Chennai Grand Masters 2025: ‘Stress-free’ Erigaisi eyes glory after consecutive near-misses

Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi will be the centre of attention as the third edition of the Chennai Grand Masters gets underway here on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Erigaisi, who is ranked sixth in the world, will be the highest-rated player at India’s strongest classical chess event of the year.

The 10-man tournament will run from August 6 to 15 in a single round-robin format. Players will start with 90 minutes on the clock, with a 30-second increment per move from the first one.

In addition to bagging valuable FIDE points, Erigaisi will also look to make amends for narrowly missing out on glory in the last two editions.

In 2023, Erigaisi was pipped to the title by D. Gukesh by a tie-breaker after the two ended level on points.

In last year’s edition, Erigiasi was part of a three-way tie for the top spot, before stumbling in the tiebreak, as compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram claimed the title, after beating American GM Levon Aronian.

With the FIDE Circuit and Ratings route for Candidates 2026 almost shut for him, Erigaisi feels he will be able to play unburdened this time out.

“In a way, it’s less stressful for me because the last two years, if I had won this tournament, it almost meant I would have qualified for the Candidates. This time, it would be a tournament win, but it has nothing more attached to it. I’ll just play freely and enjoy,” said Erigaisi on the eve of the tournament.

Erigaisi heads to Chennai Grand Masters 2025 on the back of a rich vein of form, which has seen him finish in the top four at the Los Angeles Freestyle Grand Slam and the Esports World Cup over the last month.

The Warangal-born chess star, though, will have to deal with yet another format switch as he looks to adapt to the patience-driven classical format after dealing in freestyle and rapid chess in recent tournaments.

Alongside Erigaisi, the top contenders in Chennai will be the Netherlands’ Anish Giri and Germany’s Vincent Keymer, who are the second and third highest-rated players, respectively, in the field.

Among other Indian challengers will be Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin, while Pranav V will look to swim with the big fishes, following his win in the Challengers event in 2024.

The Challengers segment will continue to be an all-Indian affair, with Abhimanyu Puranik being the highest-rated player of the field. Also in action will be top Indian women chess players, D. Harika and R. Vaishali, who will look to earn crucial FIDE points for the Women’s Candidates, set to take place early next year.