File image of D Gukesh.© X (Twitter)

File photo of D Gukesh.© AFP

File photo of R Praggnanandhaa.© FIDE

Arjun Erigaisi maintained his rating of 2801 and retained the fourth spot while newly-crowned World Classical World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju occupied the fifth position in the classical Open section in the first ranking list of 2025 released by International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Wednesday. Erigaisi, the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to cross the exalted 2800 rating in classical chess, has a rating of 2801 and is just one ELO behind American Hikaru Nakamura (2802). Another American Fabiano Caruana (2803) is a further one ELO ahead at No. 2 position in a hot chase for the second spot behind Magnus Carlsen, who leads the chart with a rating of 2831.

Gukesh, who defeated China’s Ding Liren — ranked 22nd with a rating of 2728 — to win the World Championship title in Singapore a couple of weeks back, completes the top five with a rating of 2783.

Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand is the third Indian in the top ten, placed 10th in the rankings with a rating of 2750.

Representing the healthy nature of Indian chess following the country’s gold medal-winning performance in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, there are nine players from the country in the Top 50 with Praggnanandhaa at 13th with a rating of 2741, VR Aravindh Chithambaram (2726) at 23rd, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2721) at 24th spot followed by Pentala Harikrishna (2695) at 36th, Nihal Sarin (2687) at 41st and Raunak Sadhwani (2675) at 48th position.

Among the other Indians, Murali Karthikeyan (2651) is at 77th position followed by Leon Luke Mendonca (2639) at 95th, S.L Narayanan (2638) at 9th and Abhimanyu Puranik (2636) at the 100th position.

In the women’s section, Chinese players occupy the top four places in the classical rankings, with former World Champion Hou Yifan occupying the top spot with a 2633 ELO rating followed by Ju Wenjun (2561) at second, Tan Zhongyi (2561) at third and Lei Tingjie (2552) at fourth.

India’s Koneru Humpy is placed sixth with a rating of 2523 and is the lone Indian in the top 10 in women’s rankings. Divya Deshmukh with a rating of 2490 is ranked 14th with Dronavalli Harika

(2489) is two spots behind at 16th.

Vaishali Rameshbabu, the third Indian woman to be awarded the Grandmaster title, is ranked 19th with a rating of 2476. Vantika Agrawal, a key member of the Indian team that won the women’s gold medal in the 35th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, is ranked 39th with a rating of 2411. Tania Sachdev is 51st with a rating of 2396 followed by P.V. Nandhidhaa (2380) at 65th, Bhakti Kulkarni (2357) at 83rd, Padmini Rout (2356) at 85th and Velpula Sarayu (2347) at 95 completing the top-100.

In the junior men’s section, World Champion Gukesh is ranked No.1 with Praggnanandhaa close behind in second position.

The youngest-ever World Champion in the history of the game, Gukesh Dommaraju met with one of the leading business tycoons of the country, Gautam Adani, who heaped praise on the 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster for his tremendous achievement in the world of Chess. Gukesh, who scripted history by becoming the youngest-ever World Champion in chess, beat Ding Liren of China in the 14-game match in Singapore. The 18-year-old from Chennai capitalised on a blunder by Ding in the winner-takes-all 14th game to dethrone the reigning champion, winning the match 7.5 to 6.5 and become the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to become the World Champion in classical chess.

“It was an absolute privilege to meet and hear the victory story of reigning World Chess Champion @DGukesh. Equally inspiring was meeting his incredible parents, Dr. Rajinikanth and Dr. Padmavathi, whose quiet sacrifices laid the foundation for his success.

“At just 18, Gukesh’s poise and brilliance are a testament to India’s unstoppable youth. Prodigies like him are inspiring a new generation, building an army of champions ready to dominate global chess for decades. This is the confident, resurgent, and rising India. Jai Hind!,” read the post by Adani on X.

