Kolkata comes alive as Anand and Arjun deliver a classic at Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz

Viswanathan Anand takes on Arjun Erigaisi at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament in Kolkata. (Photo: Lennart Ootes)

Kolkata has always been a sports-loving city. The people here support every sport equally, and that includes chess. Since its inception in 2018, the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament has been a point of pride for the city, with hundreds of enthusiasts turning up each year regardless of the playing field. This year, however, has seen a dip in enthusiasm compared to the previous edition. The absence of a major draw, the world’s most famous chess player, Magnus Carlsen, whose 2024 visit generated immense buzz in the City of Joy, alongside the non-participation of D Gukesh, made the atmosphere noticeably quieter.

But Thursday was different. The Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium was almost full, and the energy was visibly higher. It was the day Arjun Erigaisi was set to lock horns with Viswanathan Anand. The matchup between Anand and Arjun — the only two players to finish on the podium at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship — was tipped to be the game of the tournament. And when the game’s “mad man” faces off against the “lightning kid” and the veteran of Indian chess, chaos is almost a given.

In a Ruy Lopez opening, Anand began with the standard central pawn push 1.e4 e5 before developing a knight and bishop to castle kingside. It was Arjun, playing Black, who unveiled an extraordinary line of preparation, allowing him to maintain a surplus of time on his clock as he was ahead of his starting time for a remarkable 18 moves. It wasn’t until a deliberation over an en passant opportunity on move 19 that Arjun gave serious thought before finally making his move.

While transitioning from middle to endgame, a seemingly careless rook-takes-b3 pawn by Arjun allowed Anand to trade off one pair of rooks and then capture Black’s other rook for his own passive knight, securing a huge material advantage. This is where the position was as good as a loss for Arjun.

Yet, he recalled falling into a similarly dire situation against Anand at the Jerusalem Masters just weeks earlier. “It was definitely not a good game, and missing rook-takes-d1 was ridiculous on my part,” Arjun said afterwards. “I knew I was dead lost later on. But in Jerusalem, I had a similarly lost position against him and managed to draw, so I remained slightly optimistic I could save this one.”

Not only did his optimism help him save the game, but he also found swindling chances when Anand allowed him to promote a pawn to a queen. Anand had missed that, with promotion, Arjun could regain a rook by delivering a check with his queen. And so, just as in Jerusalem, the apprentice managed to outwit the master.

Despite the loss, the 56-year-old Anand ended the day tied for the lead with Nihal Sarin, having delivered two brilliant wins over Hans Niemann and Volodar Murzin. In awe of Anand’s enduring calibre, Arjun expressed his doubts about anyone matching such longevity.

“It’s really impressive to see him playing at this level at his age,” Arjun said. “I’m not sure how many of us will be able to do the same in the future. But it’s always a privilege to get to play so many games against him.”

As for Arjun, the second day revived his campaign after a dreadful start to the event, where he began with losses to Vidit Gujrathi and R. Praggnanandhaa. He was also completely lost against Nihal Sarin in the third round before his opponent imploded in the endgame. Luck favoured him on Thursday as well, as a miraculous swindle against Anand and a win over an overambitious Wei Yi, who paid the price for his aggression, gave him two victories.

When asked what changed after the first two losses, Arjun, still critical of his play, said, “To be honest, nothing changed. I was still playing very badly. I was lost in the first game today (against Anand), and in the second game too, he (Wei Yi) overpushed and I won. I don’t think I played particularly well.”

Ironically, he considers his best game of the event to be the one he failed to convert against Aravindh Chithambaram. “Maybe against Aravindh was the only game I played well,” he admitted, “but I didn’t win that one.”