun additionally gained a person gold medal for the very best efficiency on his board. It wasn’t the highest board, nor was it board No. 2. Arjun performed on the third board behind Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa and ran via the opposition like a blitzkrieg. Not that Arjun taking part in on Board No. 3 was a demotion, however the highest-ranked Indian not taking the highest board was considerably not mainstream. The rationale behind this transfer was to money in on Arjun’s superiority over gamers rated decrease than him, India’s coach at the moment, N. Srinath had defined.
On Friday, throughout the third spherical of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 in Goa, Arjun vindicated Srinath’s technique as soon as once more, not with phrases, however together with his play. Dealing with Uzbek Grandmaster Shamsiddin Vokhidov (rated 2640), Arjun got here out with an distinctive opening preparation that just about assured a beneficial end result proper from the beginning. His preparation was such that the primary 16 strikes of his added two minutes to his clock relatively than him utilizing the time assigned to him. He continued to blitz out strikes, and by the point he lastly paused, the sport was successfully over for his opponent.
Vokhidov made his first error on the twentieth transfer, simply as Arjun was leaving his ready strains, mistiming a pawn push to f6. A transfer later, he captured Arjun’s pawn on e5 together with his knight, a call that sealed the sport’s destiny. Simply eight strikes and an hour later, Vokhidov resigned in a totally misplaced place, whereas Arjun nonetheless had over half an hour on his clock. Not solely did Arjun make quick work of Vokhidov’s defence, however he additionally positioned himself for a deep run on this tough occasion. He now wants solely a draw with the black items to qualify for the subsequent spherical.
What makes Arjun really particular is his skill to bulldoze lower-rated opponents. Many robust Grandmasters rated between 2700 and 2750 on this occasion have struggled in opposition to such gamers, which isn’t that stunning in a single-elimination format. But, a transparent sample has emerged for Arjun {that a} match in opposition to a lower-rated participant usually turns into a closely skewed affair in his favour.
Harikrishna wins too
Harikrishna ended the match in opposition to Dardha with a rook sacrifice, a symbolic transfer that signifies the wonderful type he’s in (Picture Credit score: Michal Walusza/FIDE)
One other participant who shone at the moment was the medical 39-year-old Pentala Harikrishna, who took solely 25 strikes to drive Belgian Grandmaster Daniel Dardha to resign. Enjoying with the white items in a Sicilian Defence recreation, GM Harikrishna gained an early benefit and steadily tightened the screws to safe a decisive victory. He ended the match with a rook sacrifice, a symbolic transfer that signifies the wonderful type he’s in.
Harikrishna is one among solely a handful of gamers to have competed in each the final World Cup held in India in 2002 and the present one. The previous India No. 1, who’s striving for his maiden Candidates spot, mentioned he performs the game purely for the love of it. “Proper now, I simply wish to get pleasure from taking part in chess. It’s fairly just like why I began taking part in the game, and I nonetheless really feel the identical. So, that’s one of many major driving forces for why I play chess. The second I can not actually get pleasure from it, I’m not going to push for it,” he instructed The Indian Categorical from Goa.
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“So far as my ambitions, I modify them based on the circumstances and the tournaments I’m taking part in. Proper now, I’m taking the World Cup one match at a time as a result of it’s a really tough occasion. The Candidates continues to be a far-off and large dedication, so I’m simply taking one event at a time,” he mentioned.
Elsewhere, Pranav V floor out his opponent, Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania, to seize an essential win. The seven remaining Indians ended up sharing the spoils.
Indian outcomes:
D. Gukesh drew with Frederik Svane (GER) 0.5-0.5; Arjun Erigaisi beat Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) 1.0-0.0; R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) 0.5-0.5; Pranav V beat Titas Stremavicius (LTU) 1.0-0.0; M. Pranesh drew with Vincent Keymer (GER) 0.5-0.5; Pentala Harikrishna beat Daniel Dardha (BEL) 1.0-0.0; Vidit Santosh Gujrathi drew with Sam Shankland (USA) 0.5-0.5; S L Narayanan drew with Yangyi Yu (CHN) 0.5-0.5; Diptayan Ghosh drew with Gabriel Sargissian (ARM) 0.5-0.5; Venkataraman Karthik drew with Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) 0.5-0.5.