4 min readChennaiJul 18, 2026 09:39 PM IST
First published on: Jul 18, 2026 at 09:39 PM IST
Arjun Erigaisi did not want to pick a side. The question was simple enough. Who would win the FIFA World Cup on Sunday. Erigaisi doesn’t follow football. So his answer was simple: neither.
That was the only time Erigaisi was indecisive on Saturday. In the game before that Chess.com broadcast interview, Erigaisi beat Hans Niemann with white pieces to leap into second spot in the standings, just half a point behind tournament leader Alireza Firouzja, who was held to a draw by Nihal Sarin.
After two games, against Dmitry Andreikin in round 1 and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the second round, where he held an edge but could not convert it into victory, Erigaisi took down Niemann in a 43-move masterclass. It was the first win for any of the four-man Indian contingent in the eight-player tournament. The day saw world champion Gukesh being held to a draw by Andreikin while Pranesh did well to hold off Abdusattorov to a draw.
“Yesterday I was in such a winning position, and not winning was a disappointment for sure,” Erigaisi told Chess.com in the interview after the game.
While Erigaisi was putting the finishing touches on his opponent from America, Abdusattorov, the man who had escaped his attack a day earlier, was talking about what had transpired on the board in round 2.
“Arjun came with a very ambitious opening choice. He played some very creative ideas in the opening and quickly got into a good position. But then, I managed to stay in the game,” said Abdusattorov.
The Uzbek went on to explain that because the tournament is a single round robin event with just seven rounds, it leads to players taking more risks and playing aggressively. The tournament, he added, was lent an extra edge by Firouzja taking an early lead with two wins in his first two round games.
“In such short tournaments, you have to take more risks because at some point you have to score a point to like to compete for first place. I think it’s a high-risk-high-reward situation,” Abdusattorov said.
High-risk, high-reward is what Erigaisi eats for breakfast.
Against Niemann in round 3, Erigaisi started with the Reti Opening which meant casting out an unprotected pawn in the centre of the board on the c4 square. That position turned into a Catalan which the Indian wasn’t expecting but navigated expertly to his advantage. By the 23rd move, he had an additional pawn on the board.
“I thought I got a much better position after the 25th move (bishop d5). To an extent the position felt a bit scary but I think I was always winning,” said Erigaisi.
By move 26, he held the edge both on the board, as per the eval bar, and on the clock, where he had slightly more time than his opponent’s 15 minutes. While he had not been able to convert his early gains in the previous two rounds, today, his pieces were moving in for the kill. By move 27, Niemann had to give up his queen.
On the 32nd move, after another mistake from Niemann, the American was down two pawns and fighting a losing battle.
Despite his king being out for a stroll in the middle of the board for large parts of the game, Erigaisi was never under pressure while errors piled up for his opponent. Eventually, Niemann resigned.
Erigaisi was once dubbed the mad man of chess by former world champion Magnus Carlsen, who had gone on to explain: “He wants to kill you in every single game. Has crazy preparation and plays extremely ambitiously and that’s what makes him very dangerous.”
That ambitious play which has become his calling card in games shows up unfailingly and puts creases on the brows of his opponents. Now, for his finishing skills to catch up.
Round 3 results Arjun Erigaisi (2) bt Hans Niemann (1) M Pranesh (1) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (1.5) D Gukesh (1) drew with Dmitry Andreikin (1.5) Nihal Sarin (1.5) drew with Alireza Firouzja (2.5)
Arjun Erigaisi during his Round 3 meeting with Hans Niemann at the Chennai Grand Masters. (Credit: Chennai Grand Masters) 
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