Chess
Arjun Erigaisi topples world champ Ding Liren to become world no. 5 in FIDE ranking
The 20-year-old Indian grandmaster defeated 14-year-old GM Aryan Chopra with the White pieces in the Menorca Chess Open 2024 penultimate round.
Arjun Erigaisi (Source: International Chess Federation/Twitter)
Arjun Erigaisi, who became India's no. 1 chess player early this week, attained the world no. 5 in the FIDE Classic Ranking with 2762 Elo rating points, making a four-place jump from his previous world ranking of 9.
The 20-year-old Indian grandmaster defeated 14-year-old GM Aryan Chopra with the White pieces in the penultimate round of the Menorca Chess Open 2024.
This win propelled him to the world no. 5 ranking, toppling the reigning world champion Ding Liren, who will be challenged by the winner of the ongoing Candidates event later this year.
Liren also has a 2762 Elo rating but the Indian GM has a +6.0 edge over the Chinese star for winning 17 games more than the former.
Arjun, who is not part of India's five-member Candidates contingent, has the sole lead with 7/8 points going into the final round of Menorca.
Meanwhile, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, the second-ranked Indian on the FIDE list, slipped to world no. 11 with a 2751 Elo rating.
Arjun benefitted from strong finishes at the Grenke Open, 5th Shengzhen Chess Masters and Bundesliga.
D Gukesh, who is currently competing at the Candidates in Canada, is India's third highest-ranked player with a 2748.1 Elo rating at world no. 13, as R Praggnanandhaa is ranked 15th with a 2746.8 elo rating.
