Chess: Arjun Erigaisi rises up the ladder with a new fitness regimen and different mentality

Arjun Erigaisi is quick to dismiss any word of congratulations for his latest achievement. Last week, the 20-year-old from Warangal, Telangana rose to the world No 4 spot on the FIDE live ratings, making him the highest ranked Indian currently.

Yet, he is not concerned about it.

“It is a good feeling, but I have stopped caring about the results that much,” he said to Scroll. “I’m trying to focus more on the process.”

This is an approach Erigaisi has been following since January, and one that came as a result of a heartbreak as he failed to make the cut for the FIDE Candidates event that took place in April. He explained that he put undue pressure on himself during events that could earn him qualification to the prestigious tournament – that was eventually won by compatriot Gukesh Dommaraju.

“In critical moments [during the qualification events], I was fumbling,” said Erigaisi. “I realised it’s best to care less about chasing those kinds of targets.”

Also read: Gukesh Dommaraju – inexperienced, expected to fail, but the chosen Candidate

The changed mindset though was not something that came overnight. In fact, Erigaisi took 20 days off from the game. Instead, the Grandmaster, with a current rating of 2770.9 (trailing only Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana) kept himself...

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