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Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi won the prestigious WR Chess Masters Cup 2024 after defeating French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2-1 in the final on Thursday, October 17. After Maxime Vachier-Lagrave managed to earn two draws in back-to-back classical games, Arjun Erigaisi got the better of the Frenchman in the Armageddon game, to lift the coveted WR Chess Masters Cup 2024 at the Langham Hotel in London.
Notably, before going into the two classical games against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the tournament, Arjun Erigaisi was looking to get past the coveted 2800 rating mark for the first-time in his career with a win. In the first game in the classical chess, Erigaisi employed the French Defense, but it eventually fizzled out into a draw after 30 moves with some solid play from Vachier-Lagrave.
WR Chess Masters Cup 2024 win helped Arjun Erigaisi earn €20,000 top prize
In the second game in the classical chess, the 6.Be2 Najdorf made it a complicated situation for both Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, but it ended up being a peaceful draw. With that, the final was decided in the Armageddon game as Erigaisi got the black pieces, needing only to hold on against Vachier-Lagrave, to win the tournament.
Arjun Erigaisi employed the Petroff Defense, and a blunder from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in trying to force a win in the Armageddon game, led to a fork, followed by a resignation from the Frenchman. Following his big victory, Erigaisi spoke about his performance in the Armageddon game and remarked, “I thought 10 vs. seven would be decent, and in case he chooses seven I wanted to be a bit less. And then he chose 7:48... So did I go a bit too low?”
The WR Chess Masters Cup 2024 win meant that Arjun Erigaisi earned €20,000 top prize and 27.84 FIDE Circuit points.
