From pressure to progress: How Arjun Erigaisi found success through detachment

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has revealed that he once felt bogged down by the weight of his own expectations, a phase that led to several lows, but by detaching himself from the outcome of his matches, he has finally discovered the path to success.

Erigaisi is enjoying a stellar year. Not only did he a play a vital role in the Indian men's team's historic gold at the recently-concluded Olympiad, he also won nine of his 11 games to secure an individual gold on the third board. His performance has elevated him to a career-best wold number three in live FIDE rankings.

However, things didn't seem so rosy a year ago, as Erigaisi found himself caught in a rut.

"I would say back in 2021, I was clearly underrated (in ratings). I was about 2500 something (rating). But my strength was clearly about 2600. So, it was all smooth sailing until a point," he told PTI in an interview.

"And then in 2023, I was about 2700. And that period was tough. I was having ups and downs. And some of the downs were really harsh like missing out on the Candidates. So 2023 was really tough," he said.

"One conscious decision I made after that was to detach myself from the results. Because I was ending up putting too much pressure on myself by desperately wanting to achieve something. I think detaching from the results really helped me," he added.

By liberating himself from the suffocating pressure of achieving specific results, he discovered a newfound mental clarity and resilience. But how did he do it? "It's like giving my best in my efforts and accepting whatever comes out of it. And if you give your best, you most likely tend to get the best possible outcome. It wasn't easy obviously," he said.

The 21-year-old from Warangal, Telangana, who missed qualifying for the prestigious Candidates tournament last time, is eager to maintain his winning momentum, with the long-term ambition of ultimately becoming a world champion.

"My long term goal is to become world champion. And short term goal, I mean, it's just taking one tournament at a time. So whichever tournament that I play, I want to do well in that." With Indian youngsters shining on the global stage, the nation is celebrating them as the golden generation of chess players and Erigaisi believes that the camaraderie between him, D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, fuels their collective success and elevates their game.

"We can certainly call this the golden generation of India. Like 2003 born to 2006, let's say. And I'm the oldest one in there. We all know each other for a pretty long time and have a healthy rivalry.

"So it's like when someone does well, the others also get motivated and want to do well. And that just makes each and every one of us stronger, which is just good for the Indian chess." A fan of team events, Erigaisi is excited about the upcoming Global Chess League, which he calls the " IPL of chess".

"I like that it's a team event. I enjoy team events And also I like that it's rapid format. And I think it's like the IPL of chess.

"So it can be huge, especially right after the Olympics when there's all the momentum in terms of chess attention." The League has an innovative format which is to give four points for a win while playing with black and three points while playing with white pieces.

"One of the things in GCL is that you all play as white and the scoring system for black is higher than for white. So basically if someone with white loses, at least two of the teammates will have to win to compensate for that," he explained.

"That makes it all the more exciting. So, the possibility of the team ending in a draw is only 6 out of 6 draws, which is quite unlikely. I quite liked it." Erigaisi, who was in the same team as world number one Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen in the previous GCL, is looking forward to spending time with another legend and someone who has had a "huge influence" on him -- Viswanathan Anand.

"I didn't expect it, I was very pleasantly surprised and getting to talk to him about chess and also generally other things was a huge opportunity for me," he said.

"And this year I am on the same team as Anand sir. I am also quite looking forward to that."