Arjun Erigaisi finds himself breathing rarefied air. On Friday, he scaled Mount 2800 in the live ratings and put himself in contention to stay there when FIDE publishes its official ratings list at the end of this month.
The current membership of the club stands at 14, with Anish Giri only having a temporary visitors’ pass to the club since he entered it in live ratings (which are updated in real time) but was out by the time the monthly ratings list was published by FIDE.
Just how impressive Arjun Erigaisi’s feat is can be gauged by the immediate reactions to him touching 2800.
“(Arjun is) Like a bullet gaining 60 points this year!” Viswanathan Anand exclaimed on X referring to Arjun’s rapid rise from being 2738 in January this year.
We break down the significance of Arjun Erigaisi touching 2800 rating points:
What is the big deal about reaching a 2800 rating?
The 2800 rating club is an elusive club in chess. Only 16 men, including Arjun Erigaisi, have entered it. Only 14 have been in it when the monthly published ratings were officially released by FIDE. Arjun thus could become only the 15th player to remain in the 2800 club in the published ratings list. We have more world chess champions — 17 — than 2800-club members. It must be noted that FIDE, the global governing body of chess, only adopted official ratings in 1970.
Arjun Erigaisi is only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to touch 2800. Srinath Narayanan who has been Arjun’s coach and mentor called reaching 2800 “a bit like crossing the 10,000 runs milestone in cricket” (which, for the record, only 14 batters have done in Tests).
Arjun Erigaisi during an Express Adda earleir this year at Chennai. (Express photo)
Are there world champions who have never reached 2800?
The 2800 club has five world champions: Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Ding Liren. Players like the legendary Bobby Fischer only touched a peak rating of 2785. He could have broken into the 2800 club as well had he not ended his career prematurely.
Is there anything that stands out about Arjun Erigaisi reaching 2800?
Yes, between 2019 and 2024, only one fresh player was added to the 2800 club. This was when Alireza Firouzja got there in December 2021.
Arjun Erigaisi is the second youngest player to break into the 2800 club, with only Firouzja at 18 being younger.
What is also remarkable about Arjun Erigaisi’s feat is that a year back, in October 2023, his rating was 2712. In a year’s time, he’s added nearly 100 rating points while playing in open tournaments — where there are multiple players of varying rating strengths rather than closed invitational events where elite players are invited. At open tournaments, even a draw with a lower rated player could send the ratings plummeting. But at closed invitational events, even a defeat will only cost a drop of a few points.
What does reaching 2800 rating mean for Arjun Erigaisi?
For one, it will lead to many more invitations to events.
“Since he started doing well in these open tournaments this year, enquiries for Arjun’s availability have been coming in frequently. If you look at the elite invitational events this year, he was only invited for the Grand Chess Tour’s Poland Rapid & Blitz event and WR Chess Masters. Apart from that, he had no invites. Nothing from Tata Steel (in Wijk aan Zee), nothing from Prague Chess, nothing from Norway Chess. But this year, we have enquiries from everyone,” Sreekar Chennapragada, the co-founder of chess management firm MGD1 and Arjun Erigaisi’s manager told The Indian Express.
What has led to Arjun Erigaisi reaching 2800?
For Arjun Erigaisi, this rating peak comes in a year that started off with plenty of frustration after he missed out on qualifying for the Candidates tournament. That miss led to a change in his mindset.
“I’ve been trying not to care too much (about such things like world rankings and ratings). So that’s been helping me. It is a conscious decision not to care too much about results,” Arjun had told The Indian Express in June this year after becoming World No 4. “Last year, I desperately cared about qualifying for the Candidates. Because of this, my nerves kept failing me at critical moments.”
This year, after adopting this new approach, he has played in every possible game and tournament. At the Chess Olympiad, he was the only player to play all 11 games even though India had enough depth to rest him.
“Arjun generally has certain goals he sets for himself like qualifying for the Candidates and being a world champion. Reaching 2800 was also one of those. That’s where his hunger comes from,” says Srinath.
Srinath points out that most players hit a mental ceiling after playing the sport continuously year after year. But not Gukesh and Arjun.
“He has incredible motivation. Arjun has excellent energy levels, where he and Gukesh have set new standards over the last few years. How much chess they have been able to play while still maintaining quality. That’s what separates Arjun.”