Gukesh broke the four-decade-old record of chess legend Garry Kasparov, who won the title in 1985 at the age of 22 years, 6 months, and 27 days. Gukesh is the second Indian to win the World Chess Championship title, claiming the title in just over a decade after five-time winner Viswanathan Anand had lost the title to Magnus Carlsen of Norway in Chennai in 2013. Carlsen abdicated the crown in 2023, paving the way for Ding to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Adani’s prediction of Indian youngsters dominating chess has already begun with prodigious talents like Vaishali Rameshbabu, who has been awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE. Vaishali is the third Indian female Grandmaster, joining Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.

India’s chess team also made history at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Hungary, clinching gold in both the Open and Women’s sections. The women’s team secured the first-ever gold medal in this prestigious event. The year ended with Koneru Humpy regaining the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship after a gap of five years and Vaishali bagging the bronze in World Blitz Chess Championship on the final day of the year. The 37-year-old Humpy from Vijayawada finished with 8.5 points after beating Indonesia’s Irene Sukandar in the final round in New York.

In his response, Gukesh thanked the chairman of the Adani Group for inviting him and hoped that Indian chess would grow further with his support.

“Thanks, @gautam_adani Sir for inviting and meeting us and enjoyed the interaction we had and (was) impressed by the interest and vision shown towards the betterment of our youth, talent recognition, and development! Hope Chess in our country gets a further boost with your support for the sport!” Gukesh said in his post on X.

Thanks @gautam_adani Sir for inviting and meeting us and enjoyed the interaction we had and impressed by the interest and vision shown towards the betterment of our youth, talent recognition and development !

Hope Chess in our country gets further boost with your support for the… https://t.co/8VaNGvmJSV

— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) January 1, 2025

India has achieved yet another proud milestone in the international chess arena. The 18-year-old promising Grandmaster, D. Gukesh, delivered a stellar performance to defeat reigning champion Ding Liren of China and claim the title of the 2024 World Chess Champion. In a thrilling and historic final, Gukesh showcased remarkable composure and excellence to defeat Ding Liren with a score of 7.5-6.5. At the age of 18 years, 8 months, and 14 days, Gukesh became the youngest champion in the history of chess.

Gukesh broke the four-decade-old record of chess legend Garry Kasparov, who won the title in 1985 at the age of 22 years, 6 months, and 27 days.

The President of the All-India Chess Federation, Nitin Narang, congratulated Gukesh on this achievement and said, “Gukesh’s victory is not just a milestone in his career but also inscribes India’s name in golden letters in the history of chess. Throughout the tournament, he displayed exceptional focus and patience, which is truly inspiring. Gukesh has emerged as a role model for the youth of today.”

Narang said, “After the ‘King of Chess,’ Viswanathan Anand, it would not be wrong to call Gukesh the ‘Crown Prince of Chess.’ Today, Gukesh has proven himself to be the Abhimanyu of chess, breaking through his opponent’s defenses with the right moves at the right time. In the truest sense, Gukesh has reaped the rewards of his ten years of hard work.”

It is often said that behind every champion, there is an extraordinary team working tirelessly.

It is no coincidence that Paddy Upton, the renowned professional coach who has worked with the Indian cricket and hockey teams, put in relentless efforts to enhance Gukesh’s mental conditioning. This mental conditioning proved to be a game-changer, enabling Gukesh to meticulously analyse every move of his opponent and ultimately turn the tide of the match by its conclusion.

It was his coach Grzegorz Gajewski who harnessed his talent, enthused him with undying sprit to win the game, improve his skills of playing on very low time and most importantly trained him not to collapse during tough time.

Gukesh had a mentor like Viswanathan Anand, who, like Dronacharya, refined his talent.

Gukesh’s entire team – Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Pentala Harikrishna, Vincent Keymer, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Jan Klimkowski – demonstrated incredible enthusiasm and team spirit, staying by his side and helping Gukesh turn the game in India’s favour.

With this, Gukesh became the youngest World Chess Champion in history. He is also the second Indian player to win the World Chess Championship title. Previously, this honour was held by five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand. By winning this title after Viswanathan Anand, Gukesh has written a new chapter in Indian chess history.

India has had two World Chess Champions so far-Viswanathan Anand and D. Gukesh. D. Gukesh’s historic victory is not only a moment of pride for India but will also ignite enthusiasm and inspiration for chess among the youth of the country.

