Indians at Freestyle Chess Paris: Why Arjun Erigaisi completed Fifth whereas D Gukesh continued to be poor

Indian chess has been reaping the rewards of placing within the onerous yards in nurturing its subsequent technology of superstars, with the likes of D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa establishing themselves among the many the game’s elite with their unbelievable feats over the course of the final couple of years.

Nonetheless, whereas India’s golden technology actually has made its presence felt within the Classical format with the aforementioned names among the many prime 10 within the newest FIDE rankings, the identical can’t be stated for Freestyle Chess, a.okay.a. Fischer Random or Chess960, which some consider is the
way forward for the game.

The inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, in spite of everything, has efficiently hosted two occasions – in Weissenhaus and Paris with the
second one concluding on Monday. Main names reminiscent of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana and the comparatively unfancied Vincent Keymer have gone the space within the two occasions with Keymer and Carlsen rising because the winners in Weissenhaus and Paris respectively.

The Indians, in the meantime, have largely underwhelmed regardless of the burden of expectations on their shoulders. That they continue to be a drive to be reckoned with within the Classical format was there for the world to see on the Tata Metal Chess in Wijk Aan Zee in Netherlands, the place
Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh completed first and second respectively. A month later, Aravindh Chithambaram would announce himself earlier than the world by
profitable the Prague Masters forward of Pragg and different main names reminiscent of Anish Giri and Wei Yi.

Gukesh but to grasp Freestyle Chess as Indians largely underwhelm in Paris

Gukesh had practically received the Tata Metal Chess occasion slightly over a month after changing into the youngest world champion in chess historical past, and had arrived in Weissenhaus with the highlight as a lot on him because it was on Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana and others. The 18-year-old, nevertheless, ended up ending Eighth out of 10 opponents, failing to win a single match all through the occasion.

Quick ahead two months later, and whereas Gukesh did lastly open his account within the victories column within the Paris leg, defeating compatriots Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa in addition to Keymer – who was a part of his workforce on the World Championship in Singapore.

And but, issues went from unhealthy to worse for the teenager celebrity as he didn’t qualify for the quarter-finals and
misplaced his Ninth-Twelfth classification recreation towards Hungarian GM Richard Rapport to complete joint-Eleventh with fellow Indian Vidit Gujrathi, who had a forgettable time within the ‘Metropolis of Mild’ days after getting hitched.

Praggnanandhaa fared solely barely higher than Gukesh and Gujrathi, as he managed to finish issues on a cheerful be aware by beating Rapport of their ninth-place playoff on Saturday. Nonetheless, the truth that 4 Indians have been taking part within the Paris leg had raised hopes of at the least one in all them reaching the semi-finals, and probably squaring off within the remaining. That three of them completed among the many backside 4 actually isn’t a superb have a look at all.

Gukesh went as far to confess that he had a confidence downside within the format – during which the items on the again rank are assembled randomly and made identified to the gamers 10 minutes earlier than the beginning of a recreation.

“I’m very glad that he’s (Keymer) doing very effectively in Freestyle. I believe it’s partly concerning the confidence. He did so effectively in Weissenhaus. So it’s at all times good to have this sort of confidence which you could once more do effectively. I believe that’s additionally partly what I’ve been battling that I’m not as assured in Freestyle as within the different codecs,” Gukesh had stated in a chat on Chess.com’s reside stream of the Paris Grand Slam lately.

Erigaisi gives hope on debut

It wasn’t all doom-and-gloom for the Indian contingent in Paris although. Whereas Gukesh has had his struggles in different codecs, with Customary chess being his consolation zone, Erigaisi – who sits one place beneath Gukesh within the FIDE rankings at fourth – has exhibited much more adaptability with regards to the extra fast-paced speedy and blitz codecs.

And in his maiden look within the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour within the French capital, Erigaisi took to the unpredictable format nearly like duck to water. The 21-year-old was the
solely Indian to complete among the many prime 4 on the finish of the round-robin stage, ending on the fourth spot with 6.5 factors, gathering 5 wins alongside the way in which together with towards eventual champion Carlsen and Weissenhaus finalists Caruana and Keymer.

What additionally stood out in Erigaisi’s efficiency in Paris was his never-say-die angle in addition to his outstanding composure. The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, in spite of everything, screens the heart-rates of gamers throughout video games and Arjun, for one, was constantly among the many calmest gamers in motion with a bpm within the 70s for probably the most half and even within the 60s sometimes.

Chess place 🔥🔥🔥
Coronary heart charge 🧊🧊🧊@ArjunErigaisi ^^^ pic.twitter.com/w3ahcRl65G

— Chess.com – India (@chesscom_in) April 9, 2025

And similar to Gukesh in his memorable overcome Ding, Erigaisi exhibited the sort of steely resolve that highlighted why he’s among the many prime gamers on the planet immediately. After struggling a heart-breaking loss in Sport 2 of his quarter-final towards Nakamura, the
Indian GM discovered himself 0-1 down towards Ian Nepomniachtchi of their Fifth-Eighth place playoff on Friday.

Erigaisi, nevertheless, bounced again in model the next day, profitable the second Customary recreation in simply 24 strikes to stage the scores earlier than seizing the lead within the first speedy tie-break recreation earlier than
sealing his victory over the Russian GM with a draw.

He would then gather a 3rd win in 4 video games by outclassing Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Sport 1 of their fifth-place playoff earlier than staving off a spirited problem from the Frenchman to gather a stalemate on the ultimate day of the occasion.

Erigaisi was the one one to hold the Indian flag within the final two days of the occasion, and his performances in Paris counsel that whereas his compatriots may take their time to meet up with the curveball that’s Fischer Random, he’s somebody who pose a significant menace within the remaining occasions of the Grand Slam Tour, beginning with Las Vegas in July.