India’s D Gukesh becomes India’s top chess player: After 37 years, an Indian player surpasses Viswanathan Anand in the ranking

D Gukesh reached number eight in the world rankings.

17-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh has become the top Indian chess player. Gukesh surpassed Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand after 3 decades. Anand has been India’s No. 1 since July 1986. Chennai’s Gukesh had recently lost to Magnus Carlsen in the quarter-finals of the FIDE World Cup in Baku.

Gukesh has now overtaken Anand to reach No.8 in the world. Gukesh has entered the top-10 of the FIDE ratings for the first time. Five-time world champion Anand is currently ranked 9th.

Five Indian players in top-30
As per the FIDE ratings released on September 1, Gukesh has a rating of 2758 while Anand is 2754. Gukesh has gained three places in the ratings since August 1.

Chess World Cup finalist R Praggnanandhaa has moved up to number 19 in the table with a rating of 2727. He is India’s number 3 player after Gukesh and Anand.

Currently, there are five Indians in the top-30 and they include Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (No.27) and Arjun Erigaisi (No.29). Whereas, veteran P Harikrishna is at 31st position.

Gukesh will participate in Asiad
Gukesh and Praggnanandhan will also be seen in the upcoming Asian Games. Both players are part of the Indian team. Both will attend the camp in Kolkata and then participate in the Tata Steel Chess India tournament from 5th September. Apart from Gukesh and Praggnananda, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy will be part of the men’s team. Whereas, in the women’s team Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agarwal and Savita Sri B will be in the women’s team.