India, Nov. 15 -- A fleeting glance from across the chess board and the seasoned Levon Aronian offered a draw. It put Arjun Erigaisi in a dilemma.

If the draw was accepted, it would take their fifth-round tie in the Chess World Cup in Goa into Sunday's tiebreakers. Erigaisi, the tournament second seed and India No.1, sat calmly, calculating. However, for a player who simply does not play defensive chess, the draw offer from Aronian made one thing clear.

"At some point I wasn't sure if I was on the better side or worse side of equality, but when he offered a draw, that gave me some confidence that he's happy with a draw. That gave me some edge," Erigaisi said in comments to FIDE shortly after becoming the first Indian to enter the quarte...