“Chess is exciting right now with lots of different kinds of tournaments. Events like the World Championship have always been Fide’s main event, then there’s the Grand Swiss and World Cup,” said the Indian world No.4. “The Freestyle Tour (Fischer Random format) seems very exciting with tournaments across continents and players like Magnus, Hikaru (Nakamura) and Fabiano (Caruana) participating. I’ll be part of some Tour events, for sure. I’ll be playing the Paris edition. Even if it’s (Fischer Random) not the immediate future, it’s surely the future of chess, maybe for the next generation,” Arjun told HT in an interview.
In Fischer Random, the starting positions of pieces on the back rank are randomised, minimising the role of opening theory.
“I don’t know too many details about the clashes (between Fide and Freestyle Chess) so I don’t have much to comment about it (World Championship title). But it’s definitely effective if there are no complications as such.”
Freestyle Chess (Fischer Random) Tour organisers and Fide have been feuding over the World Championship title. Freestyle Chess has aspirations of awarding a ‘world champion’ title to its Tour winner which Fide refused to relent to, calling the Championship their preserve.
Arjun will be a part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh in July. It will be the first time that chess will be part of the event. “The way I look at it is that it’s very unique to chess that it can fit in both as an eSport as well as an over-the-board sport. This is the first time it’s being played as an eSport so it definitely opens up new doors. I’m quite excited.”
A major focus for the 21-year-old Indian this year is qualifying for the Candidates. He missed out on the last one, but this time he’s hoping to have enough options to make it through. “There’s the Grand Swiss in September, so first I’ll try through that. I don’t want to focus on just one qualification route because then if I miss out, it can be mentally tough. If I maintain a higher rating and gain rating throughout this year then even if I miss out on getting in through tournaments, there’s still a big chance that I’ll make it through the rating.”
Being ranked in the top five has meant that unlike a few years ago, he is no longer hard pressed for invitations to tournaments. “Now it’s about not playing too many tournaments but rather playing selectively and at the same time spending the rest of your time on working on your game.” Arjun will be playing the Norway Chess tournament, which is part of the Fide circuit, in May.
The Indian had a tough start to the year in Wijk Aan Zee before staging a commendable fightback in the last two rounds and offering his buddy, R Praggnanandhaa, a helping hand with his career’s biggest title. Arjun defeated Gukesh (who was sharing the lead with Praggnanandhaa) in the final round, denying the reigning world champion an outright win, before Praggnanandhaa prevailed in the tiebreaks.
“During the final round against Gukesh, of course I wanted to do well for myself. But at the back of my mind I knew that if I did well it could also help Pragg win the title maybe,” says Arjun.
The friendship between the two players that developed around the time they were in the same team at the Global Chess League two years ago has only deepened despite them chasing the same goals.
“Actually, with most players whom I was close with at some point I used to get this feeling that they see me as a rival and at times set a boundary. But with Pragg, except when we are playing against each other, I always got this feeling that he sees me more as a friend than as a rival.
“During the World Cup (2023), we would go for walks. The day we played against each other and I won the first game I felt there was no way he was going to ask me to go on a walk. I didn’t want to ask because I thought maybe he wouldn’t want to go after losing a game. But he did ask me and we went for a walk as usual and that made me really happy. I have such a good friend now.”
