The 2025 chess season will be remembered as a defining chapter in Arjun Erigaisi’s career.
It was a year of sustained excellence, historic milestones, and agonizing near-misses that underlined both how close he is to the absolute summit of world chess and how unforgiving the elite ecosystem can be. While the season ended in Doha with a sense of what might have been, the broader picture is unmistakable: Erigaisi finished 2025 as India’s number one player across Classical, Rapid, and Blitz, an achievement unmatched in the country’s golden generation of young grandmasters .
Double Podium in Doha
The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Doha served as the climax of Erigaisi’s year. In the Rapid Championship, he navigated a highly competitive 13-round Swiss to finish on 9.5 points, securing the bronze medal on tie-breaks behind Magnus Carlsen and Vladislav Artemiev. The result ended an eight-year wait for an Indian presence on the World Rapid podium and marked Erigaisi as only the second Indian male, after Viswanathan Anand, to achieve the feat.
In the Blitz Championship, his performance was even more striking. Erigaisi topped the Swiss phase with 15/19, finishing a full point clear of Fabiano Caruana. However, the knockout stage once again demonstrated the brutal nature of elite chess formats. A semifinal loss to Nodirbek Abdusattorov meant another bronze medal—an outstanding result, but one that felt bittersweet given how dominant his Swiss performance had been.
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Beyond Doha, the most significant takeaway from 2025 was Erigaisi’s consolidation as India’s top-ranked player in all formats. In a country that now boasts the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh and FIDE Circuit winner R Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi’s consistency stands out. By year’s end, he was ranked World No. 5 in Classical and Blitz, and World No. 3 in Rapid, underscoring his versatility across time controls.
This “triple crown” is more than symbolic. It reflects a player capable of adjusting style, risk appetite, and preparation depending on format an essential trait in modern elite chess. Few players globally can claim such balance, particularly in a year as congested and competitive as 2025.
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Yet, for all his success, Erigaisi ends 2025 without a place in the 2026 Candidates Tournament a striking anomaly. He remains the only player in history to have crossed the 2800 rating mark without qualifying for Candidates. That statistic alone captures the paradox of his season.
Erigaisi missed qualification through multiple pathways, each by the narrowest of margins. He finished second in the FIDE Circuit race, fell just short in the Grand Swiss, and exited the World Cup at the quarterfinal stage when a semifinal finish would have been enough. None of these were failures in isolation; together, they paint a picture of a player operating at the very edge of qualification thresholds, where half-points and single games decide careers.
A recurring theme in Erigaisi’s 2025 was his heavy reliance on open tournaments and team leagues. Lacking regular invitations to closed super-tournaments dominated by the 2750+ elite, he played a high-volume schedule to maintain momentum. While this approach helped him reach and sustain a top-five ranking, it also came with risks. In open events, draws against lower-rated opponents often cost rating points, forcing Erigaisi to walk a fine line between ambition and caution.
Interestingly, his performance ratings suggest that he thrives against elite opposition. In closed or invitational formats, his tournament performance rating has consistently been higher than in opens—an indicator that he belongs at the very top table when given the opportunity.
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Erigaisi’s playing style remains one of the most distinctive among the world elite. Aggressive, unpredictable, and deeply prepared, he has been described by Magnus Carlsen as “a madman at the board” a compliment in elite chess circles. His victories over Carlsen and Gukesh in 2025 showcased his willingness to challenge convention, both in opening preparation and middlegame risk-taking.
This fearlessness has made him particularly dangerous in faster formats, where intuition and courage often trump deep theoretical memory.
As 2026 approaches, Erigaisi’s trajectory remains firmly upward. He enters the new year as a mainstay in elite tournaments and the first reserve for the Candidates, leaving the door ajar should any qualified player withdraw. More importantly, his expected participation in closed events early in 2026 will provide the exposure he has long deserved against the 2750+ elite.
Arjun Erigaisi’s 2025 was not a story of failure, but of proximity. Two world bronzes, India’s No. 1 status across formats, and sustained top-five rankings confirm his place among the world’s best.
The final step turning consistency into a Candidates berth now feels less like a question of ability and more one of opportunity and timing.
