CHENNAI: At the media centre inside the cavernous Anna Centenary Library, the teething issues on the opening day of the 2nd edition of the Chennai Grand Masters were visible. With no live broadcast available, the scribes had to depend on a deferred feed, like the rest of the world.
So it was a surprise when Vidit Gujrathi was visibly peeved with himself when he left the facility via the media room, the urgency in his walk having the air of somebody in a hurry to finish their 10000 steps a day quota with a deadline fast approaching. Even as the deferred relay showed a drawn endgame, Gujrathi, part of the Indian team to have won gold at the Olympiad in Hungary, had lost.
His conqueror? The trail-blazing Arjun Erigaisi, India No. 1, World No. 3 and, as on Tuesday night, back in the 2800-rated club thanks to the win on opening night. One more win could propel the 21-year-old past Fabiano Caruana's 2805 (Erigaisi's current rating is 2803.2) -- if it does happen, the Indian ace will become No. 2 in the world, albeit on live ratings (ratings are published once every month). Ironically, Erigaisi would have obsessed over this fact in 2023. This year, if and when it happens, he will merely nod at it and continue.
When he was asked his thoughts about getting back into the 2800-rated club, he was merely relieved to have 'survived the game' against his senior compatriot. He didn't just survive, he showed why he's the outright favourite to win the event. During the middle game, the eval bar was favouring Gujrathi. But Erigaisi slowly but surely reeled him in over a succession of moves.
But Gujrathi, 30, kept pushing, trying to recover a winning position from a drawn one. In the process, he blundered. The man at the other end of the table swooped down like an apex predator. "He must have been winning somewhere for sure and I didn't see a win (for myself)," Erigaisi said. "In the end, it was almost a draw. He blundered with king e.5 and I also hadn't seen king g.6 earlier. But luckily I saw it there and I took my chance."
After Erigaisi played g.6 in the 87th move with black pieces, he knew he was in the ascendancy. "I at least had a draw and now I was the one playing for the win," he said. "When I played h3, I calculated everything till the win. I was sure then (about the win)."
It's the latest in a catalogue of matches where the young Indian has managed to flip the switch from where he has managed to converting drawn or lost positions to wins. He ascribes some of it to what Srinath Narayanan, his then coach, had told him 'back in the day'. "Actually, my style used to be technical," he said. "This was back in the day. But one of my coaches said I should improve on this aspect (dynamism). I worked on it and I improved. From being a weakness, it became a strength of mine.
"... this entire year has been great."
On Wednesday, he faces another stiff test when he faces US' Levon Aronian. If he manages to get the better of Aronian, he will become World No. 2. Don't bet against Erigaisi.
Day 1 results
Masters: Aravindh Chithambaram drew with Amin Tabatabaei, Maxime Vachier-Legrave bt Parham Maghsoodloo, Arjun Erigaisi bt Vidit Gujrathi, Levon Aronian drew with Alexey Sarana.
Challengers: Leon Mendonca bt R Vaishali, Raunak Sadhwani bt Karthikeyan, Abhimanyu Puranik bt M Pranesh, V Pranav bt D Harika.
