Arjun Erigaisi on the art of detaching from results
In the competitive world of chess, where ratings and rankings often dictate a player's career trajectory, Arjun Erigaisi stands out with a refreshingly different mindset. Recently climbing to world number four with an Elo rating of 2778.1, he attributes his success to the ‘Law of Detachment.’ In a candid conversation with Sagar Shah, Arjun discusses his deliberate shift in approach to the game, explaining how detachment from ratings and results has transformed his mental game. Embracing practices like Yoga and Inner Engineering, Arjun has developed a unique perspective towards success and failure.
From not qualifying to the Candidates to reaching World No. 4
2023 was quite a tough year for Arjun Erigaisi. He was very close to qualifying for the Candidates 2024 through various routes. At the World Cup 2023, he was on the verge of beating Praggnanandhaa in the Quarter Finals but bowed out at the end. At the FIDE Grand Swiss, he had many winning positions which would have helped him to finish in the top two but he couldn't. Even by the FIDE circuit, Arjun had his chances. The pain of not qualifying to the Candidates was real and Arjun also had other heartbreaks like the one at the Qatar Masters where in a clearly drawn position against Nodirbek he blundered his rook and also the first prize. How did Arjun recover from these setbacks to achieve what he already has? In the lines below, he reveals his secret recipe.
Sagar Shah (Sagar Shah): Arjun, you have climbed up to world number four with a 2778.1 Elo rating. You won the Stepan Avagyan Memorial with a rating performance of 2823. But I am amazed when you say that numbers are not that important for you in the other interviews you have done. You don’t think about the rating but you gained 40 Elo points in the last few days. I want to know more about your mindset…
Arjun Erigaisi (AE): Towards the end of last year, I realized that when I cared too much about my rating, it led to me fumbling during critical moments. It was negatively affecting me. Especially for the Candidates, I desperately wanted to be one of the eight participants. I was close to that opportunity so many times but somehow, I kept missing it. Then, I tried to make this conscious decision about not caring too much about the rating. Of course, I will give my best but I will accept the results as they are. Making this decision was not easy but a few things helped me. Eventually, I got that mindset of not caring too much about the results. Now, even if something doesn’t go well, it doesn’t affect me for a long period.
SS: Can you share with us what exactly helped you change that attitude?
AE: Yoga helped me - Inner Engineering. I recently posted about it as well. I started doing it around October, last year. I could not continue the course because of my tournaments. But whatever I have learned from it, it showed some change in me in the last year. When I had a tough game against Nodirbek (Abdusattorov) at the Qatar Masters, I blundered and lost the game. Normally, it would have affected me for very long. But that time, within 2-3 hours, I managed to move on from it. That was the first change I observed. This year, I finished the course and I observed tremendous changes in me. I had two losses this year and I received it very well. It affected me for a few minutes only. Even my friends were surprised to see me not being upset at all after the loss. I managed to bounce back pretty well.
SS: Sometimes, people might think that when your losses are not affecting you, it means you are careless. What do you think about this?
AE: When I cared a lot, I experienced the negative effects only. So, I have realized that when I am giving my 100%, I should not be too attached to the results so that there will not be any negative effect on the next game.
SS: You are not only saying this, but you are living this. Apart from Inner Engineering, are there any other things that helped you to change that mindset?
AE: This change happened when I really wanted to be in the Candidates, I cared about it too much and it affected me negatively. So that was the turning point. Because, before that, I was working on Inner Engineering but I wasn’t consciously trying to get this mindset.
SS: Does giving 100% effort get impacted by caring less about the results?
AE: Not at all.
SS: If results don’t motivate you, then what are the things that motivate you?
AE: First of all, I love playing Chess! When I am playing, I want to give my best. To give my best, I should give my 100% effort.
SS: This has become a way of living for you now…
AE: Yes. I also want to mention Hikaru’s interview in which he said that after he became a professional streamer, he stopped caring much about the results. His main focus is to have fun in the game. This also influenced me to have this mindset.
SS: Hikaru is now a full-time streamerwhich has helped him to focus less on the results. But in your case, despite being a professional player, you have detached yourself from the results. This is tougher I would say.
AE: Yes! (Smiles)
Watch the full video interview:
Watch the full video of the interview here. Below are the timestamps for key moments in the video:
Timestamps for the above video:
01:15 Arjun is world no.4
01:42 2778 crazy number
02:28 how Arjun reached this rating
04:02 What exactly helped Arjun in detaching from the results
06:38 Arjun's take on loses and not being careless
08:04 Other than inner engineering what has helped
09:24 on winning many events and losing some winning games
10:08 If results are not motivators then what motivates you
11:56 Game 1 with Harikrishna
18:20 Game 2 with Vitaly
19:01 Game 3 with Alonso
23:18 Game 4 with Amin
26:11 Game 5 with Karthik 31:08 Game 6 with David
33:50 New tournament Game 1 with Hovhannisyan
38:52 Game 2 with Shant S
43:01 Game 3 with Matthias
45:49 Game 4 with Volodar
50:54 Question time
1:05:10 Questions time end
1:05:21 Thoughts on Pragg beating Magnus
1:06:48 on Gukesh and World Championship
