Arjun Erigaisi’s year of disappointment ended on a bright note. After promising bigger things and falling short of expectations, double bronze at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship was a commendable effort. Erigaisi, with the feat, became the second Indian ever after Viswanathan Anand to finish on the podium at the World Rapid and Blitz.
The player from Warangal in Andhra remains the best-placed Indian in world rankings in the classical format. He is the No. 5. The 2024 Chess Olympiad star has been in the top-10 for more than a year now, which has been done only by a handful of players. Well before turning 22 in September, he achieved a career-best ranking of third and became only the 15th player in history to cross the 2800 mark in ELO ratings.
That is why he will be disappointed for not qualifying for the 2026 Candidates coming up in March-April. After seeing three of his compatriots — D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi — make the cut in 2024 and having overtaken them in rankings, he must have been fancying his chance.
Other than holding on to his position among the elite of the world, one of his goals in 2025 was to make it to the eight-player field of Candidates, the winner of which will challenge Gukesh in the World Championship bout. Despite his best efforts, he fell short. His best chance came at the FIDE World Cup in Goa, from which the top three made the Candidates cut. When expectations rose, he lost in the quarterfinals.
It should hurt. Of the players who qualified for Candidates, only two — No. 2 Fabiano Caruana and No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura — are rated above him. Praggnanandhaa, the only Indian in the mix, is ranked seventh. To see six players below him reaching the competition must not be easy to digest.
At the World Rapid and Blitz, it was a strong field including Magnus Carlsen, who won both the titles. By living up to expectations of being the best contemporary Indian player in speed chess, Erigaisi at least took home something.
The high point of his Doha campaign was the win against Carlsen in the blitz section. Erigaisi was fortunate that the Norwegian made an accidental error, which cost him that game. Still, finishing on top of the league standings before losing in the semi-finals against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan was a morale-boosting effort.
“If not for the last blunder (by Carlsen), I thought I played quite well. It’s always good to have a plus score against Magnus,” Erigaisi told the FIDE YouTube channel. He has little time to rest because the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz gets underway in Kolkata on January 7. After that will begin the whistle-stop tour of the world of elite chess players. Erigaisi knows that despite falling behind expectations, he is still among the top guns. Doha testifies that.
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