NEW DELHI: As India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi walked down the playing hall toward the waiting area after losing the all-important rapid tie-break to China’s top-ranked Wei Yi on Wednesday, his wearied face said everything. It was a portrait of disbelief, burdened by the disloyal weight of a slipped opportunity.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!A few metres away, his mother, Jyothi, sat with her earphones plugged in, still catching up with the commentary. A broadcast delay meant she didn’t yet know what had unfolded. When she spotted her son approaching, she rose instinctively, almost in disbelief.She recognised Arjun, of course, but the shock in her eyes betrayed the truth. It was at this moment that she knew the unthinkable had happened. Arjun was out of the FIDE World Cup 2025, his dream of securing the coveted Candidates 2026 berth shattered.
Moments later, Arjun put his pain into a single post on social media: a broken-heart emoji. It felt enough to capture the depth of the wicked Wednesday more than words could.Wei Yi, though, was gracious. Despite being nearly 50 rating points above Arjun in Rapid, the Chinese Grandmaster (GM) refused to believe he held any edge going into the tie-breaks.“When you play against a player like Arjun, you can’t think you are better than him, because he is a top player. And he is so strong in every time control,” he said.
GM Arjun Erigaisi (L) and Wei Yi of China during their quarterfinals at FIDE World Cup. (Pic credit: FIDE)
The rise of Wei YiBorn in June 1999 in Jiangsu Province, Wei Yi was introduced to chess when he was five. His journey began in the corridors of his school, where a visiting chess player introduced children to the game.Young Wei showed such natural flair that he was immediately enrolled for formal, systematic training.His first major tremor on the global radar came at just eight years old.Competing in the 2007 Chinese Championship Group B, he defeated FM Chen Fan (rated 2354) and drew veteran GM Zhou Jianchao. He finished with 5/11.Wei returned to the Group B championship three more times, improving his score each year and signing off with a strong 7/11 in 2011.Two years later, at just 13, he qualified for the senior Chinese Championship and also achieved the title of GM.In 2018, he was named an Elite Athlete of International Class by China’s General Administration of Sport.A devoted admirer of five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Wei Yi has steadily grown from prodigy to powerhouse.Since January 2024, he has been firmly inside the world’s top 20, cementing his status as one of China’s brightest chess stars.Earlier this year, in an exclusive chat with TimesofIndia.com, Wei Yi even made a rare plea for greater institutional backing for chess in China.“In China, many players don’t have enough enthusiasm for chess. It would be better if the government in China could give more support,” he had said.He also revealed one of his quirky over-the-board survival habits: “I eat chocolates between games (laughs). Yes, I think eating snacks in between the games is good for me.”China’s best shot at maiden World Cup titleHistory isn’t on China’s side. The nation has never produced a FIDE World Cup champion. But with Arjun out, Wei Yi now stands as the strong favourite to end that drought.Arjun’s exit from the quarterfinals also means India has no players left in the tournament and no qualified representative for the 2026 Candidates, as only the World Cup’s top three secure direct spots.As far as the qualification for the Candidates tournament is concerned, the country’s hopes now rest on R Praggnanandhaa, the Chennai-born phenomenon who continues to lead the FIDE Circuit and remains the only Indian with a realistic path to the Candidates next year.
