September 2024 was all about the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest. The biggest team competition of the biennium had a great impact on the October 2024 rating list. Given that out of the top 10 Women, only Nana Dzagnidze played in Budapest, it remained intact. On the other hand, top 10 Open saw significant shifts.
Photo: Michal Walusza
The individual gold winners at the 45th Chess Olympiad Arjun Erigaisi (pictured above) and Gukesh D (pictured below) delivered brilliant performances in Budapest, earning 19 and 30 rating points respectively. Both reached their career high and came very close to the 2800 mark, with Arjun debuting in top 3 after ousting Fabiano Caruana to the fourth position.
Gukesh D, in his turn, overtook Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the list of best junior players and climbed to first place.
Photo: Michal Walusza
Biggest gains in top 100 Open and Women
Yip, Carissa |
IM |
USA |
2418 (+32) |
Nurman, Alua |
WIM |
KAZ |
2356 (+32) |
Gukesh D |
GM |
IND |
2794 (+30) |
Kamalidenova, Meruert |
IM |
KAZ |
2378 (+26) |
Agrawal, Vantika |
IM |
IND |
2392 (+22) |
Mkrtchian, Lilit |
IM |
ARM |
2388 (+22) |
Erigaisi Arjun |
GM |
IND |
2797 (+19) |
Vokhidov, Shamsiddin |
GM |
UZB |
2668 (+18) |
Divya Deshmukh |
IM |
IND |
2501 (+18) |
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina |
IM |
ESP |
2392 (+18) |
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek |
GM |
UZB |
2783 (+17) |
Virtually all the players qualifying for this list did a great job in Budapest. Nine of them, namely, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (board one Open – silver), Shamsiddin Vokhidov (board three Open – gold) Carissa Yip (board two Women – gold; pictured below), Divya Deshmukh (board three Women – gold), Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (board three Women – silver), Lilit Mkrtchian (board three Women – bronze), Vantika Agrawal (board four Women – gold), plus Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi mentioned above, won various individual medals. Alua Nurman did not mange to clinch an individual medal at the 45th Chess Olympiad but earned an impressive 32 rating points.
Photo: Maria Emelianova
Meruert Kamalidenova is the only player on the list who dropped some rating points (-5) at the 45th Chess Olympiad, but she overcompensated for this loss with her strong showing in the Karaganda Akim Cup 2024 (+31).
Photo: Mark Livshitz
Chess Olympiad is a great opportunity for young players to make a name for themselves, and the 45th edition in Budapest was no exception. Kudos to Ediz Gurel (+23), Sion Radamantys Galaviz Medina (+19), Avila Pavas, Santiago (+16), Frederik Svane (+15), Bardiya Daneshvar (+15), Kazybek Nogerbek (+15), Jan Subelj (+15), Setayesh Karimi (+100!; pictured above), Milan Babić (+75) Mariia Manko (+68), Gulenay Aydin (+52), Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (+44) and Machteld Van Foreest (+34), to name a few.