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Arjun Erigaisi, one of the top players globally, crossed the 2800 rating mark. With this, he became the 16th player in the history and 2nd Indian after Viswanathan Anand to achieve the feat. Arjun defeated GM Dmitry Andreikin to cross the tally and reach the score of 2802.1 Elo and emerged as the new world number 3 in the live ratings. Before Arjun, Anand reached the rankings in April 2008 as he became the World Number 1 with 2803 Elo.
The CEO of International Chess Federation (FIDE), Emil Sutovsky, heaped praise on Arjun and congratulated him for the achievement. He tweeted, “A real milestone. A few years passed since anyone crossed 2800 for the first time. All in all, just 15 players cross it in live ratings and even less in the official FIDE list. Arjun does it in an impressive style. Notably, Arjun reached his peak rating of 2797 earlier this month, and in the European Club tournament, he gained 5.1 rating points to take the tally to 2802.1.
Arjun’s journey to becoming Grandmaster
Arjun’s journey to becoming a grandmaster began at a very naive age, when his international Master title in 2017. He achieved the title just a year later when he was 14 years old. Later, he finished as a runner up in the under-14 division at the 2017 World Youth Chess Championship when he was a FIDE Master. In the early years of his career, Arjun remained in the 2500 rating range in classical chase.
He saw a surge in 2021 when he achieved a 2600 rating in September 2021. Some of his most prominent achievements have been in the Tata Steel India Blitz, where he finished second as well as winning in the Tata Steel India Rapid tournament.
