by In the 16-player Knockout tournament in London, GM Arjun Erigaisi remained unbeaten and defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals. Arjun is now leading the FIDE Circuit after gaining 27.84 points in this tournament. With this, he has a very good chance to qualify for the next Candidates Tournament. He bagged the winner’s prize of 20,000 Euros.
With this, Arjun’s live Elo rating touched 2796, moving him closer to the coveted 2800 mark. He can cross that milestone at the European Cup starting from October 20. The 21-year-old defeated his friend R Praggnanandhaa in the semifinals of the knockout event before eventually getting past Vachier-Lagrave. Vachier-Lagrave fought hard against the third-ranked Indian in the world in the final, but ultimately lost in the Armageddon.
