PM Modi congratulates Arjun Erigaisi for becoming the youngest Indian to breach 2800 Elo rating in Chess

Arjun Erigaisi, who recently crossed the 2800 mark (achieving 2802.1) in the live chess rating, has been congratulated by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

On Thursday, October 24, Erigasi created history by being the youngest ever Indian to break the presitigious 2800 Elo rating threshold. Not only that, he is the second India after the great Viswanathan Anand to achieve this feat.

PM Modi congratulates Arjun Erigaisi on Twitter

PM Modi took his X (formerly Twitter) handle, acknowledging Arjun Erigaisi's phenomenal achievement and congratulating him. 

He mentioned that the 21 years old will keep on encouraging and inspiring generation throughout the country.

"Congratulations to Arjun Erigaisi for crossing the 2800 mark in live chess ratings! This is a phenomenal feat. His exceptional talent and perseverance make our entire nation proud. In addition to being a great personal milestone, it will also inspire many more youngsters to play chess and shine on the global stage. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours," wrote Modi

Congratulations to Arjun Erigaisi for crossing the 2800 mark in live chess ratings! This is a phenomenal feat. His exceptional talent and perseverance make our entire nation proud. In addition to being a great personal milestone, it will also inspire many more youngsters to play…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 27, 2024

Arjun Erigaisi, third youngest in the world to achieve 2800

Arjun was competing for Team Alkaloid in the 2024 European Chess Club Cup. There he defeated Russia's Dmitry Andreikin in the fifth round, playing with the White pieces.

The win not only gave the World Number 3 rank on the live ranking ranking list, but also made him the 16th player surpassing 2800.

Alireza Firouza, from France, reached 2800 when he was 18 years and five months old. Till now, he is the youngest player to achieve that, having the present-day sensation Magnus Carlsen in the second. Arjun stands third in the list.

Here’s a list of all 16 chess players who have crossed the coveted 2800 Elo rating mark and their all-time highest rating:

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

12 | Ding Liren (CHN): 2816

13 | Alexander Grischuk (RUS) - 2810

14 | Alireza Firouzja (FRA) - 2804

15 | Arjun Erigaisi (IND) - 2802.1

Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri also crossed the 2800 mark in the live rating list in 2015 but his slipped outside before the end of the month and does not feature in the official rating list.