India, Sept. 30 -- Triggered by Hikaru Nakamura's desperate attempt to qualify for the 2026 Candidates, FIDE has announced a huge change to its rating system, which will take effect on October 1. According to the new amendment, the change will apply to players rated 2650 and above, affecting approximately 70 top-rated GMs. The 400-point rule has been scrapped in the change.

According to the rule, a player was never seen as more than 400 rating points higher-rated than their opponent, and a top player could bag the minimum 0.8 rating points for every win against weaker players. Now FIDE has changed its rule to, "8.3.1 For each game played against a rated player, determine the difference in rating between the player and their opponent, D."...