GM Arjun Erigaisi wins Stepan Avagyan Memorial title

Arjun Erigaisi, 20, defeated Russian GM Volodar Murzin to regain the fourth spot in the live rating.

Indian Grand Master Arjun Erigaisi got the better of Russian GM Volodar Murzin in 63 moves to clinch the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 title in Jermuk, Armenia with a round to spare. The 20-year-old, India’s top-rated chess player collected six points with four wins and as many draws.

He now has an unassailable lead of 1.5 points over three players tied for second spot in the 10-player field. Arjun accounted for 9 ELO points, taking his live rating points to 2779.9 and thereby climbing to fourth spot, behind five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway, USA’s Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana.

In the final round of the tournament, the Indian will take on Petrosyan and will be aiming to score a win and close the gap over the third-placed Caruana (2795.6 ELO points) in the live ratings. Meanwhile, the 2022 National champion was part of the team that won silver medal at the Asian Games 2023 in the men’s team category.

“This has been a fantastic tournament for me as I have been able to make the most of my opportunities. These tournaments are never easy as the level of competition is very high but I am happy with the way I played and clinched my second title of the year,” said Arjun.

The Warangal lad has been in fine form in the last couple of months, securing second spot in the TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament and had finished a joint-fifth in the Sharjah Masters Open Tournament. He also won the Menorca Open Crown in April by getting the better of GMs Maksim Chigaev and Kiril Alekseenko.

World Top 10 FIDE Live Rating List

1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) – 2831.8
2. Hikaru Nakamura (USA)- 2801.6
3. Fabiano Caruana (USA)- 2795.6
4. Arjun Erigaisi (IND)- 2779.9
5. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)- 2770.0
6. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB)- 2768.5
7. D. Gukesh (IND)- 2763.0
8. R. Praggnanandhaa (IND)- 2757.4
9. Wesley So (USA)- 2757.0
10. Wei Yi (CHN)- 2755.0

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