Arjun Erigaisi creates history, becomes 2nd Indian to cross 2800 Elo rating

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi created history after he became the youngest Indian and only the second in the country to surpass the coveted 2800 Elo rating mark.

Viswanathan Anand is the only other Indian to cross the 2800 rating mark.

Currently playing in the European Chess Club Cup 2024 for team Alkaloid, Arjun defeated Dmitry Andreikin of Russia in the fifth round to achieve the feat.

He has been moving closer to the mark for the past couple of weeks, reaching 2799.6 on Tuesday night. He became the 16th player overall to cross the 2800-rating mark.

Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, at 18 years and five months, is the youngest player to cross the 2800 barrier. Five-time World Champion, Magnus Carlsen sits second on this list.

Earlier, GM Arjun beat France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in armageddon to clinch the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup, picking up the €20,000 top prize and 27.84 FIDE Circuit points.

He has been in fine form over the past few months helping India secure a historic team gold medal in the Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest. He also clinched the individual goal medal in the event.

Arjun is currently ranked at world number three in live ratings with 2802.1 rating points and is the highest-ranked Indian followed closely by D Gukesh on number five.

He also finished in second place in the TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament and finished joint-fifth in the Sharjah Masters Open Tournament.