Warangal: GM Arjun hogs the limelight

Warangal: Grand Master Arjun Erigaisi, the pride of Warangal, made revelations in the Lindores Abbey Blitz tournament, organised to mark the 85th birth anniversary of legendary chess player Mikhail Tal, by finishing third. The tourney ended late on Monday. Arjun Erigaisi who finished on 13.5 points from 18 games along with American top player Fabiano Caruana took third prize on the basis of the tie-break score. By far, it's one of Arjun's best performances as the tournament has some of the great players like Levon Aronian, David Howell, Rauf Mamedov, Caruana and the list goes on. He recorded 13 victories, a draw and suffered four losses in the tournament.

Speaking to The Hans India, Arjun said, "Blitz format suits me well. Maybe it's my strength at this juncture of my career. However, I want to excel in classic chess." Referring to the Lindores Abbey Blitz Tournament in Riga, Latvia, the 18-year-old Grand master said, "I entered the tourney without any expectations. I wanted to give my best shot, and I did it. And it's a great experience." He said that his wins against Levon and Caruana are the best and memorable.

It may be noted here that after 10 games, Arjun had scored 9.5 points, defeating Levon, David Howell and Rauf Mamedov. However, in the final rounds, it was Ukrainian GM Kirill Shevchenko who took the spotlight.

Arjun collected 107.2 blitz rating points from this tournament which propelled him into the top 30 in the world rankings and top three in the country. As of now, Arjun has 2723 blitz rating points and 2629 in classic chess format. He also collected prize money of USD 6,000 for his performance.

Telangana Chess Association Vice-president Basiri Rajagopal said: "Warangal is proud of Arjun. We know he will go places. We expect Arjun to bring more accolades to the county." It may be noted here that Arjun who was searching for his first International Master (IM) norm at the turn of the year 2018 had become India's 54th Grand Master in about seven and a half months.