Telangana’s Arjun Erigaisi making the right moves
Hyderabad: Telangana chess player Arjun Erigaisi continued his dream run at the TATA Steel Chess India Tournament in Kolkata. Two days after winning the title in the rapid event, the 18-year-old from Warangal dished out impressive performances to clinch the second place in the blitz event. He was tied with World No 10 Levon Aronian […]
Hyderabad: Telangana chess player Arjun Erigaisi continued his dream run at the TATA Steel Chess India Tournament in Kolkata. Two days after winning the title in the rapid event, the 18-year-old from Warangal dished out impressive performances to clinch the second place in the blitz event. He was tied with World No 10 Levon Aronian at 11.5 points for the top position. However, the Armenian took the top place with a win in Armageddon.
Arjun, who was to return home after the rapid event, however, got lucky as Adhiban Baskaran withdrew from the blitz event with health issues. The organisers named Arjun as his replacement.
The TS teen had a dream run on the first day taking the sole lead with 6.5 points after nine rounds. However, he was a bit off-colour on the second day, with two losses. But he rallied to take the joint spot with Levon Aronian. Speaking from Kolkata, Arjun termed the titles as the biggest win of his career. “I am very grateful for being given the opportunity as I didn’t expect to play in the blitz. I am very happy with the result. I could have probably done better on the second day. I had a tough beginning to the day. But I had a good finish and it went down to the wire,” he said.
He also thanked his coaches Rama Raju, who trained him in Hyderabad. “I am very thankful to my family and coach Rama Raju who is here and helped me train hard. I also want to thank Srinath (Narayanan who trained him) who saw the potential in me. I want to reach greater heights,” he concluded. The result also propelled Arjun to 14 in the world rankings in blitz. Meanwhile, GM Dronavalli Harika finished 10th with four points.
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