A move that made jaws drop: How Arjun Erigaisi beat Nepo by offering stunning queen sacrifice
It was a move that made the jaws of elite grandmasters drop and Ian Nepomniachtchi’s heart rate spike. With one flick of the wrist, Arjun Erigaisi had thrown a Hail Mary on the board that made his opponent ponder for 17 minutes about a response. And even after that prolonged period of thought, the Russian ended up making a blunder with his reply. 12 moves later, Arjun was victorious, pushing the playoff for the 5th to 8th spot at the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour into a tiebreaker. In the tiebreakers later on, played with 10 minutes on clock for both players, Arjun won the first game with white before defending out of his skin with black pieces to salvage a draw and secure a spot in the fifth-place playoff at the Paris tournament.
The move itself — pushing his queen to...
