If any Indian can contend against some of the world’s best chess players in the freestyle format, it has to be Arjun Erigaisi. He was the only one from the country to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Paris leg of the Grand Slam Tour. Those who failed to advance included R. Praggnanandhaa, Classical world champion D. Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi.
The fairytale, which began on Monday when Arjun took down World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in just 29 moves and the third highest-rated player in history – USA’s Fabiano Caruana – in 35 moves in the opening two rounds, ended on Tuesday when he finished fourth in the standings after 11 gruelling rounds of rapid classifications games.
Arjun, who had pocketed three wins going into the second day, grabbed two more victories to finish with 6.5 points out of a possible 11 behind Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi and local favourite Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
When the day started, it was all about Gukesh’s redemption as he began with two consecutive wins over Praggnanandhaa and his Second at the World Championships, Vincent Keymer. He looked poised to make his second quarter-final on this tour but three back-to-back losses took him out of the tournament.
Praggnanandhaa had his chances but will rue not converting them into wins.
Vidit, meanwhile, had a terrible outing. He lost nine rounds out of 11, which included seven losses in a row as he finished last.
Arjun started the day in the top half and stayed there throughout. With the reputation of a ‘mad man’ over the board who likes to disrupt the very nature of the game, he appeared to be the most suited Indian player for this variant.
Story continues below this ad
India’s Arjun Erigaisi in action during day 2 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour Paris leg. (Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess)
What’s working for Arjun is his daring approach – sometimes criticised for being too precarious – as the nature of freestyle chess allows him to stick to his style. With each new position in a new game, which practically nullifies the opening theory, Arjun can very well manoeuvre the game to create intriguing positions and positional imbalances, a game situation where he shines the most.
“I sometimes take extra risks and go out of my way to create interesting positions. In Freestyle, those interesting positions arise naturally, even without me taking deliberate risks. Perhaps that suits me,” Arjun had said ahead of the tournament.
Path less travelled
Whereas Praggnanandhaa earned the respect of his colleagues early in his career through repeated success in tournaments such as the Grand Chess Tour and the Champions Chess Tour, Gukesh’s steady rise and ability to step up in high-stakes Classical tournaments propelled him into the chess elite via a relatively straightforward route.
Usually chosen last. Sigh. It’s me vs @ArjunErigaisi tomorrow. See you all then!! https://t.co/7fcNpkbKyq
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) April 8, 2025
Arjun, meanwhile, had to take the road less taken. His continuous grind in Open events was getting him the rating, thrusting him upwards in the rankings, but invitations for super elite tournaments still remained out of his reach.
It was only when he breached the 2800 rating mark – becoming the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand and only the 16th player in history to do so – that compelled the chess world to take the Warangal Wunderkind seriously.
Story continues below this ad
However, after the Tata Steel Masters 2025 slump – Arjun’s first big invitational tournament – where he lost 24 hard-earned rating points in just two weeks, it seemed as if he was not cut out for elite-level chess.
But Arjun stayed motivated and kept grinding. He spent the majority of the Freestyle Fridays preparing for his first appearance. He ended up winning three consecutive Freestyle Fridays, making sure he was battle-ready.
Dynamic Play
It is also worth noting his ability to swiftly switch between different time formats. He won three back-to-back Freestyle Fridays, an online 11-round Swiss format tournament with a 3+1 (3 minutes plus 1-second increment per move) blitz time control. In the classifications round, he was given a 10+10 (10 minutes plus 10-second increment per move) rapid time control and in the knockout round, he will have to play in the classical time control of 90+30 (90 minutes plus 30-second increment per move).
Arjun is new to this variant and figuring out his way in the format which he believes is the future of chess. “I went into these tournaments (Freestyle Fridays) with absolutely no expectations because, apart from watching as a fan, I had little Freestyle experience so far,” he has said.
Story continues below this ad
“I just wanted to get some practice before the Paris Grand Slam. But I surprised myself by doing well in my first event in February, and that gave me more confidence and raised my expectations for the subsequent events. The absence of the opening phase helps me; my games enter directly into the middle game, where I seem to navigate a bit better than some of my opponents,” he added.
Arjun will face Hikaru Nakamura in the quarter-final.
