PUNE: Young Grandmaster and former national champion, Erigaisi Arjun, was playing at the Dubai Open earlier this month when he came to know after five rounds that he would not make the cut for the knockout World Cup on the basis of his rating strength of Elo 2703. The other path to qualify was to finish in the top-four at the Asian Continental meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
"I had to skip either the last two rounds in Dubai or the first round in Asian as the schedule was clashing," said Arjun, who is playing for SG Alpine Warriors led by Magnus Carlsen in the ongoing FIDE-backed Global Chess League.
The world No. 33, chose to play the Open event in UAE, hoping that he could join the Asian event in the second round and finish in the top-four despite playing one game less. After all, he was the top seed in Kazakhstan with a difference of almost 100 Elo between him and the player seeded second.
As things panned out, he could not finish in the top-four in the Asian event because he played three draws. But he finally heaved a sigh of relief when the world body (FIDE) gave him one of the wild cards for the World Cup - to be played in Azerbaijan from July 30.
But why did he play the last two rounds in Dubai, somewhat risking his chance to win a World Cup berth?
"I had committed to the Dubai event and I didn't want to break my word. For that matter, I don't like to leave any tournament mid-way. Here, too, I wanted to honour my word. As a professional player, it is important to think about the tournament organiser."
