Chennai Grand Masters: Arjun Erigaisi’s chance to turn around indifferent year | Chess News

Chennai: Arjun Erigaisi has had an indifferent run in classical chess this year. Currently ranked fifth in the world and second among Indians, he looked a shadow of his usual self in the three tournaments that he battled in, not making the top-three in any of them.The 21-year-old’s over-aggression cost him dear at Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee as he was forced to settle for a 10th-place finish. He came fifth among six participants at Norway Chess in Stavanger and finished fourth at Uzchess Cup in Tashkent.But Arjun is back with renewed hope for the Chennai Grand Masters, where he will be one of the top contenders for the masters crown. The Chennai event, which will begin on Wednesday, will feature 20 players, 10 each in the masters and challengers categories.“There were no great results in particular, not just in classical but overall. My classical chess has been disappointing starting from Wijk aan Zee. This is my last tournament before Grand Swiss (a qualifying event for the Candidates), so it is very important to get some confidence back. Right now, I am focusing only on this tournament,” Arjun said on Tuesday.“It is certainly important to get back to form, but one has to note that the classical tournaments that I played were held at different times (of the year). However, after the Chennai GM event, Grand Swiss will start pretty soon (on September 3 in Samarkand). So I will get good practice in classical as well,” added Arjun, who is actively involved in the closely-contested race for India No. 1 with R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh. Incidentally, the Chennai duo is not playing the tournament.

While the Chennai GM tournament’s field is not as strong as last year, Arjun could face challenge in the form of world No. 10 Anish Giri, the 21st-ranked Vincent Keymer and world No. 26 Vidit Gujrathi. In the absence of Pragg and Gukesh, Karthikeyan Murali, the eleventh-hour replacement of Vladimir Fedoseev, and V Pranav will add local flavour to the masters section.“Maybe compared to last year, the field is a bit weaker. Nevertheless, it is still strong; you cannot count anyone out. My focus is only on my own game,” Arjun added.For fellow title challenger Anish, the event will provide “good preparation” for the upcoming World Championship cycle tournaments (Grand Swiss and World Cup). “It is a very strong classical event and it is in India, so I get to feel how it is to play in India before the World Cup. This is a good way for me to prepare,” said the Dutchman.The challengers category will see the participation of two women, experienced campaigner D Harika and local hope R Vaishali.