Skills, patience and passion exemplary: PM Narendra Modi on Arjun Erigaisis World Blitz bronze

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took to social media and congratulated Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi for winning the bronze medal at the World Blitz Championships in Doha, saying the achievement reflected India’s rapid strides in chess.

Erigaisi topped the Swiss Round with 15 points, beating several top contenders, including world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, before losing 2.5–1.5 to Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the semifinals to finish third.

The result added to Erigaisi’s World Rapid bronze earlier this week and made him only the second Indian male, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand, to win a medal at the World Blitz Championships.

“Indias strides in chess continue!” Prime Minister Modi wrote on X.

“Congratulations to Arjun Erigaisi for winning the Bronze at the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship in Doha, following his bronze medal in FIDE Rapid Chess Championship recently. His skills, patience and passion are exemplary.

The Prime Minister had also congratulated Erigaisi and Grandmaster Koneru Humpy on Sunday after they won bronze medals at the World Rapid Championships in the Open and women’s categories respectively.

Humpy, who entered the tournament as the defending champion, missed out on a third World Rapid title despite finishing in a three-way tie for first place, losing out due to the International Chess Federation’s tie-break rules, which have drawn criticism.

Humpy won her first World Rapid title in 2019 and successfully defended it last year.

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