D Gukesh finishes third at Norway Chess; breaks into top 15 world ranking

Indian Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh continued his fine form as he finished third at the 2023 Norway Chess Open on Friday. The 17-year-old finished with 14.5 points out of a possible 27.

In a strong field which consisted of some of the best players in the world including former world champion Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and others Gukesh showcased immense strength to gain a total of 8.1 rating points.

The Tamil Nadu lad defeated world number 8 GM Wesley So in a thrilling Armageddon with the black pieces to wrap up his campaign only behind GM Nakamura and GM Fabiano Caruana in Norway.

While Nakamura notched up 16.5 points in the tournament, Caruana came second with 16 points.

Gukesh finished ahead of the likes of GM Anish Giri (13 points), Wesley So (12.5), Magnus Carlsen (11.5), and others.

The strong display in the tournament, also propelled the teenaged Gukesh into the top 15 in the world rankings for the first time ever. He is now ranked 13th in the world with a LIVE rating of 2744.1.

This is the first time in his career that the Indian teenager has broken the 2740 rating barrier. He is also only the third Indian after former world champion Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishan to have attained a rating of over 2740.