World Chess champion Gukesh achieves career-high No. 3 in FIDE Rankings

India’s reigning world chess champion D Gukesh has reached a career-best No. 3 ranking in the latest FIDE classical ratings released on Saturday.

Fellow Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa has also made a strong comeback into the top 10.

The 18-year-old Gukesh, who has been in sensational form since defeating China’s Ding Liren to claim the world title in Singapore last December, gained 10 rating points to reach 2787. This remarkable rise places him just behind Hikaru Nakamura (2802) of the USA, while Norwegian chess legend Magnus Carlsen continues to hold the top spot with a 2833 rating.

Gukesh recently finished as the runner-up at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, losing to Praggnanandhaa in a tiebreak. Despite this, his consistent performances have solidified his place among the elite in global chess.

Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa, who is currently competing in the Prague Masters, has returned to the top 10 for the first time since July last year. Thanks to his victory at the Tata Steel Masters, he has climbed to the eighth position with a rating of 2758, gaining 17 points in the process.

Among other Indian players, Arjun Erigaisi, who was previously the country’s highest-ranked player, has dropped to No. 5 with a rating of 2777.

In the women’s FIDE rankings, Koneru Humpy remains the only Indian in the top 10, securing the sixth spot with a rating of 2528. R Vaishali (2484) and Harika Dronavalli (2483) are ranked 14th and 16th, respectively.

FIDE ratings differ from the live Elo ratings, which are updated in real-time based on ongoing games.