The Tata Steel Masters is becoming exciting. Three rounds remain. Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan is leading with 6.5 points. A bunch of three are on six. There is no certainty who will win. The only thing certain is that it won’t be an Indian.
After 10 rounds in the longest, annual, closed tournament featuring elite players, D Gukesh is the best-placed from the country. He is eighth in the field of 14 with five points. R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram are 11th, 12th and 13th on 4.5, 4 and 3.5 points, in that order.
The 10th round turned out to be the best for India. Gukesh posted his third win of the event and Aravindh his first. Praggnanandhaa drew, but Erigaisi’s wretched run was extended by a defeat against Vincent Keymer.
Going in as favourites, Indians have flopped and Erigaisi has been a high-profile sufferer. The world No. 5 and second seed beat Pragg in the first game and drew the next three. He was trailing the leader by 0.5 points after four rounds. What followed was reminiscent of his harrowing run in Wijk Aan Zee on the northern coast of the Netherlands last year.
He was the world No. 4 and second seed in 2025 and finished 10th with 5.5 points out of 13. There were four defeats and two wins, one of which dashed Gukesh’s hopes in the last round. Erigaisi has lost three so far this time and not won after the first game. It has cost him 17.9 rating points and unless he does better in the remainder of the event, his ranking will dip.
“It’s very long tournament, which they normally don’t get the opportunity to play,” GM Abhijit Kunte told RevSportz. “Then, there are all sorts of tournaments in rapid, blitz, freestyle. The World Cup (in November) was in a knockout format. Each format needs a different strategy and opening.”
Kunte thinks frequent shifts in gear can cause adjustment issues. “For Arjun, the World Cup was crucial (to qualify for Candidates, which he couldn’t). Maybe his preparation was based on a different strategy. In round-robin or big matches, your preparation style has to change. There is a possibility that he may not have been able to club it very well.”
Of the players Erigaisi has lost to, Keymar is one point above him at world No. 4. The top seed from Germany has himself had a topsy-turvy event, with four wins and losses apiece. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkiye and Russian Vladimir Fedoseev are well below the Indian in world rankings.
The coach of the Indian gold-winning women’s team at the 2024 Chess Olympiad attributes this to Erigaisi’s style, which is chracterised by risk-taking, and the vagaries of an arduous tournament played in temperatures in lower single digits. For those not doing well, the ordeal seems to get longer.
“Once things are not going your way, when people realise one player is in bad form, everyone will see it as an opportunity irrespective of rating,” noted Kunte. “Every player will try to score maximum against him. That adds to the pressure. It’s common in round-robin tournaments.
“For most players, when they are not doing well, the strategy is to hold. Not to go for a win. Arjun is an uncompromising player. He goes for it. That’s why the score might look even worse.”
It’s a well-known trait, which prompted Magnus Carlsen to name him ‘Madman’. After a final rest day, the last three rounds will be played from Friday. With little to gain, Erigaisi would like to make sure he doesn’t lose more.
Also Read: In year of title defence, Gukesh likely to slip out of top 10
