We've seen this opening featured very often at the World Cup, and here once again Wei Yi chooses the so-called 'Ruy Lopez' or 'Spanish' to try to squeeze Arjun in the middlegame. It's a very strategically rich choice, so should be a complex struggle ahead.
No exchange of bishop for knight, as computers have long largely solved that variation. There's just no way for the White side to squeeze any sort of real edge there.
Wei Yi invites the 'Open Spanish'
He leaves his central pawn hanging, inviting Arjun to take if he wishes. That would open up the game, hence the name of the variation.
The Closed Spanish
Arjun says 'no!' to the invitation to play that very tactically rich (but also quite forcing) line. Instead, he keeps the game a little more flexible and just carries on developing.
Wei Yi sets up a threat
He covers his attacked pawn in the center, and in so doing he actually sets up the threat of playing bishop takes knight next. After that, it would be knight takes pawn winning the central one!
Arjun shuts down that possibility by breaking the pressure against his knight.
Arjun stabilizes his center, and is also ready to potentially bring his light-squared bishop forward to pin Wei Yi's kingside knight.
Wei Yi prepares to advance in the center, a hallmark of the Ruy Lopez.
Wei Yi cuts out the pin
Before pushing in the center, Wei Yi wants to stop any possible pin. The reason is that otherwise the central pawn can become a little unstable as the knight is needed to lend support there.
Arjun offers the first piece trade
With the possibility of pinning no longer available, Arjun turns his attention to Wei Yi's light-squared bishop, which is arguably his best piece. It also offers a change of structure, something that could add dynamism to the game.
Wei Yi out of theory!
It seems like he may have been caught out early by Arjun, as the Chinese grandmaster finds himself spending 20 minutes to make this move.
Arjun immediately trades off the bishops, clearly still prepared as Wei Yi's choice to push the central pawn forward is very natural.
Wei Yi recaptures
He keeps his pawn structure undoubled, and also brings his queen out into the game. He should have a slight edge here, given his better control of the center.
Arjun stops the bishop move
He wants to avoid Wei Yi from moving his bishop forward to a very active square, from where it would pressure the knight.
Wei Yi pressures the queenside
A typical move, going for a pawn break on the left hand side in order to attack Arjun's structure.
He's known as one of the hardest working players in chess, and this tournament has really showcased Arjun's incredibly deep preparation. If Wei Yi captures the pawn it's going to lead to tactics for Arjun and a very equal endgame, something that would suit the Indian grandmaster.
Wei Yi trades pawns, suggesting that he might very well be going for that forcing line that Arjun has invited!
Arjun takes back, opening up the vision for both rooks in the corners.
Wei Yi agrees to the trade, since anything else would slow down his development.
Arjun takes back, winning the open file but leaving his pawn hanging.
Wei Yi goes for the forcing line!
He snatches a pawn, but now his queen is being x-rayed (indirectly targeted) by Arjun's own queen, a key detail that will support the tactics coming up!
Tactics!
This is the point of Arjun's sacrifice. He hits Wei Yi's queen, meaning that the Chinese player does not have the time to win a piece by playing pawn takes knight.
Wei Yi is banking on coming out better when the dust settles, as he captures with the knight in order to defend his queen.
Arjun recovers his piece.
The players continue blitzing out their moves in this long forcing sequence, with Wei Yi now ready to take the pawn in the center next.
Arjun takes back his queen.
Wei Yi goes up a pawn
He'll be hoping that he can somehow hang on to his extra material, but he'll understand that it's very unlikely that he has any significant edge here since he knows that Arjun is still in his home prep.
Arjun is banking on this bishop move, striking at the central pawn right away. His point is to not give Wei Yi the time to coordinate and consolidate his extra pawn.
Wei Yi continues his development, while defending the center pawn.
Arjun keeps up the pressure
Honestly, it looks to me like Arjun is just going to cruise to a draw. It's absolutely incredible the ease with which he seems to be able to equalize from the Black side against world class opposition.
