Thats a good question and one I've been thinking about for years. I've had many disscusions about this topic and I've come to the conclusion, right or wrong, that anyone who has a title, M,FM, IM, GM is a heavy weight. The tricky thing is defining the lower class players. In the US you have the 'class system' A, B, C, D. You can still be a heavy weight relative to the class that you are in!
Maybe we should consult FIDE and suggest that they implement boxing terms, feather weight, welter weight, fly weight, middle weight etc. Just kidding.
Red
Here is an interesting thought a friend made me think of. He told me that in chess im a heavy weight which suprised me to be honest because i didnt feel i was a heavy weight to me 1800-1900+ isnt that heavy just strong enough not to be an easy beat, but no master level. Not really heavy weight, i felt heavy weight was at least 2000+ .Which begs the question what does constitute a heavy weight player ? let me know what your thoughts are on this and why u think that . It got me thinking maybe it gets u thinking too....