2700 chess club hits new low, only 29 players above the mark

Arjun Erigaisi has been making headlines as he crossed the 2800 ELO mark at the European Club Cup. Being active in the past months, chasing points for the FIDE Circuit and the first position that gives direct qualification for the Candidates tournament, Arjun Erigaisi will grow his rating even further in the next days. In a similar situation is Fabiano Caruana, competing in Charlotte Masters and Saint Louis Masters. Both Caruana and Erigaisi have a chance to do something that no one has done for a decade – challenge the first position of Magnus Carlsen!

Players above 2800 ELO (04.12.2024)

1. Magnus Carlsen – 2832
2. Fabiano Caruana – 2811.8
3. Hikaru Nakamura – 2802
4. Arjun Erigaisi – 2801.8

While the situation in the 2800 club is heating up, the 2700 club is in deep crisis. In August the 2700 club was at its lowest number since 2011 having only 31 players above the mark. As of today, the deflation is even deeper, as there are only 29 players above 2700. Ten years ago, in December 2014, there were 45 players above 2700.

The decimation is not only present among the 2700+ players. Currently the last player in the top 100 is Francisco Vallejo Pons with 2638 ELO. Ten years ago the last player in top 100 was Vladimir Baklan with 2655 ELO.

The rating deflation is real. While it is visually unpleasing to see the numbers dropping, there is one important consequence – being 2750 today is definitely stronger than being 2750 ten years ago. This is one of the explanations why we have high precision in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024