This is something unprecedented: a player who had virtually no invitations to top-tier tournaments managed to gain 66 rating points in just seven months, from November 2023 to July 2024, surpassing the global elite and rising from 30th to 4th place with a rating of 2778. This wasn't his first Elo surge. In 2021 he climbed 230 positions in three months – from 359th to 129th, and in 2022 he leaped from 134th to 21st in just half a year. His name is Arjun Erigaisi and he belongs to a new generation of incredible Indian chess stars.
Erigaisi was born in Warangal on September 3, 2003. He discovered chess only at the age of 8, started training regularly with a coach at 10, and by 13 he was already performing well at the World U14 Championship, finishing in 2nd place. Shortly after he achieved all three norms in just four months, becoming a grandmaster. His initial success in adult competitions came in blitz chess: in 2018 he finished 3rd in the Indian Blitz Championship and in 2019 5th in the Asian Blitz Championship.
Erigaisi's rapid ascent was interrupted by the COVID pandemic, which paused his tournament play for a year and a half. But once competitions resumed he began playing non-stop. In 2021 he shared first place at the Junior Round Table Tournament with Sarana (7/9), won the rapid section at Tata Steel India (6.5/9), scoring 11 out of 18 overall and only lost the title to Aronian in the tiebreak. In 2022, he dominated the Wijk aan Zee Challenger (10.5/13), then won the Indian Championship (8.5/11) and the Delhi Open (8.5/10), which featured the country's top young talents.
Arjun confirmed his status as a rising superstar at the Chennai Olympiad, where he won gold on board three (8.5/11) playing for India-1, later triumphed at the Abu Dhabi Open (7.5/9 with a performance rating of 2893) and Tata Steel India (12.5/18). Despite his consistent victories, Erigaisi found himself overshadowed by fellow countrymen Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, which led to a slight decline in his form. Unlike them, he failed to qualify for the 2024 Candidates – being eliminated in the World Cup quarterfinals by Pragg, finishing 3rd-7th in the Grand Swiss and FIDE Circuit, where Gukesh outpaced him.
Starting in November 2023, the 20-year-old Indian player embarked on an unprecedented climb. Beginning with a rating of 2713, he gained +37–3=30 over nine individual and team events, elevating his rating to 2778 and securing 4th place in the world. His aggressive yet balanced and pragmatic playing style is recognized as one of the most effective in modern chess, promising a brilliant future for Erigaisi. What will be his next move?