Gukesh’s victory is not just an opportunity for celebration; it has created many emotional moments for all of us. This victory has opened doors to many possibilities and has made us aware of our potential.

India had long awaited a young talent who could raise the nation’s flag on the global stage and carry forward the legacy of Viswanathan Anand. Gukesh has not only lived up to our expectations but has gone beyond them. It was Viswanathan Anand who broke the dominance of the Soviet and Western countries in chess and established India’s supremacy. Gukesh has now taken that victorious journey forward.

In true sense, with Gukesh’s victory, the 2.0 chapter of chess in India has begun, one that will witness many new records being added. Early signs of this shift in global chess were evident at the beginning of 2024, as India’s time was clearly approaching.

In the recently concluded FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024, India’s double team won two gold medals, and in the individual category, four gold medals, establishing the nation as the Best Chess Nation in the World.

Around 180 countries participated in this Olympiad, and it marked the first time in chess Olympiad history that one country achieved such dominance.

Today, alongside Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi is also featured in the FIDE Top 5 Rankings.

Gukesh’s victory has created a renewed sense of excitement for chess in the country, and we are likely to see positive results in the future.

Narang stated that India, due to its vast population and immense talent, is emerging as the largest chess ecosystem in the world, as the Chess Federation is determined to make “Chess in Every Home” a reality. Our motto is Har Ghar Chess, Ghar-Ghar Chess

Today, many countries across the world are seeking inspiration and guidance from India. Several nations from Southeast Asia and Africa have reached out to us for technical resources, such as coaches, arbiters, and our grandmaster network.

Indian challenger D Gukesh yet again proved equal to the task with defending champion Ding Liren of China as the 10th game of the World Chess Championship match between them ended in a draw without much excitement in Singapore on Saturday. It was by far the easiest of the game with black pieces for Gukesh as the position played itself out of a London system game wherein Ding Liren took no risks and was also apparently happy with the drawn result. The seventh consecutive draw — and eighth of the match — left both players on an identical tally of 5 points each, still shy of 2.5 points in order to win the championship.

The two players signed peace after 36 moves.

Just four more classical games are left to be played in the USD 2.5 million prize money championship and if a tied result happens after 14 rounds, there will be games under faster time control to determine the winner.

The 32-year-old Liren had won the opening game while the 18-year-old Gukesh had emerged victorious in the third game.

Liren continued with his London system in the opening and came with a slight change early that left the pawn structure symmetrical. The tactic might have worked on another day but Gukesh for once decided not to press hard as black out of an equal position.

Gukesh, the younger ever challenger, had his task cut out and he passed all the tests with flying colours.

“With black to get a solid draw like this is always a good result. There are four more exciting games to go,” Gukesh said later at the post-game conference.

“It’s obviously getting closer and closer but the thing is to play good games. I have had had some experience playing four games matches. I rarely lost with white pieces but in this situation I will play with black.” Before the start of the 10th game, Liren had three white games against Gukesh’s three but now it’s a level playing field with just four more games to go.

“Nowadays, white and black color doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s just four more very interesting games to go,” said the Indian.

“Now cost of one game is higher than before, but my approach and my goal is still the same — to play good games.” To this, Liren said, “There’s no so much room to make mistakes, every loss will result in very bad situation. We need to be careful with every move.” For Gukesh, the hardest decision was to go for a completely equal position on move 11 and even though the position had occurred a few times before in Grandmaster games, it did not look like either the Indian or Liren was aware of what had happened in those games.

It did not take long for the world to decide when Liren went for a series of exchanges, including the queen, that the game was heading towards a draw.

However, as per the contract, both players were still obliged to play 40 moves before agreeing to split the point.

Gukesh offered a trade of the last remaining rook on board on move 23 and Liren had to exchange it. A few moves later, the Knights were off the board too leading to a pure Bishops endgame with neither side having anything to play for.

Liren could probably have had the upper hand only from a psychological point of view as his Bishop and King were superior around the center, but with black having no weaknesses to hit upon, the result was a foregone conclusion.

While the time on the clock has been a critical factor right through, with Liren under pressure on most occasions, it was not a case in game 10 as both players had over 35 minutes to complete the last four moves when the draw was agreed.

