Making the right moves, on and off the chess board

A dive into a database of about 475,000 chess players from across the world shows that India has made significant strides in the past decade

India’s double win at the 45th Chess Olympiad — the most prestigious team competition in world chess — has been in the making for about a decade. A sizeable number of Indians at the top, and at the top of their game, enabled India to field formidable quartets in both the men’s and women’s competitions. And the march may not stop here.

The Indian chess players with their 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 gold medals during a felicitation programme by All India Chess Federation, in Delhi. (Sanjay Sharma)

A dive into a database of about 475,000 chess players from across the world with an official world

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  A Formidable Quartet

  This bunching up of success, dovetailed with a systemic and cultural change, is a far cry from the isolated breakout moment of Indian chess in the mid-1980s. That came from a 15-year-old Viswanathan Anand, who was almost an anachronism in the men’s game dominated by what was then the Soviet Republic and by a relatively older lot of players. Anand played his first Chess Olympiad in 1984. That year, India finished in 33rd in men’s and 16th in the women’s competition. The Chess Olympiad requires a team of four. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, the teams put together by India were solid and competent. Anand was accompanied by the likes of Pravin Thipsay and Dibyendu Barua but mounting a title challenge was a bigger ask. In the past decade, as depth increased, India became a regular feature in the top 10, culminating in the 2024 summit. The average Elo rating, the underpinning of the world ranking system in chess, of this Indian men’s team was 2,753 — the highest ever for India at the Chess Olympiad and the second highest, after the US, this year. Similarly, at 2,467, this was the second-highest Elo rating for an Indian women’s team, after the 2022 edition.
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  Across the Board

  In September 2015, in both men and women, India had only one player (Anand) in the world top 15 ranking. In September 2024, it had four apiece. In what augurs well for India, the country has built a formidable depth of chess players in the past decade. During this period, the number of Indians in the top 100 has increased from four to 11 for men, and from four to 9 for women. This greater presence is seen even lower down the ranks. A measure of this is the four titles – Grandmaster, International Master, FIDE Master, Candidate Master — prefixed to a player on achieving a certain Elo rating. At the top, there’s the Grandmaster (GM) title, which requires an Elo rating of 2,500 for men and 2,300 for women. Between September 2015 and September 2024, India registered the highest increase across these four titles -- 369 players (from 277 to 646). As a result, on the count of players with any of these four titles, India rose from 13th place in 2015 to 5th in 2024. Russia has the highest (2,521), followed by Germany (1,605), the US (950) and Spain (848).
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  Taking to the 64 Squares

  A lot more Indians are playing chess today. In September 2015, India had the third-highest count of players with an Elo rating. In September 2024, it was the highest. During this period, India registered an increase of 24,666 players with an Elo rating, which was roughly 5,600 more players than the next best, Russia. While the FIDE database of about 475,000 players is dominated by men, the share of women players has increased from 9.7% to 10.9% during this period. With 3,090 female players, India registered the second-highest increase in absolute terms, after Russia (3,567). Women have also increased their share among Indian chess players from 10.2% to 11.5%.
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  Catch Them Young

  Among the top 10 countries by number of players, between September 2015 and September 2024, India is the only one that has improved its Elo ratings across all age groups. While India did not lead in any of these age brackets, what this shows is progress. The improvement is especially dramatic in the two youngest age groups: 300 points in the under-12 age group and 192 points in the 12-18 years bracket. Across both genders, in September 2015, India had 19 players under the age of 20 in the top 100 and their average Elo rating was 2,438. Today, India has 26 rated players below 20 years of age and their average Elo rating is at 2,512 — an increase of 74 points. Most of them took to the game while Anand was winning his four world titles between 2007 and 2012. One of them, 18-year-old D Gukesh, will take on China’s Ding Liren for the men’s World Chess Championship in November. The twin Chess Olympiad wins have probably ensured a lot more Indians tune in.

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