Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi beat David Anton Guijarro of Spain in the ninth & deciding round of the 28th Abu Dhabi Masters Chess Tournament in August 2022. Second and third place went to Javokhir Sindarov & Jorden van Foreest, who each scored 7 out of a possible 9 points. Indians took six of the ten leading spots.
Over the course of five days in August 2022, 148 competitors from 31 different countries gathered in the UAE for the tournament. Arjun won by a score of 7.5 out of 10. After the last Chess Olympiad in India, the young GM gained an incredible 35 Elo rating points, moving him up to the third spot on the live rating list.
Arjun Erigaisi’s Winning Habits
Arjun made history in 2018 by becoming the then newly-formed state Telangana's first grandmaster. Arjun is the 32nd youngest chess player in the world to be awarded the title of Grandmaster when he was 14. He's the 54th Indian Grandmaster.
A strong year for Arjun Erigaisi was 2021 when he beat out Alireza Firouzja, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler, and Vidit Gujrathi to become the first Indian to qualify for the Goldmoney Asian Rapid of the Champions Chess Tour 2021. He lost a close match to Levon Aronian in tie breaks.
Arjun finished in second place at the 2021 Junior U21 Round Table Open Chess Championship (Classical) in Bulgaria in October. He tied Alexey Sarana with a score of 7 out of 9.
The Lindores Abbey Blitz Tournament was held in Riga, Latvia, in November 2021, and Arjun finished third of eighty-two players, beating out the likes of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian, Daniil Dubov, David Navara, Peter Svidler, & many more.
The following month, Arjun triumphed in the Rapid division of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament (Rapid & Blitz). With a score of 6.5 out of 9, he bested Vidit Gujrathi, Sam Shankland, Levon Aronian, & Lê Quang Liêm. He clinched the victory by forcing a draw from a losing position against Levon Aronian. Due to Adhiban Baskaran's late withdrawal, he was given a chance to compete in the Blitz round, where he scored 11/18 & finished in second place, losing in the Armageddon tiebreak to eventual champion Levon Aronian.
Arjun won the Tata Steel Chess 2022 Challengers tournament in January of that year.
At the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament, he will compete in the master's section. His final result of 10.5/13 and Tournament Performance Rating of 2800+ drove him into the list of 100 in Classical format, raising his FIDE Rating to 2659.5.
During the month of March 2022, he won the 58th MPL National Championship of India 2022 with a record of 8.5/11, thus cementing his status as the Indian National Champion. Arjun also won the 19th Delhi Open in March, beating off Gukesh D & Harsha Bharathakoti on a tiebreak after all three players scored 8.5/10.
His 30/45 (+8 =6 -1) performance in the first leg of the MPL Indian Chess Tour, hosted by Chess24 in April 2022, was enough to secure first place.
The 28th Annual Abu Dhabi Masters Championship
Held from August 17-25, the competition was put up by the Abu Dhabi Chess Club & Mind Games under the Patronage of H.H Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The distinguished annual event, consisting of numerous FIDE registered tournaments, was held from 16th until 25th August, 2022.
There were 148 competitors, including seven women Grandmasters and three women International Masters, and 43 men Grandmasters.
The Masters Tournament was open to players with a standard FIDE rating of 2200 ELO and above, with an exception of Abu Dhabi Chess Club players. The tournament had a 9 rounds Swiss System, with a time control of 90 min for each player plus 30-second increments beginning with move 1.
The Open Tournament accommodated players with a rating of 2200 ELO and below (as of 1st Jun 2022). The tournament had a 9 rounds Swiss system, 90 min time control for each player and 30 seconds increment for each move.
The Juniors Tournament (under 16) was open for players born in 2006 or later while the Blitz tournament accommodated players rated 2200 ELO and below (as of 1st Jun 2022,).
The Indian Triumph
Six of the top ten spots at the Abu Dhabi Masters were won by Indian players, demonstrating their dominance of the tournament. There were five Indians that met the requirements. IM P Shyam Nikhil is now the only IM in the top 25, behind only Aditya Samant. Shyam got 6 out of a possible 9 points, putting him in 21st place. He needs just one more norm to join the ranks of India's Grandmasters.
When confronted with Anton's Caro-Kann Defence, the eventual champion, 18-year-old Arjun played the Exchange Variation.
Takeaway
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