With just four games to go, all eyes will be on Gukesh to call the shots in the next game.

For Liren, the plan has worked so far and it can be safely said that Gukesh has been matched move-for-move despite many world class player believing it will be a one-sided contest.

Waiting for opponent to make mistakes?

Both Gukesh and Liren dismissed such an idea.

“I don’t think the wait for mistakes will be so long. There are mistakes happening in every game, to be honest,” Gukesh.

“Every game we are hoping to create chances ourselves, not hoping the opponent will do some mistakes. Otherwise we would play some tricks which are not objectively good, but to check the opponent,” Liren.

On evolution of chess and his father being referred to as chess player

“Yeah, he (Gukesh’s father) would be happy to hear that he is a chess player,” said Gukesh with a smile.

Gukesh’s father Rajinikanth has quit his practice as an ENT specialist to be by the side of his teenage son around the world.

Replying another question, Gukesh said, “Chess is becoming more of a sport. Everyone has the same resources and you have to find that little edge that will help you stand out.” The Moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 c5 5.Be2 Bd6 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.c4 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nh5 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Ne4 Nf6 13.Nxf6+ Bxf6 14.Qxd8 Rxd8 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Rfd1 Bd7 17.Rac1 Be8 18.Rxd8 Rxd8 19.Kf1 Kg7 20.a3 f5 21.Ke1 Kf6 22.Be2 Ne7 23.g3 Rc8 24.Rxc8 Nxc8 25.Nd2 Nd6 26.Nc4 Nxc4 27.Bxc4 Bc6 28.f4 b6 29.Kd2 Ke7 30.Kc3 Kd6 31.b4 f6 32.Kd4 h6 33.Bb3 Bb7 34.Bc4 Bc6 35.Bb3 Bb7 36.Bc4 Bc6. Game drawn.

Indian challenger D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren of China played out their fifth draw on the trot in a nervy eighth game of the World Chess Championship to remain level on points in Singapore on Wednesday. The drawn match left both the players on an identical tally of 4 points each, still shy of 3.5 points in order to win the championship. The two players signed peace after 51 moves. It was the sixth draw of the 14-round match.

The 32-year-old Liren had won the opening game while the 18-year-old Gukesh had emerged victorious in the third game.

The second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh games had ended in draws.

Liren decided against risking much and took home a draw while it was possible in a complicated position. The game lasted more than four hours.

It seemed like Gukesh would also take it given the chances Liren has misplayed in the match.

Just six more games are left to be played in the USD 2.5 million championship and if a tied result happens after 14 rounds, there will be games under faster time control to determine the winner.

The next two back-to-back games might just turn out to be crucial to the outcome of the match.

It was kind of surprising when Gukesh decided not to go for the draw initially through repetition which would have ended the game some time earlier.

“I would have taken the draw if I thought I was worse but I did not, I had to be very precise, I missed one of his resource. I am not very sure I think the position had more tricks,” Gukesh later said.

“The position where I didn’t repeat, I didn’t think I was in much danger. I always thought with his weak king and my strong pawn on b3, I should have play. I thought maybe I might even have some chances. But okay, yeah, it was just a misjudgment of the position.” It was an English opening by Liren who played his fourth white game and Gukesh chose for a variation favoured by Alexei Shirov.

Obviously, Gukesh has something planned for every opening and Wednesday was no exception and it was yet again Liren who had to sink in to a long thought in order to counter the black’s opening idea.

The players were out of their preparation pretty early in the game. The ensuing middle game was far more complicated than the average chess buff would have imagined even with the help of computer analysis.

As it happened, Gukesh threw caution to the winds by going for an uneven pawn structure that would offer a really complicated struggle.

Gukesh thanked his team for managing to surprise Liren in the openings.

“My team they’re been doing great job, not only ‘Gaju’ (Grzegorz Gajewski), but other team members as well, we managed to surprise him in the openings, I would like to thank my team and hopefully more interesting ideas will come,” he said.

As has been the case thus far, Gukesh is the one imploring more even when he thought he could even be worse.

