NEW DELHI: Arjun Erigaisi (rated 2759) is India’s second-ranked chess player at the moment. On Wednesday, with R Praggnanandhaa, India’s current No. 1, rested, the 23-year-old Telangana grandmaster took Board 1 for India at the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.India’s opposition was Thailand, whose top board was occupied by 2363-rated International Master Prin Laohawirapap, the Thai No. 1. With a rating gap of almost 400 Elo points, and Arjun holding the white pieces, the result looked a formality.Instead, it became one of the biggest Round 1 upsets in Olympiad history. Chess.com even made the Thai IM’s win over Arjun its Game of the Day, with only Iraqi CM Ali Ehsan Aryan’s draw against Levon Aronian coming close as an upset against a 2700-rated grandmaster.
How Arjun lost the plot
“The Indian grandmaster playing white started the game with the Colle system, which is not necessarily one of the sharpest systems. He got a slight advantage from the position,” veteran Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com while analysing the game.The first real opening came on move 18.“The Thai player made a serious error of judgement by playing Rook e8. Instead of the 18th move, black taking on f5, e into f5, would have led to equality. But after Rook e8, Arjun was in a very powerful position,” he assessed.At that stage, Thipsay noted, the win looked routine as Arjun was gaining considerable time advantage on the clock as well. However, it was move 28 that changed things.“Instead of launching a pawn roller with h4 on the 28th move, Arjun chose to trade the black knight which had come to his territory, and Bxd3 turned out to be a mistake which led to an equal position,” the grandmaster told this website.Thailand’s Prin then returned the favour.“On the 31st move, now it was the Thailand player who made a serious mistake,” Thipsay said. “He could have probably equalised. There is no direct kingside attack coming. The move chosen by the Thailand player was really very dangerous. It weakened his kingside, and Arjun was in a completely winning position thereafter.”What followed was a masterclass in resourcefulness from the lower-rated player.“The Thai player really played resourcefully and was successful in complicating the game. The Thai player offered a rook, an exchange as we call it, rook for knight, on move 46-47,” he explained.“By taking the rook, knight into e4 on move 47, Arjun could have won the game. Though his king was very exposed, and it might have led to a perpetual check or something else. But yes, white had a decisive advantage with accurate play had he taken the rook with knight into e4. Instead, he played knight f3, not taking the rook, which led to a drawish position.”Even then, the half point was there. It was ambition that cost him.“In the drawish position, again at move 50, Arjun played the ambitious move Qg7, trying to checkmate the opponent, which allowed a very basic checkmate to black. By playing the 50th move Qf4, Arjun could have defended himself and the game would have ended in a draw. But after the move played, Qg7, he got checkmated very fast,” Thipsay added.“Quite an unexpected result considering the difference of around 400 rating points, a great setback for Arjun.”
India earn convincing wins in both categories
Arjun Erigaisi’s defeat, however, did not affect India’s overall team score. Gukesh, Nihal Sarin, and Vidit Gujrathi all defeated their opponents, helping India seal a 3–1 team victory.The Indian women’s team, with Divya Deshmukh rested, produced an even more dominant performance, defeating the Dominican Republic 4–0.India was among nine of the top 10 seeds to record clean sweeps on the opening day of the Women’s Olympiad. Germany was the only team among the top 10 seeds to drop a game, narrowly defeating Malta 3–1.India, defending champions in both sections, play Indonesia in the Open on Thursday, while the women’s team takes on Finland.
