Today, we have a lot of parity. I think anyone rated in the top 20 or even 25 or 30 could put up a decent challenge. I don’t think anyone can beat Carlsen right now, which might be why he seems to be walking away, but aside from Carlsen, no one else is clearly head and shoulders above the rest. Lasker had Capablanca. Capablanca had Alekhine. Alekhine had Euwe and the Soviets. Later, the Soviets had each other and Fischer. And after Fischer walked away, Karpov and Kasparov had each other. Later, there were Anand, Kramnik, and Topalov. But Carlsen doesn’t seem to have anyone to really challenge him. And if he walks away, whoever takes up the crown will be extremely vulnerable to challenges from all directions. Are we confident that either Nepo or Ding will be able to keep the title for more than one championship cycle as players like Firouzja, Gukesh, and Abdusattorov reach their prime? And what if Carlsen feels like coming back to show everyone who the “real” champion is?

So, is this an exciting time? A confusing time? Or something else? Or will we likely see a few players dominate the scene for several years the way Anand, Kramnik, and Topalov did before the emergence of Carlsen?

I'm going to go ahead and assume that, because I've never personally seen a higher one, and I'm too lazy to check the history, that he has <the highest live blitz rating of all time> and is <the first ever to crack 2900> in that context.

https://2700chess.com/blitz

The top 5 ratings are:

Carlsen 2986 (Dec 2017)
Vachier-Lagrave 2948 (Jul 2019)
Nakamura 2934 (Mar 2019)
Grischuk 2923 (Aug 2012)
Karjakin 2906 (Jan 2013)

In any case, now things seem as they should - Carlsen has the highest live blitz rating of all time. Of course!

I'm leaning toward someone with the letter "A" in their name, so Alireza qualifies.

I hope you are correct (for your sake - I do not give a toss) but as I type you can bet your eyebrows someone will be checking to make sure you are right. And if you are wrong you will get inundated with numbers, D.O.B's and probably more numbers.

It is interesting to note that if Firouzja had joined the USA Federation instead of France he may have cracked the 2900 barrier.

A rating scam has seen players gain 230 points a month! playing only 12 games!

https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopi...

<it's just another example (as if we needed more proof) just how unsafe and inaccurate the rating system is>

<the number itself means nothing>

Firouzja would obviously not have gained 100+ Elo the same way some amateurs did that through online play in events as described in one of the links above:

<any rating reports or title norms arising from such events shall not be submitted by US Chess to FIDE for rating and the games shall not be rated by US Chess except as online play>

As I said FIDE have closed the loophole (and to their credit acted fairly quickly) but some ratings still stand. They are hybrid tournaments online with arbiters and count as OTB ratings. If, as it appears and is claimed some players have been selling ratings points what faith can anyone have in the system.

<I think ratings in general give a fairly good measure of players.>

I fully agree, a good measure, a guide line and the good players have higher numbers but the actual number itself should not be used as a benchmark.

Whooppee! someone has made 2700 before they are old enough to vote is not what Prof. ELo had in mind when he created the system.

'Elo ratings are comparative only, and are valid only within the rating pool in which they were calculated, rather than being an absolute measure of a player's strength.'

CHEAP ELOs?
In order for Firouzja to qualify for the Candidates final Elo-ticket, the Frenchmen have expressly set up 3 mini matches, pairing Firouzja with some lower ranked old timers:

2 games: Alexandre Dgebuadze (Elo 2439)

2 games: Andrei Shchekachev (Elo 2506)

2 games: Sergey A Fedorchuk (Elo 2546)

2 games: Sergey A Fedorchuk (Elo 2546)*

*It appears there is a second match, scheduled for the 23rd. Probably a back-up in case of a setback. Also, he may withdraw if he starts of with 5/5 (+8.8).

Firouzja needs Elo 7,0 to surpass Wesley So.

Today, he won 1st game and earned Elo 1,3

Daily Live games here: https://www.chartrestv.fr/fr/

FIDE taking a critical view on Alireza Firouzja rating-stunt. The event might be disregarded rating wise.

<offramp: I found this on the internet about Strumica. I had never heard of it and it is really interesting:

"One harkens back to Strumica 1995, one of the best-known fake tournaments ever. In a four player sextuple round robin, the scores were:

Azmaiparashvili 16/18
Kutirov 11.5/18
Kurajica 4.5/18
Rashkovsky 4/18

I won't go into details about the bottom two players - they are basically blacklisted as known cheats. I know very little about Kutirov, other than the fact that he never had a rating over 2370 until 1995, then went from 2330 in late 1994 to 2525 in mid-1996, got the GM title, and has been haemorrhaging points - currently at 2367. Oh yeah, that jump (helped so greatly by Strumica) got him the IM AND GM titles. And Azmaiparashvili? Well, he was a world top 100 GM - no one questions his strength. Strumica helped him go from 2610 to 2660 - quite a huge jump for one rating list. Of course, Azmai showed his class, got as high as 2681, and is now 2676. Strumica or no Strumica, he's good.">

Zurab Azmaiparashvili

<ray keene>'s kibitz at that page, immediately after the foregoing, closed with:

FIDE reiterates its unwavering commitment to upholding fair play and ensuring equal opportunities for all chess players.>