Praggnanandhaa, Humpy Emerge as Top-Rated Indians in FIDE Classical Rankings

1 September-Kolkata, India: Chennai’s R Praggnanandhaa is the current top-ranking Indian chess player in the FIDE classical ratings. The 20-year old Indian missed the chance to move up into the top 3 after losing the spot to the Italian-American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana into the top three, even if he just had the chance to do so.

Pragganandhaa is enjoying the time of his life after defeating his fellow countryman and grandmaster D Gukesh in the opening round of the Sinquefield Cup earlier this month and moving up in the top ratings.

And if he had won the renowned tournament held by the Saint Louis Chess Club in the US state of Missouri, he might have guaranteed his spot among the top three in the FIDE rankings for the first time in his career. “Pragg” and American Grand Masters Caruana and Wesley So finished tied on 5.5 points, with the So winning the tournament in blitz tie-breaks.

Who are in the top rankings?

However, with a Classical rating of 2789, Caruana remains four rating points ahead of Praggnanandhaa, but they still separate each other slightly. Despite recent rating point losses, Arjun and Gukesh continue to hold fifth and sixth places, respectively, with ratings of 2771 and 2767.

On the other hand, American Wesley So and German Vincent Keymer enter the top rankings of the FIDE ratings and are among the major winners as they move up into the top 10 in seventh and tenth place, respectively. The latter’s rise was aided by his victory in the Grand Chess Tour final.

On the other hand, American Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura (2807) and current World No. 1 and five-time champion Magnus Carlsen (2839) occupy the first two positions in the FIDE ratings and are the only players with a rating higher than 2800 at the moment.

Koneru Humpy remains constant in the FIDE rankings

Chinese Grand Masters, led by Hou Yifan, dominate the top four positions in the FIDE women’s ratings. With a rating of 2535, Humpy—who recently lost to Divya Deshmukh in the final of the FIDE Women’s World Cup and finished second—remains the only Indian in the top ten, sharing fifth place with Ukrainian general manager and former world champion Anna Muzychuk.

Deshmukh, who won the World Cup and earned her GM designation without obtaining the three norms, is the next-highest-rated Indian in the standings. With a rating of 2478, they currently rank her 14th.

GMs R Vaishali (2452) and Harika Dronavalli (2467) are in 19th and 22nd place, respectively.