Chennai Grandmasters | For Arjun, a fresh outlook and approach

Arjun Erigaisi prepares for Chennai Grandmasters, aiming for Candidates 2026, focusing on present performance and mindset shift.

In December last year, Arjun Erigaisi entered the Chennai Grandmasters classical chess tournament with a chance of making it to the Candidates through the FIDE Circuit leaderboard.

Now, with the second edition of the Chennai Grandmasters set to begin on Tuesday, Arjun says he enters the event in “a similar situation.” Even though he currently tops the FIDE Circuit leaderboard, he says he doesn’t take things for granted.

“If you see purely on the circuit, it’s a similar situation. There are other factors as well, most importantly the others who are playing.

“The last time it happened in December, there were not many tournaments after that. Now there are other tournaments too after this. But for me, it’s quite the same — I should give my best, try to win and hope for the best.

“If I have a good performance here, at least it will increase my chances (for Candidates 2026). So, it’s definitely an important tournament for me,” Arjun said here on Monday.

He revealed that he has had a remarkable change in mindset this time, focusing on the moment and trying to give it his best shot. “I won’t really bother about the other things. If it happens, it happens. The main thing was that my happiness and my mood were dependent on the results last time. That’s no longer the case,” he said.

Last month, Arjun crossed the 2800-mark and was ranked third in the world in live ratings, but fell just short of 2800 (2799) and slipped to fourth in the November FIDE rankings.