India's young chess talent Arjun Erigaisi leaped to world No. 2 in the live ratings following a big win over Alexey Sarana in round 3 at the Chennai Grand Masters tournament. The win saw Erigaisi's live rating soar to 2805.8, putting him ahead of the USA's Fabiano Caruana (2805.0) and American GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802.0). Currently, only Magnus Carlsen with 2831.0 points stands better than the 21-year-old.

Just a month ago, Erigaisi first time crossed the 2800-rating mark in his career as well. However, he didn't enter the official "2800 club" since his rating dropped below 2800 at the end of the month. Relating to this, Erigaisi had also told The Indian Express, “They do feel good. But they don’t matter that much. Last year, if it happened, I would be very happy. And if I fell behind, for example, I would be very sad. There would be a clear change of emotions. That’s no longer the case. It feels good if it happens. But even if it doesn’t happen, I’m still happy.”

Erigaisi's latest victory came as he opted for a St. Petersburg Variation in the Nimzo-Indian Defense against Sarana, taking control with the black pieces in 37 moves. Sarana made a critical misstep on the 26th move by advancing his pawn to h4, which allowed Erigaisi to capitalize on the evaluation bar. Erigaisi’s pawn on the d-file ultimately proved decisive, advancing steadily toward promotion and securing his win.

For the third round, Erigaisi bagged a win. His tournament started with a convincing win over countrymate Vidit Gujrathi, his fellow teammate from the Chess Olympiad. The two had fought through a very hard-fought intense opening round before Erigaisi win

With three rounds completed, Erigaisi is tied at the top of the Masters category alongside Amin Tabatabaei, with both players leading a highly competitive field averaging a rating of 2729. Vidit Gujrathi earned his first points after losing to Erigaisi in the opening round, drawing an Indian GM Aravindh Chithambaram. Other notable outcomes were Tabatabaei's shocker over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian's potent victory over Parham Maghsoodloo.

It was at the Chennai Grand Masters where Erigaisi etched himself as one of India's best chess players, showcasing his growing strength and poise in the global chess arena. With the tournament still on, all eyes are focused on Erigaisi as he tries to pursue his hot streak.