Arjun Erigaisi becomes second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to surpass 2800 Elo rating in classical chess

Arjun Erigaisi on Sunday became the second Indian Grandmaster to surpass the 2800-Elo rating mark and the 16th player overall to do so in classical chess. The legendary Viswanathan Anand is the only other Indian to have surpassed the 2800 Elo rating barrier. “Arjun Erigaisi entered the 2800+ rating club, becoming the 16th player in history to achieve this feat,” the FIDE said on their official “X” account.

Erigaisi, ranked fourth in the world, currently holds an Elo rating of 2801. Erigaisi had set the benchmark of 2800 Elo points during the 2024 European Chess Club Cup in October, when he defeated Dmitry Andreikin of Russia in the fifth round.

Arjun has been in impressive form recently. The 21-year-old won both the individual as well as team gold medals at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary. He then secured second place in the TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament in Sweden, and finish joint-fifth in Sharjah Masters Open tournament in Sharjah.

D Gukesh, who is currently taking on Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship match in Singapore, is in fifth place with an Elo rating of 2783.

Top 10 FIDE rating list as of 1 December, 2024 (Player name, country, Elo rating)

2. Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2831)

3. Fabiano Caruano (USA, 2805)

4. Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2802)

5. Arjun Erigaisi (IND, 2801)

6. D Gukesh (IND, 2783)

7. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2777)

8. Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2763)

9. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS, 2755)

10. Wei Yi (CHN, 2753)

11. Viswanathan Anand (IND, 2750)