Fabiano Caruana is now also the top American player in the world, having surpassed Nakamura by 1 point.

This is a re-entry of Fabiano Caruana in the 2800 club. His highest rating so far is 2851, achieved back in 2014. However, with the constant rating deflation among top players the current rating of Caruana has to be considered as significant achievement.

USA – Bulgaria, Chess Olympiad 2024 round 3

Ivan Cheparinov – Fabiano Caruana 0-1

Wesley So – Arkadij Naiditsch 1-0

Martin Petrov – Levon Aronian 0-1

Momchil Petkov – Ray Robson 1/2-1/2

More: Participants at the Chess Olympiad 2024 women section / Live blog from the Chess Olympiad 2024

Vera Menchik (1906-44) was the first Women’s World Chess Champion, as well as the longest reigning champion, gaining the title at aged 21 and defending it multiple times until her untimely death. Although born in Russia to a Czech father and English mother, Vera lived in England from the age of 15 and became the strongest female player of the era whilst living in Hastings and London. The last major tournament to recognise Vera’s achievements was a 22-player norm tournament which took place in Maidstone in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her death. Harriet Hunt will be the only player to have participated in both events, having scored a WIM norm in the original 1994 tournament. With the cooperation of the Czech Chess Federation and the Czech Embassy, the ECF’s Director of Women’s Chess Agnieszka Milewska and Director of International Chess Malcolm Pein are staging a high-level ladies norm tournament that will end on the 78th anniversary of Menchik’s death, caused by a German V1 rocket which landed near her home in Clapham. English Chess Federation will aim to create a memorial to Vera in Streatham cemetery, near to where she was cremated, to ensure a lasting memorial to the first Women’s World Chess Champion.

However, what we see today is actual rating deflation of the top players in the world. In July 2017 there were six players over 2800 (Carlsen at 2822, Kramnik 2812, Wesley So 2810, Levon Aronian 2809, Caruana 2807, and Mamedyarov 2800). The same month the top 10 average was 2781, while there were 47 players above 2700 ELO!

Looking at the 2700chess.com live rating list today, there are two players over 2800 (Carlsen, whose rating is 2832 i.e. higher than July 2017, and Nakamura 2802), the top 10 average is 2776, and there are only 31 players above 2700!

The reasons for rating deflation

One of the major reasons for rating deflation is changes in the rating floors of FIDE. Rating floor was 1800 before 2001, then it was decreased to 1600, 1400, 1200, and finally 1000 in August 2012. While this was recently fixed (and will probably get another fix soon), there is a 10 year inherit problem of players who started with low rating and are scraping points from seasoned players with every draw and decisive game.

Another issue is actually a positive news for chess. A huge influx of youngsters with very low ELO, yet much higher skill. Over time, this new generation is propagating the lower rating through the system, while many of the old stars are fading. Thus, the rate of players falling below 2700 ELO is higher than the rate of repopulating the club.

There are other reasons, ranging from global political instability to local federation issues, from better coaching practices to higher access to chess engines. All this combined forms a thread of deflation in the 2700 club. Yet, as the popular song goes, “always walk on the bright side of life”: the rating deflation makes the 2700 list even more prestigious place to be!

Make sure to check out often the fantastic 2700chess.com website, not only for their tracking of the 2700 club, but also the top women list, the junior top 20 list, and more

That is the record for longest decisive chess game, and longer can only be found between computers here at TCEC. The longest decisive game at TCEC is between Lc0 and Fritz, total 308 moves

This is the game Mariya Muzychuk – Alina Kashlinskaya from round 9 of the Tbilisi Grand Prix

Mariya Muzychuk – Kashlinskaya, Tbilisi Grand Prix 2024

This is the game Lela Javakhishvili – Anna Muzychuk from round 9 of the Tbilisi Grand Prix

Javakhishvili – Anna Muzychuk, Tbilisi Grand Prix 2024

This is the game Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Nana Dzagnidze from round 9 of the Tbilisi Grand Prix

Khademalsharieh – Dzagnidze, Tbilisi Grand Prix 2024

This is the game R Vaishali – Bibisara Assaubayeva from round 9 of the Tbilisi Grand Prix

Vaishali – Assaubayeva, Tbilisi Grand Prix 2024

This is the game Stavroula Tsolakidou – Alexandra Kosteniuk from round 9 of the Tbilisi Grand Prix

Tsolakidou – Kosteniuk, Tbilisi Grand Prix 2024

This is the game Bibisara Assaubayeva – Stavroula Tsolakidou from round 8 of the Tbilisi Grand Prix

Assaubayeva – Tsolakidou, Tbilisi Grand Prix 2024