Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi defeated fellow Indian R Praggnanandhaa in the second round of the blitz event at the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026 in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday. Playing with the black pieces, Arjun won the game after 43 moves.
The game was part of a nine-round blitz tournament featuring 24 players. Both players started with careful moves, with Praggnanandhaa opening with 1.Nf3 before playing e3, c4 and b3. Arjun responded by bringing his pieces into the game and fighting for control of the centre.
The players exchanged pawns in the centre in the early stages. castled on move 10, while Arjun castled two moves later. Both players continued to develop their pieces before Arjun began putting pressure on his opponent.
Praggnanandhaa soon started running short of time. After 19…a6, he played 20.Na4 with only nine seconds left on his clock. Arjun had more than a minute remaining at that stage.
The game then moved into a tense phase as both players exchanged pieces. Arjun pushed his queenside pawns forward with 23…b4, forcing Praggnanandhaa’s knight to move back to a4.
followed it up with 24…Ne2+, putting the white king under pressure. He then used his knight to capture Praggnanandhaa’s rook on c1. After 26.Qxc1 Qxd2, Arjun had gained an important material advantage.
The players exchanged queens after the 27.Qc7 Qd6+ 28.Qxd6 Rxd6 moves. With the queens off the board, the game moved into an endgame, where Arjun had a rook and a knight against Praggnanandhaa’s remaining pieces.
Arjun continued to put pressure on his opponent while moving his pawns forward. Praggnanandhaa tried to find a way back into the game, but Arjun did not allow him much room.
The final moves came after 41.Kh4, when Arjun played 41…Nxg2+. He then moved his knight to e3 and followed it with 43…Nf1+. Praggnanandhaa resigned after the move, handing Arjun the victory.
The win helped Arjun finish the nine-round blitz event with 5.5 points. He recorded five wins, one draw and three defeats. Praggnanandhaa finished with 4.5 points, placing 14th in the standings.
Magnus Carlsen topped the blitz standings with seven points. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 6.5 points, while Levon Aronian took third place with six points.
Arjun finished sixth in the competition, which was held ahead of the group stage and knockout rounds of the Total Tour Pilot.
