Arjun Erigaisi on Thursday became the second Indian and only the 16th chess player in history to achieve a live Elo rating of 2800. Erigaisi, who beat Dmitry Andreikin with the white pieces in the fifth round of the European Chess Club Cup, has a live rating of 2802.1.
Of the 16 players to go past the rating of 2800, only 14 have seen their ratings published when the ratings are updated monthly. Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri had gone past the 2800 mark at the 2015 FIDE Grand Prix but dropped below 2800 by the end of the tournament.
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Erigaisi is one of the four active players who have a rating of more than 2800. Magnus Carlsen leads the way with 2831.2, followed by Fabiano Caruana with 2805.2 and Erigaisi. Hikaru Nakamura is fourth with a rating of 2802.0.
21-year-old Erigaisi is only the second Indian after former World Champion Viswanathan Anand to go past the 2800 mark. Anand achieved the feat in 2006 and he achieved his peak rating of 2817 in 2011.
Erigaisi has been in a rich vein of form and played a starring role in helping India win gold at the 2024 Chess Olympiad. He was unbeaten on board three for India winning the individual gold with nine wins and two draws.
Gukesh Dommaraju (2785.8) could join Erigaisi and Anand in the elusive 2800 club when he competes at the 2024 World Chess Championship against reigning champion Ding Liren.
