# Arjun Erigaisi

Arjun Erigaisi (born 3 September 2003) is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 13 days. In September 2024 he became India's top rated player, and in December 2024 he achieved his peak rating of 2801 which makes him the fifteenth-highest rated player in history and second Indian ever to cross the 2800 threshold after Viswanathan Anand. He is sometimes referred as the 'Mad man' of the board.

## Early life and background

He was born into a Telugu family in Warangal, Telangana. His father is a neurosurgeon and his mother is a housewife. He studied chess at the BS Chess Academy in Hanamkonda.
He was studying data science until December 2021, before deciding to drop out of college during the first year to focus on his chess career.

## Career
### 2015–2018

In 2015, Arjun won a silver medal in the 2015 Asian Youth Championship in Korea.

### 2021

2021 was a strong year for Arjun Erigaisi, as he became the first Indian to qualify to the Goldmoney Asian Rapid of the Champions Chess Tour 2021 ahead of Alireza Firouzja, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler and Vidit Gujrathi, only losing to Levon Aronian in tie breaks in a hard-fought match.
In October 2021, Arjun placed 2nd at the Junior U21 Round Table Open Chess Championship (Classical) held in Bulgaria. He scored 7/9, along with Alexey Sarana.
In November 2021, Arjun placed 3rd/82 in the Lindores Abbey Blitz Tournament at Riga ahead of players such as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian, David Navara, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler and many others. Later that month, Arjun won the Rapid section of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament (Rapid and Blitz). He scored 6.5/9, ahead of Vidit Gujrathi, Levon Aronian, Sam Shankland and Lê Quang Liêm. He clinched the win by holding Levon Aronian to a draw in a losing position.

### 2022

In January 2022, Arjun won the Tata Steel Chess 2022 Challengers, qualifying him to play in the masters section in the next Tata Steel Chess tournament. His final score was 10.5/13 and his TPR in the tournament was 2804, taking his rating to 2660, thereby breaking into the top 100.
In March 2022, he was crowned the Indian National Champion by winning the 58th MPL National Championship of India 2022 with a score of 8.5/11. Furthermore, in March Arjun won the 19th Delhi Open- edging out Gukesh D and Harsha Bharathakoti on tie-break after all scored 8.5/10.
In August 2022, Arjun won the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival with 7.5/9 and a performance rating of 2893.
In December 2022, Arjun won Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Blitz with 12.5/18, which was his third victory in Tata Steel events to date.

### 2024

In April 2024, Arjun won Menorca Open A on superior tie-break score after he tied with 2 others with a score of 7.5/9.
In June 2024, Arjun won the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 with a round to spare.
In September 2024, Arjun took part in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest as part of the Indian team. He was the only player in the Open section to score six straight wins in the first six rounds. He finished the event with 10 points in 11 rounds. His performance rating of 2968 earned him an individual gold medal on board three, and helped India to win their first ever team gold medal at the olympiad.
In October 2024, Arjun won the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup in London by defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in an armageddon tiebreak in the final.
In December 2024, Arjun crossed 2800 on the FIDE Ratings list, making him the 16th player ever in history to cross the mark.

### 2025

Between February 28 to March 14, Arjun managed to win all of the three Freestyle Friday events held. He is the first Indian to win the event and the only player to win it three consecutive times.

## Awards and recognition
### Others

* Sportstar Emerging Hero Award: 2023
* TOISA Chess Player of the Year: 2021