Arjun Erigaisi Earns Rs 43 Lakh For 5th-Place Finish At Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi made a fifth-place finish at the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour on Monday. He was rewarded handsomely for his performance with a pay cheque of $50,000 (approximately Rs 43 lakh). Arjun beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the fifth-place playoff after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the previous classification game.

The 21-year-old, however, lost to Hikaru Nakamura in the quarter-finals. Magnus Carlsen, who topped the tournament, took home $200,000 (approximately Rs 1.7 crore).



Among the four Indian players who competed in Paris, Arjun was the best performer in the 12-player field. The other Indian players were Chess Olympiad gold medalist R Praggnanandhaa, who finished at the 9th spot, world champion D Gukesh, and Vidit Gujrathi. Both Gukesh and Gujrathi shared the last spot in the event.

After finishing the tournament with a hefty paycheque, Arjun told Chessbase, "This is one of the most fun tournaments I have had in the last few years." Asked to explain, he said: “No pressure. It was very easy to play.

” However, the Indian grandmaster was unhappy about missing the chance to play for the top spot. “It was disappointing to not be able to play for first spot, but it’s practice for other freestyle tournaments. So I wouldn’t call it frustrating,” Arjun told the official broadcaster of the event after beating his French opponent.

“Losing to Hikaru was disappointing because I got a better position out of the opening in both games. After losing the first game to Nepo, I was not so optimistic,” he added. Arjun will now head to Grenke, Germany, to compete in another freestyle event starting Friday.

This will be an open tournament where players will play two classical games per day. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Chess, Sports and around the world..