Class is permanent! Vishy Anand defeats India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi
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Viswanathan Anand is no longer India's No. 1, but the veteran reminded the younger generation that he is as sharp as when he was one of the best in the world a decade ago. On Thursday, five-time World Champion Anand defeated the current India No. 1, Arjun Erigaisi, in a round 5 game of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships in London.
Erigaisi arrived three minutes late to the game with a time control of 15 minutes per player. Erigaisi played his trademark attacking game with white pieces but found himself in trouble by move 25 when the veteran sacrificed a rook for a bishop.
Anand's perfectly placed bishops left Erigaisi without an escape. The game was over after 31 moves. It was a reminder that class is permanent in sports.
The 55-year-old Anand is unbeaten in the event, with three wins for Team MGD1, while Erigaisi, playing for Team Freedom, has lost two and drawn one of his five games so far.
Nowadays, Anand does not compete regularly. In recent years, several young Indians have overtaken him in FIDE ratings. Erigaisi, aged 21, is India's No. 1 with 2782 Elo points, followed by World Champion D Gukesh (2776). Anand is the fifth-ranked Indian with a rating of 2743.
However, when he was an active player, Anand was the undisputed king of Indian chess. He became India's No. 1 in 1986 when Diego Maradona won the FIFA World Cup for Argentina. Anand had surpassed GM Pravin Thipsay to reach the pinnacle of Indian chess and stayed there for 30 long years.
Anand's reign as India's top-rated chess player continued until mid-2023. On March 15, 2016, Pentala Harikrishna became India's No. 1 when he reached a live rating 2763.3. But within a few days, Anand bounced back to reclaim his position. He remained India's No. 1 until August 2023, when Gukesh surpassed his super-senior from Tamil Nadu.
In his prime, Anand had a peak rating of 2817, which is the highest achieved by an Indian to date. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen became World No. 1 in 2011 after dethroning Anand.