Arjun Erigaisi becomes second Indian to cross 2800 ELO rating after Viswanathan Anand

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has become the second Indian after legendary Viswanathan Anand to cross the gold-standard 2800 ELO ratings.

Arjun achieved the elusive feat after beating Russia’s Dmitry Andreikin in the fifth round of the European Chess Club Cup 2024 while playing for the Alkaloid team. He achieved the win with White Pieces and has also become the World No.3 in the live rating list.

Arjun has become the second Indian and 16th overall to touch the elusive feat. He is the youngest Indian to cross the barrier.

France's Alireza Firouzja is the youngest player in the world to breach the 2800 ELO mark when he was 18 years and five months old. World champion Magnus Carlsen is second on the list.

Arjun has had a strong time in the last few months. He won the individual and team gold in the Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest before taking second in TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament. He was fifth in the Sharjah Masters Open and won the Menorca Open title.

Arjun had earlier clinched the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup after defeating France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Armageddon. Arjun is the top-ranked player in the FIDE standings.

All-time highest-ranked players:

1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) - 2882

2. Garry Kasparov (RUS) - 2851

3. Fabiano Caruana (USA) - 2844

4. Levon Aronian (ARM) - 2830

5. Wesley So (USA) - 2822

6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) - 2820

7. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) - 2819

8. Viswanathan Anand (IND) - 2817

9. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) - 2817

10. Veselin Topalov (BUL) - 2816

11. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) - 2816