During the game, Liren had to sacrifice a pawn and the Chinese said it was more of a miscalculation more than anything else.

“Today during the game I didn’t realise I was winning at some point,” said Liren.

However, Gukesh did not find what could have been a perfect game. He played for a win nevertheless and in the end, the game reached a Bishop of opposite colours with pawns on only on the king side. The draw was just the result of another exciting game.

Gukesh will have the advantage of paying white in the next game. But, not many had thought that Liren will pose such a challenge for the Indian teenage sensation.

The Moves: 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Be7 4.Nf3 d6 5.g3 c6 6.Nxe7 Nxe7 7.Bg2 f6 8.0-0 Be6 9.b3 d5 10.Ba3 0-0 11.Rc1 a5 12.Ne1 Re8 13.f4 exf4 14.Rxf4 dxc4 15.bxc4 Ng6 16.Re4 Na6 17.Nc2 Qc7 18.Nd4 Bf7 19.d3 Ne5 20.Nf3 Nd7 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.Rb1 b5 23.cxb5 Qb6+ 24.Kf1 cxb5 25.Bb2 Bxa2 26.Bd4 Nac5 27.Rc1 Bb3 28.Qe1 Be6 29.Qf2 Rc8 30.Be3 Rc7 31.Nd4 Bf7 32.Nc6 Rxc6 33.Bxc6 Qxc6 34.Bxc5 h6 35.Ke1 b4 36.Qd4 Ne5 37.Kd2 Qg2 38.Qf2 Qd5 39.Qd4 Qg2 40.Qf2 Qd5 41.Qd4 Qa2+ 42.Rc2 Qe6 43.Qd8+ Kh7 44.Qxa5 b3 45.Rc1 Qd5 46.Qb4 Qg2 47.Qe4+ Qxe4 48.dxe4 b2 49.Rb1 Ba2 50.Rxb2 Nc4+ 51.Kc3 Nxb2. Game drawn.

The youngest-ever challenger to the world crown, D Gukesh let go of a very promising position and had to settle for a fourth consecutive draw against defending champion Ding Liren of China in a marathon seventh game of the World Chess Championship on Tuesday. The stalemate, which came after five hours and 22 minutes of nerve-wracking play, left both players on an identical tally of 3.5 points each, still shy of four more points in order to win the championship. The two players signed peace after 72 moves. It turned out to be a tough day in office again for Liren, who was staring at a losing position for a long time, till Gukesh blundered. The Indian, playing white, got a huge advantage but miscalculated to let the Chinese off the hook in what was the longest game of the match thus far.

It was a miraculous save by Liren after getting into what the chess pundits termed as a lost rook and minor piece endgame.

Earlier in the day, Gukesh yet again tightened the noose in the opening. He has clearly been the better player when it’s come to springing opening surprises.

Moving his knight forward on the first move, the Indian faced the Neo Grunfeld defense from Liren, and as early as on the seventh turn, Gukesh came up with a surprise idea.

Liren, who seemed to have solved his opening problems in the last couple of games, was at the receiving end on Tuesday, and even though he chose normal continuation, white’s position remained preferable.

Gukesh exerted pressure through the centre and got a dangerous-looking passed pawn in the early stages of the middle game, with the advantage of the bishop pair only adding to Liren’s woes.

The middle game saw inaccuracies from both sides, and it seemed that Liren was close to obtaining equality. However, the process had yet again eaten up most of Liren’s available time as the players are required to make the first 40 moves in two hours without any increment.

Gukesh went for the trade of queens after fracturing black’s pawn structure on the king side as the Indian got an indisputable advantage.

As has happened so many times in the past, the 40th move proved to be jinxed yet again as Liren lost a pawn. The Chinese either underestimated Gukesh’s chances or it was an oversight. Despite the advantage, Gukesh still had to go through the technicalities, which has not been his forte here.

Gukesh’s 45th move was not the best and Liren slowly clawed back into the game with some really resourceful play.

The tenacity of the Chinese came to the fore in the second time control also after he was left with just four minutes with a 30-second increment after each move is made.

Gukesh, who would have fancied his chances after the first time control, had to split the point after all the pawns were traded and he was left with a lone bishop.