Arjun Erigaisi Defeats Anand Again, Sits Second After Day 1 of Tata Steel Chess India Blitz
Arjun Erigaisi continued his impressive run at Tata Steel Chess India , defeating Viswanathan Anand for the second time this week to finish the opening day of the Blitz section in second place, just half a point behind leader Wesley So . India’s top-ranked player made a flying start to the blitz event, rattling off five straight victories to surge to the top of the standings early on. After nine rounds, the Hyderabad-based grandmaster stood on 6.5 points , narrowly trailing So, who led the field with 7/9 . Arjun had earlier beaten the five-time world champion in the Rapid section and repeated the feat in blitz on Saturday. Their encounter seemed destined for a draw until a late slip from Anand allowed Arjun to take control and force a resignation. Strong Start, Tough Finish Arjun’s opening run included wins against Volodar Murzin , Wei Yi , and reigning rapid champion Nihal Sarin , followed by victories over Anand in Round 4 and Aravindh Chithambaram in Round 5. His momentum wa...