Gukesh beats Arjun Erigaisi for Chennai Grand Masters title
Gukesh picked up three straight draws at the start of the tournament but regained momentum and came back to win against Grandmaster Alexandr Predke in the fourth round.
D Gukesh in action against P Harikrishna.
CHENNAI: The Candidates tournament qualification that seemed like a distant dream is now closer than ever as Grandmaster D Gukesh won the Chennai Grand Masters tournament 2023.
Gukesh hasn’t had the best of outings in the recent past. It was in September that he made headlines, surpassing the legendary Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player—a feat achieved for the first time in 37 years.
“I was trying very hard. I had a couple of bad events, and I was not in the right headspace. Things didn’t go my way, but I believe I’ve played well in the Chennai Masters tournament,” said Gukesh, speaking about the pressure he had regarding qualifying for the Candidates.
Gukesh picked up three straight draws at the start of the tournament but regained momentum and came back to win against Grandmaster Alexandr Predke in the fourth round. He continued that form in round five as well, defeating Sanan Sjugirov of Russia.
It was important that Gukesh picked up points in his final round, and that’s exactly what he did as he drew his match against Pentala Harikrishna. Therefore, both of them got half a point each. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi won his match against Sanan Sjuigirov.
“Two wins in a row, and I had the lead. I was playing it safe in the match on Thursday because if I could get a draw, I’d share the first position, and that’s enough to get the lead in the circuit,” said Gukesh on the draw against Harikrishna.
Erigaisi, who at the start of the tournament was one of the competitors alongside Gukesh to qualify for the Candidates, lost a match in round one that made his chances of qualifying more bleak. His win on Thursday put both Gukesh and Erigaisi on level terms on top of the table with 4.5/7. Gukesh won the tournament in the tie-break. Chennai Grand Masters win puts Gukesh in the lead in the FIDE circuit and enhances his qualification chances for the Candidates tournament.
Candidates berth played on my mind: Erigaisi
World Number 23 Arjun Erigaisi, who came into the tournament as a clear favourite, didn’t have the best of starts as he lost his first match against Grandmaster Levon Aronian. Erigaisi finished the tournament as its runner-up behind title winner D Gukesh.
“It was great playing here in Chennai; the tournament happened at the last minute, but everything was well-organized. I’m happy with the way it took place,” said Erigaisi, discussing if the last-minute announcement of the tournament didn’t give him adequate time to prepare.
