Illustration of Arjun Erigaisi at the chessboard. This is not a real picture of him, and the board shown is not a position from a real game.
Let us start with a puzzle. Look at the position below. It is Black's move. White's king is tucked away on h1, and White has a bishop on f1, a rook on c1 and a rook on c2 crowded around it. Black has a pawn on f3, only two steps from f1, and a rook on g6, a rook on f8, a queen on d7 and a bishop on h5. One pawn move creates a threat that White cannot meet. Which pawn move? Keep it in mind: you will meet the answer in the game below.
7
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hBlack to move. White's king is on h1, with a bishop on f1 and rooks on c1 and c2 close by. Black has a pawn on f3, a rook on f8, a rook on g6, a queen on d7 and a bishop on h5. One pawn move creates a threat that White cannot meet. Which one?
The player with the black pieces was Arjun Erigaisi, a 21-year-old from India. The player with White was Bardiya Daneshvar, rated 2598 against Erigaisi's 2778. It was Round 8 of the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, in September 2024.
A Boy from Warangal
Arjun Erigaisi was born on 3 September 2003 in Warangal, in the state of Telangana in India. He began to learn chess at the BS Chess Academy in Hanamkonda, where his first coach was Bollam Sampath. He studied data science at university, and in December 2021 he left his studies to play chess full time.
Climbing to the Top
- In 2015 he won a silver medal at the Asian Youth Championship in Korea.
- In 2018 he became a grandmaster at 14 years and 11 months. He earned his last norm at the Abu Dhabi Masters in August of that year.
- In January 2022 he won the Challengers section at Tata Steel in Wijk aan Zee, and that earned him a place in the top section the next year.
- In September 2024 he played all 11 rounds of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. He won nine games, drew two and lost none, and he won the individual gold medal on board 3. India won its first open team gold at an Olympiad.
- In December 2024 his rating reached 2801. He was the second Indian ever to pass 2800, after Viswanathan Anand.
The Game: Bardiya Daneshvar vs. Arjun Erigaisi, Budapest 2024
Bardiya Daneshvar 0-1 Arjun Erigaisi Chess Olympiad, Budapest 2024 · Round 8 White: Bardiya Daneshvar · Black: Arjun Erigaisi
A quiet start
The game began with 1.Nf3, and White set up with a fianchetto, a bishop on g2 on the long diagonal. Black answered with pawns in the center, 5...d4 on move 5 and ...e5 on move 8.
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c5 4.O-O e6 5.c4 d4 6.d3 Nc6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Na3 e5 9.Nh4 dxe3 10.fxe3 Nf6 11.Nb5 Bg4 12.Qb3 Qd7 13.Nc3 Rd8 14.Nd5 Be7 15.Bd2 O-O 16.Rae1 Be6 17.e4 Nd4 18.Qc3 Nxd5 19.cxd5 Bg4
For the first 19 moves our own Stockfish 17.1 run, at depth 22, kept the game within about a third of a pawn of level. Then Daneshvar played 20.Be3, and our engine marks it as a slip of about one pawn. It would have played 20.Nf5. After 20.Be3 our engine had Black better by about one and a third pawns.
A pawn starts to walk
20.Be3 Bxh4 21.gxh4 f5 22.Bxd4 cxd4 23.Qc5 f4 24.Rf2 b6 25.Qb4 f3
72egPosition after 25...f3, with White to move. Black's pawn on f3 attacks White's bishop on g2 and the square e2. Black's pawns on d4 and e5 hold the center. White's king is on g1, with a rook on f2 and a bishop on g2 close by.
Black took the knight on h4 and pushed the f-pawn forward one step at a time, from f5 to f4 and then to f3. Our engine marks White's 23.Qc5 as another slip, of more than one pawn, and by move 25 it had Black better by about three pawns. The pawn on f3 attacked White's bishop on g2, so the bishop had to retreat.
26.Bf1 Bh5 27.Kh1 Rf6 28.h3 Rc8 29.Qd2 Rg6 30.Rc1 Rf8 31.Qb4 h6 32.Rfc2
White's king moved to h1, the bishop sat on f1 and the two rooks stood on the c-file. The position at the top of the page is the one after 32.Rfc2. Our engine had Black better by about four pawns.
