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Arjun Erigaisi in action at the FIDE World Cup. (FIDE/Michal Walusza)
Arjun Erigaisi rebounded from his heartbreak at the FIDE World Cup by winning the Jerusalem Masters tournament with a victory over five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in the final. Anand had taken down two-time World Championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi in the semi-final while Arjun had defeated veteran Peter Svidler in the last four.
“It wasn’t easy. There were a lot of challenges. My quality wasn’t the best. I’m just glad I managed to make it through. Today, both the matches (versus Svidler and then Anand) were very tense,” Arjun told the organisers in an interview after winning the Jerusalem Masters title. “In the first game we both missed our chances. But in blitz, I think I played quite well.”
The victory is some consolation for Arjun, who had recently been defeated in the quarter-finals of the FIDE World Cup in Goa, which had meant that for the second time in a row, the youngster from Warangal would miss out on competing in the prestigious Candidates tournament, which has been Arjun’s ambition for the last two World Championship cycles.
Arjun was beaten by China’s Wei Yi in the quarter-finals at Goa, which was the Indian’s second loss in the quarter-final stage of a World Cup. In 2023, he had been defeated by good friend Praggnanandhaa.
Arjun and Anand had played out draws in the two rapid games, which then necessitated that the pair settle the matter over two blitz games. There, the 22-year-old won the first game before accepting a draw in the second. The title also means Arjun pockets a prize pool worth $55,000 (approximately Rs 50 lakh).
Anand, who is semi-retired, had handed a defeat to Nepo to indicate that he was still not that far from his heydays.
Both Anand and Arjun had qualified for the semi final after ending in the top four spots in a 12-man round robin event. While Svidler had topped the preliminary round-robin stage with an 8/11 performance, Anand and Arjun had scored 7.5/11 each to finish joint second along with Nepomniachtchi.
English (US) ·