Arjun will be the one to beat in a strong Masters field
World No. 5 Arjun Erigaisi headlines a strong 10-player Masters field and will be the one to beat. Anish Giri is the second highest rated player in the section and the 10th-ranked Dutchman is expected to provide a strong challenge for the ₹25 lakh top prize.
The experienced Vidit Gujrathi, Karthikeyan Murali, Nihal Sarin and Pranav Venkatesh are the other Indians in the fray as the host players are expected to mount a strong challenge for the title.
The world No. 21 Vincent Keymer from Germany will look to make an impression and take a huge step towards qualification for the Candidates tournament while the American duo of Awonder Liang and Ray Robson and Giri's compatriot Jorden Van Foreest, all fine players in their own right, will be hoping to fight it out for top honours.
Keymer had remarked on Monday that with many young and ambitious players in the fray, he expected a lot of closely fought games.
Arjun, who missed out on making it to the Candidates event in 2024, would be keen to strike gold here and earn crucial FIDE circuit points.
Karthikeyan, who was promoted to the Masters category thanks to Vladimir Fedoseev's withdrawal, will fancy a few upsets.
In the Challengers event, IM G.B. Harshavardhan got a late call-up after Karthikeyan was moved to the Masters and would be testing out his wits against established names such as Pa. Iniyan, Abhimanyu Puranik, D. Harika and R. Vaishali. The Challengers' winner will book a spot in the Masters event next year.
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