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D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi in top-five in latest FIDE chess rankings; Koneru Humpy leads India’s women contingent
Magnus Carlsen remains as the leader in the FIDE rankings with an ELO rating of 2831, followed by American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura.
2024 was an action-packed year for India in chess as D Gukesh reigned supreme to clinch the World Chess Championship in Singapore. It was followed by Koneru Humpy winning the World Rapid Championship in New York. In the latest FIDE rankings, which were released on Wednesday, Gukesh remains in fifth position, behind Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, who is fourth with a rating of 2801. Meanwhile, Gukesh has an ELO rating of 2783.
Koneru is sixth in the FIDE rankings for women with a rating of 2523, with Divya Deshmukh in 14th spot with a rating of 2490. Meanwhile, D Harika is 16th with an ELO rating of 2489. R Vaishali, who bagged bronze at the Blitz C’ship, is 19th in the standings. The 21-year-old Grandmaster defeated Zhu Jiner 2.5-1.5 in the quarterfinals, but then lost to eventual champion Ju Wenjun 0.5-2.5 in the semi-finals. On Day 1 of the blitz competition, Vaishali was on top of the women’s standings, with eight wins and three draws to reach the knockout stage.
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Magnus Carlsen remains as the leader in the FIDE rankings with an ELO rating of 2831, followed by American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, Viswanathan Anand is 10th with an ELO rating of 2750.
Gukesh defeated defending champion Ding Liren at the World Chess Championship, coming out on top in the decisive fourteenth game. The game began on an equal footing and it looked like it was going according to Liren’s plan, but a massive blunder by the Chinese Grandmaster in the 55th move saw him resign and concede to Gukesh, who became the youngest-ever world champion, and also India’s second after Anand.
Gukesh’s win sent social media into a state of meltdown, with fans, current and former chess players paying tributes. But it also received a negative response from some, including Carlsen, Nakamura and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. The trio felt that the World Championship was of poor quality. After his victory, Gukesh is also set to get the Khel Ratna award.
