Three Indians have cracked the top ten in FIDE’s world chess rankings as of July 1st, a first in the sport. The winner of the Leon Masters, Arjun Erigaisi, is currently ranked number 4 in the world with 2,778 Elo points, putting him in close proximity to the 2,800 threshold.
Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, two chess prodigies competing in the Grand Chess Tour’s Superbet Classic, both finished in the top ten. With 2766.4 points, Gukesh is ranked seventh in the world, and Praggnanandhaa, with 2762.4 points, who gained 10 Elo points and is now ranked eighth, is in the top ten for the first time.
Viswanathan Anand, winner of five world championships, is back in the top eleven with 2751 points. Ding Liren, the reigning world champion, is now ranked fourteenth.
After obtaining 18.5 Elo points, Aravindh Chithambaram is now ranked 29th in the world and 6th in India. Currently, eleven Indian players are ranked in the top 100, four are ranked in the top 11, and six are ranked in the top 30.
Gukesh and Liren will compete in the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore, further attesting to India’s chess prowess.
