Chess
Chess Olympiad 2026: World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju dips below 2700
Gukesh Dommaraju is not the first world chess champion to fall below 2700.
Gukesh Dommaraju at 2026 Chess Olympiad (Photo credit: Rafal Oleksiewicz/FIDE)
India's reigning world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju dipped below the 2700-rating mark for the first time in over four years on Thursday.
Gukesh, who was held to a draw by Indonesia's IM Satria Duta Cahaya at the ongoing 2026 Chess Olympiad, lost 3.5 rating points.
The 20-year-old from Chennai is now rated 2699.5 as a result in the LIVE ratings, pushing him out of the 2700-club for the first time since August 2022.
Gukesh had attained his peak rating of 2794 nearly two years ago in October 2024 after his unbeaten run led India to the 2024 Chess Olympiad title in Budapest.
While the draw against Cahaya in isolation looks a bleak result, Gukesh's risk free approach with the black pieces was the need of the hour for reigning champions India, who were staring down the barrel as Nihal Sarin battled a dead lost position on Board 2.
Though Nihal managed to emerge victorious with an exchange sacrifice, the world champion's cautious approach against the lower-rated approach was understandable to salvage points for his team.
Is Gukesh the first world champion below 2700?
Firstly, it is important to note that Gukesh has not fallen below 2700 officially. He has dipped in the LIVE ratings, which is adjusted after every match played.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) updates official rankings at the start of every month and the the reigning world champion has enough time to make up lost ground before the next rating list is published.
Even with the above caveat, Gukesh is not the first world champion to be rated below 2700.
FIDE adopted the elo system developed by Hungarian-American physics professor and chess master Arpad Elo in 1970 and published it's first official rankings the following year.
GM Boris Spassky, the reigning world champion during that period, was rated 2690. He was ranked world No 2 in that initial list led by Bobby Fischer (2760).
Anatoly Karpov, the 12th world chess champion crowned in 1975, kept dipping below the 2700-mark during the course of his reign.
During the split world championship era, GM Alexander Khalifman in 1999 and GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov in 2004 were rated well below the 2700-mark.