Arjun Erigaisi spoke about Magnus Carlsen in an interview on the Firstpost YouTube channel. Erigaisi says that Carlsen’s opponents find it difficult to play him for the first time. Arjun notes that he is no longer intimidated to play against Magnus.

Arjun Erigaisi

Arjun Erigaisi

India's No. 2

“Magnus is for sure the best chess player. But the thing is also that people are actually intimidated to play him, without playing a single game with him. So, when I first played him, I played much weaker than my level and I got crushed.

But over time I have played enough with him. Now I no longer feel intimidated and I do pretty well against him. In the last one year I probably don’t have a negative score against him.”

The all-time Classical head-to-head score between Arjun Erigaisi and Magnus Carlsen is 0-2, excluding 2 draws. Their score in Classical, Rapid, and Blitz is 3-3 for 2026.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE