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Tata Steel Chess India — a springboard for the country’s burgeoning young talent
The focus of the chess world is very much at the moment on a small island in Singapore. Sentosa is hosting the World championship match between Ding Liren and D. Gukesh, and it is proving to be closer than most people had anticipated.
But that has not been just the only talking point in chess now. Arjun Erigaisi becoming only the 15th player in history to reach the magical barrier of 2800 Elo points is also big news indeed.
That milestone is like something making 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Only 14 men have been able to do it, so far. Though Steve Smith needs only 296 runs more to become the 15th. So you get the point – when he does, there will only be 15, in the elite clubs of chess and cricket.
Classical chess is like Test cricket. It is the hardest and most respected format. Rapid and blitz chess are like ODI and T20 cricket. It was by winning the rapid and blitz titles at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament back in 2021 that Arjun caught the attention outside chess circles. Unless you followed chess closely, he wasn’t as familiar a name as R. Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin or Gukesh. So Arjun winning the rapid title and then tying for the top spot in the blitz event made people take note.
Viswanathan Anand even called Arjun a discovery. Over the years, the Tata Steel Chess India has provided a breakthrough not just to Arjun, but some other young Indian talents.
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Gukesh vs Ding live updates: Gukesh gains crucial leads over Ding Liren 6-5 in FIDE World Chess Championship
