Gukesh D replaces Viswanathan Anand as India’s No 1 chess player for the first time in 37 years

Grandmaster Gukesh D on Friday overtook the legendary Viswanathan Anand to be crowned the top-ranked Indian chess player for the first time in more than three decades.

Anand, who became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988, has continuously held the top spot among Indians since 1 July 1986.

Gukesh, who reached the quarter-finals of the recently-concluded FIDE World Cup in Baku before losing to eventual winner Magnus Carlsen, moved to the eighth spot in the world rankings with Anand slipping to ninth.

As per the FIDE ratings effective 1 September, Gukesh’s rating is 2758 while Anand’s is 2754. Gukesh has gained three places in the rating list since 1 August.

Another teen prodigy R Praggnanandhaa, who made the world take notice of him by reaching the World Cup final where he lost to Carlsen, has risen to No 19 in the list with a rating of 2727. He is India’s No 3 player behind Gukesh and Anand.

There are five Indians currently in the top 30 and that includes Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (No 27) and Arjun Erigaisi (No 29). The experienced P Harikrishna is 31st.

It’s official! Gukesh is India’s #1 in the #FIDErating list!