GM Arjun Erigaisi in action in the 3rd round of the Chennai Grand Masters tournament at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai. (PHOTO: Chennai Grand Masters)
With the World Rapid and Blitz Championship coming up in New York in six days, Arjun Erigaisi has issued a desperate plea on social media to the US Embassy requesting that they fast-track his US visa. Arjun Erigaisi is in a two-way race with USA’s Fabiano Caruana to secure a spot at the next edition of the Candidates, which is an eight-player event to figure out a challenger to Gukesh at the next World Chess Championship. The World Rapid and Blitz Championship will be held from December 26 to 31.
“Last week I submitted my passport to you for visa stamping and it still has not been returned. I request you to please expedite the process and return my passport as soon as possible as I need it for my travel to New York for World Rapid & Blitz Championship, If anyone can help me with this please DM,” Arjun Erigaisi posted on X while tagging the US Embassy besides the Ministry of External Affairs India, Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, Sports Ministry and sports minister Mansukh Mandviya.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Arjun said that he submitted his passport for visa stamping on December 13.
“My appointment was initially scheduled for December 3. I was not planning to play in Qatar because of this. Then we got to know that it’s possible to pre-pone the appointment. Biometrics was done on November 26 and the visa interview a few days after that. After it was done, I left for Qatar. And when I returned from there, I submitted my passport to the US Embassy,” Arjun told The Indian Express. He pointed out that he needed his passport to play at a tournament in Qatar at the start of December.
The posts on social media came after Arjun’s manager wrote to the US Embassy requesting that they expedite the process. Arjun said that they had learnt that the passport was still in New Delhi and has not been stamped.
“It’s the World Rapid and Blitz Championship. It’s still a World Championship. Very prestigious. If I do well there I will have the chance to qualify for the Candidates tournament,” Arjun added.
Arjun also explained why he had chosen to play in Qatar.
“If I had submitted my passport to the US Embassy earlier there would have been two weeks. But now we don’t have that. But I had to play in Qatar. If I did not play there, regardless of how I played in New York, I would not have been close to qualifying for the Candidates via the FIDE Circuit. So playing there was very important. Otherwise I would have skipped Qatar,” he said.
Finishing second at the Qatar Masters Open 2024 earned Arjun 16.62 points. Currently Caruana leads with 130.42 points while Arjun Erigaisi is second with 124.40 points. Nodirbek Abdusattorov has 108.49 points.
The FIDE Circuit 2024 is one of the paths to qualify for the Candidates Tournament in 2026. The Circuit offers one spot to the player who ends at the top of the charts in 2024 by earning points in specified tournaments.
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