The pawn reaches the second row
32...f2 33.Rc7 Rg1+ 34.Kh2 Rxf1
The answer to the puzzle is 32...f2, and it was our engine's first choice at depth 22. A pawn that reaches the second row, one step from queening, attacks the squares e1 and g1 and ties down the pieces around the king. Our engine rated it about four pawns better for Black, and the next best move was more than a pawn worse.
72cfghPosition after 33...Rg1+, with White to move. Black's rook gives check on g1, and White's king has exactly one legal move, to h2. Black's pawn on f2 is one step from queening.
After 33.Rc7 Black played 33...Rg1+. White had only one legal move, 34.Kh2, and then the rook took the bishop on f1.
72cfPosition after 34...Rxf1, with White to move. Black's pawn on f2 is one step from queening on f1, and Black's rook on f1 attacks White's rook on c1. White's king is on h2.
35.Rxd7 Rxc1 36.Rd6
White took the queen on d7 with the rook, but after 35...Rxc1 Black's pawn on f2 was about to become a new queen. Our engine finds a forced checkmate for Black after 35.Rxd7, and Daneshvar resigned after 36.Rd6.
What to Learn from This Game
- A pawn on the second row is a weapon. Black's pawn on f2 attacked e1 and g1 and kept all of White's pieces busy. A pawn one step from queening is worth more than its size.
- Push a pawn one step at a time. Black's f-pawn went to f5, f4, f3 and f2, and every step took away squares from White, and the last one took away e1 and g1.
- Use checks to steer the king. 33...Rg1+ left White with one legal move, and that decided where the king stood for the rest of the game.
- Crowded pieces get in each other's way. White's king, bishop and rooks stood close together on the first rows, and none of them could win the pawn.
- Do not let a pawn storm start for free. Moves like 20.Be3 and 23.Qc5 each cost White about a pawn in our engine's numbers, and then the f-pawn walked forward.
Five More Games to Study
Every engine number below comes from our own Stockfish 17.1 run at depth 20.
- Aleksandar Indjic vs. Arjun Erigaisi, Chess Olympiad, Budapest 2024, Round 4 (0-1). A fianchetto opening where our engine had Black better from about move 15, and Black won in 40 moves. Our engine marks White's 37.Rb2 and 38.Rb3, and after the second one Black was better by more than five pawns.
- Sanan Sjugirov vs. Arjun Erigaisi, Chess Olympiad, Budapest 2024, Round 6 (0-1). A Ruy Lopez, and Erigaisi's sixth win in a row. Our engine had the game level until about move 40, and then Black slowly took over. It marks White's 54.Kd3 and 56.Nf5, the second a big mistake.
- Jan Subelj vs. Arjun Erigaisi, Chess Olympiad, Budapest 2024, Round 11 (0-1). A Scandinavian Defence in the last round, and a game that ended in checkmate on move 49, with 49...e5#. Our engine marks White's 38.Rb7+ and 47.Rxg3, and after 47.Rxg3 it sees a forced mate.
- Arjun Erigaisi vs. Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee 2025, Round 12 (1-0). A Nimzo-Indian, and a win in 46 moves with a kingside pawn storm. Our engine marks Abdusattorov's 24...Qg5 and 36...Rf8, and Erigaisi's 32.Rxc6.
- D Gukesh vs. Arjun Erigaisi, Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee 2025, Round 13 (0-1). A Petroff Defence, and a win as Black in 31 moves. Our engine marks Gukesh's 27.Rd3, 29.f3 and 30.Rxa7, the last one a big mistake. You can try the position after 30.Rxa7 below.
A Position to Try
72gGukesh vs. Erigaisi, Tata Steel 2025, after 30.Rxa7. Black to move. White's king is on g1 and White's queen on g2 is close to it. Black has a queen on b5 and rooks on h8 and h6. Look at every check. What would you play?
Erigaisi played 30...Rh1+, and our engine's first choice at depth 22 is the same move. It rates Black better by more than ten pawns after it, and the next best move is more than four pawns worse. After 31.Kf2 R8h2 White was lost, and Gukesh resigned.
A Young Champion Still Learning
Arjun Erigaisi left university at 18 to play chess and passed a rating of 2800 at 21. In the game above he pushed one pawn from f5 to f2, one step at a time, and every step took away a square from White. When you have a pawn that can walk toward the first row, count what it attacks on every step.