Arjun Erigaisi loses to World No 82 Max Warmerdam as India No 1’s free fall continues
Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam, ranked no 82 in the world, defeated World No 4 Arjun Erigaisi in one of the biggest shocks at the Tata Steel chess tournament. Meanwhile, there was a morale-boosting draw for Leon Luke Mendonca over defending champion Wei Yi from China. Praggnanandhaa was also held to a draw Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest.
Erigaisi is going through the worst slump of his career, not getting a single win in seven games at the event nicknamed the Wimbledon of Chess. He’s now lost four games and drawn three at the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee. What’s worse is that Erigaisi is yet to face two of the in-form players at the event: world champion Gukesh and Uzbek star Nodirbek Abdusattarov.
Warmerdam is rated 2646, almost 150 points below Arjun Erigaisi who started the year entering the elusive 2800 ratings club. The conquest over Erigaisi was Warmerdam’s first win of the Tata Steel event. The Indian has now dropped 29 rating points in the past 10 days and seven games at Wijk aan Zee. For context, he gained 63 points last year to break into the top 5.
How Arjun Erigaisi lost to Max Warmerdam
Playing with black pieces on Saturday, Arjun Erigaisi had an inferior position on the board from as early as the 12th move, where he played an inaccuracy and then doubled down with another inaccuracy on move 13.
Erigaisi played 12… e6?! when the engine showed that 12… Qd7 was the best move. Then on move 13, Arjun Erigaisi made another ill-advised pawn push, this time on the b file: he played 13… b5?! when the engine said that 13… Nd7 was the best option.
From the 25th move onwards, Arjun started to trail in terms of material, first falling one pawn down, then having two pawns less on the board the 27th move. move 28, Arjun Erigaisi had three less pawns on the board compared to the Dutch player. He eventually conceded defeat on move 38.
For Mendonca, this is now the third straight draw on the trot, which must come as a relief after he experienced three defeats in his first four games at what is his first super-elite invitational event.
