Gukesh ends Anand’s 37-year reign as top Indian player in chess rankings

Chennai: Grandmaster D Gukesh has replaced the legendary Viswanathan Anand as India’s top chess player after more than three decades. Anand has been India’s number one since July 1986. The 17-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai had lost to Magnus Carlsen in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup in Baku. He has overtaken Anand in the rankings to reach world number eight.

Gukesh entered the top 10 of the rating list for the first time. According to the September 1 ranking of FIDE, Gukesh has 2758 rating points while Anand is at the ninth position with 2754 rating points. Gukesh has improved three places as per the ranking list of August 1.

Another young Indian player R Praggnanandhaa, who lost to Magnus Carlsen in the World Cup final, has moved up to 19th position in the list with 2727 rating points. He is India’s third best ranked player after Gukesh and Anand.

There are five Indians in the top 30 in this ranking. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi is at 27th and Arjun Arigesi is at 29th position. Experienced P Harikrishna is at 31st position. Gukesh had surpassed his idol and mentor Anand in the FIDE live world rankings during the World Cup in Baku.

Anand has been India’s top player since July 1, 1986. He remained in this position for more than 37 years. Gukesh and Praggnananda are part of India’s Asian Games team. Both these players will compete in the Tata Steel Chess tournament starting on September 5 after participating in a practice camp in Kolkata.