Arjun Erigaisi restores Indian representation in Classical top-10 after beating Nils Grandelius in Sweden

India has a player among the global top-10 in the Classical format once again with Arjun Erigaisi moving up a couple of spots in the latest live ratings. Arjun moved to No 9 in the live chess ratings on 2700Chess.com after defeating Nils Grandelius in the ongoing TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament in Malmo, Sweden.

The 22-year-old Indian Grandmaster surpassed USA's Wesley So and China's Wei Yi following his third-round victory over Swedish GM Grandelius on Sunday, which he achieved in 42 moves while playing with white pieces. Arjun's victory – his first of the ongoing tournament – was one of two decisive results in the third round, with Turkish GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus defeating Chinese GM Zhu Jiner while playing with black pieces.

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World No 1 Magnus Carlsen played out a 44-move draw with world No 4 Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the most high-profile clash of the tournament so far. Also ending in a draw in the third round was the game between Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest and American GM Andy Woodward.

Arjun moves into joint-lead at TePe Sigeman & Co Chess

The victory has helped Arjun move into the joint-lead on 2 points with four others including Carlsen – who is making a rare appearance in a Classical tournament outside Norway Chess, his home event.

With another four rounds to go in the Classical tournament that will be concluding on Thursday, Arjun will be backing himself to challenge Carlsen and others for the top spot.

Arjun, incidentally is the only Indian among the top-10 in the rapid and blitz formats as well. He's ranked fourth in the latest Fide rapid ratings and seventh in the blitz format. He was among the standout players at the most recent World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Abu Dhabi in December, having won a bronze medal in both formats.

There were as many as three Indians among the top-10 until recently – reigning world champion D Gukesh as well as R Praggnanandhaa. Gukesh and Pragg, however, have slipped to 18th and 16th respectively on the Fide ratings after an extended lean run, with the latter registering an underwhelming performance at the Fide Candidates in Cyprus last month.