I played too aggressively at Tata Steel… was one of the toughest tournaments of my life’

After a barnstorming 2024, Arjun Erigaisi had a sobering start to 2025 at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee. He ended the tournament losing 24 rating points in the span of the 21-day event in the Netherlands. Erigaisi’s woes were most acute at the start of the Tata Steel Chess tournament as he slumped to four defeats in the first seven rounds at the tournament. But then he stabilised his slide with four consecutive draws before defeating Nodirbek Abdusattarov and Gukesh in the final two games to play a decisive role in deciding the championship standings.
Both Abdusattarov and Gukesh were in the race to win the championship. Erigaisi’s defeat of Gukesh forced the world champion to battle against Praggnanandhaa in the tiebreaks, where he lost.
“It was one of the toughest tournaments of my life so far. There is always learning to be taken away from tournaments. Especially in such tournaments like there are many (learnigns to be taken away). But the ones that I can reveal is that I was playing a bit too aggressively and taking too much risks. Actually this I realized like mid-event, like during the tournament itself. So in the second half of the tournament, I was trying to play more solidly and, and since then, it went better,” Erigaisi tells The Indian Express.
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Arjun Erigaisi takes on Magnus Carlsen during their match at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium at Kolkata. (Express photo Partha Paul.)
Arjun Erigaisi to play at Paris Freestyle event
Erigaisi says that his 2025 is not as stacked with events so far as his 2024 was. He was recently picked up esports team Gen.G for the upcoming Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh. He will be competing in Champions Chess Tour events to qualify for the physical event in Saudi Arabia.
“I will be competing in the Paris edition of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour later this year,” reveals Erigaisi before adding: “I will also be playing at Norway Chess this tear. I will of course play the Grand Swiss and FIDE World Cup to try and qualify for the Candidates tournament. Apart from that, I don’t have an idea where I will play. But I think it will be the typical World Rapid Blitz and maybe World Rapid Blitz Team events this year.”

Amit Kamath is Assant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. … Read More