The point is that Wei Yi cannot guard all of his pawns, and if you run the concrete variations through the computer there is always a moment when Arjun gets his pawn back by force, no matter what Wei Yi tries. And given the relatively little material on the board, this one looks to be headed for a quick draw.
Wei Yi recognizes it's futile to try to hang onto the extra material, so he immediately lets Arjun capture.
Arjun restores material equality, while his rook is now also quite active along the seventh (Wei Yi's second) rank.
Wei Yi turns his focus to Arjun's undefended pawn on the queenside, but this is just a silent draw offer, as now the Indian grandmaster will get to force even more piece trades.
Both players are easily 'seeing into the future' here, as a rook and pawn endgame is now effectively forced.
Wei Yi quickly recaptures the piece, though now his knight is about to be lost.
Arjun recaptures, and has an eye on the enemy bishop to boot.
Wei Yi has seen enough!
He knows that there's truly no point in trying to fight on against Arjun from such a position, so he's accepted that today he got nothing from the White side and is just guiding the game to an immediate draw.
Not necessary, but a small finesse. Arjun forces Wei Yi's king to a slightly worse square.
The only legal move in the position.
Now it's going to wind up as rook + 3 pawns vs rook + 3 pawns, meaning that a draw offer or a draw by repetition is coming up very soon.
Wei Yi wins back his piece.
Arjun trades off the last set of central pawns.
Wei Yi with a bit of a sense of humor, as he gives the same check along the last rank that Arjun had gone for a couple moves ago!
The only legal move.
Wei Yi recovers his missing piece.
Arjun targets the undefended pawn.
Wei Yi drops his king back in order to defend.
Draw by repetition, coming up!
The game is about to come to a close, since in chess if the same position is repeated three times then the side about to make the third repetition has the right to call the arbiter and claim a draw. Though in practice, oftentimes the players just kind of look at each other and make the draw without involving the arbiter :)
The game was not in any way a thriller, and no doubt that many fans on each side (as well as neutral spectators) will be rather disappointed by the early finish in today's first quarterfinal game.
But while the game offered little excitement, it was nevertheless an incredibly impressive showing from the only Indian player left in the field, Arjun Erigaisi.
He has quickly built a reputation as one of the best prepared players in the world, and today perfectly showcased this.
The combination of computers having become so strong, theory so advanced, and Arjun having such prodigious work ethic and memory, makes a player like him close to impossible to beat from the Black side. At least, when he's not interested in taking any real risk and is happy to invite a draw.
That was exactly the problem that Wei Yi faced today, and frankly it was one to which he simply had no solution. He got caught by a somewhat rare line in the Ruy Lopez, where Arjun offered a queenside pawn in exchange for simplifications.
Wei Yi would have understood that if he took the pawn, there would be no advantage possible. But at the same time, by then the Chinese player had spent more than half an hour on the clock, while Arjun had not spent any time at all! And so, after scanning the position for some time, he eventually went for the forcing sequence.
That was all that Arjun needed in order to guide the game to an instant draw. In fact, by the time that the players shook hands, Arjun had more time than he started with, courtesy of the 30-second increment each player receives per move.
Success for Arjun today, as he'll be looking to put the squeeze on Wei Yi tomorrow from the White side. See you then!
Battle of the heavyweights!
Many fans are lamenting that these two chess titans are about to duke it out in the quarterfinals stages, especially since this guarantees that one of them will not have an opportunity to fight for any of the three candidates spots up for grabs in the World Cup.
Still, let's hope that as viewers we get to enjoy two or three days of dynamic and exciting chess, with both of these players renowned for their aggressive opening repertoires and their incredible calculation skill.
It's hard to choose a favorite, though for me perhaps Arjun Erigaisi has been the player in the entire tournament to have shown the most convincing chess.
That said, Wei Yi is fearless and capable of beating even the very best. So if the Chinese grandmaster comes into good form right away, he could really put Arjun under pressure as he has the White pieces in today's opening game.
Either way, should be a great one to watch, and perhaps the most serious hurdle for either of these two to overcome if they wish to book a ticket in the 2026 Candidates tournament!