 "Explained: How D Gukesh surpassed Arjun Erigaisi to become India's new No 1 in FIDE rankings")
World chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh recently overtook Arjun Erigaisi to become the highest-ranked Indian in the updated FIDE rankings. Gukesh jumped to fourth place in the FIDE rankings and currently as 2784 rating points. Arjun, who had 2801 rating points before the ongoing 2025 Tata Steel Chess tournament, slipped a place to fifth with 2779.5 rating points.
Gukesh, on the other hand, had 2777 rating points at the start of January. Prior to the tournament, the 18-year-old Gukesh was ranked fifth in FIDE rankings. The standings, however, could change during the course of the tournament in Netherlands, with only five rounds having been completed.
How Gukesh overtook Arjun to become India’s new No 1 in FIDE rankings
Both Gukesh and Arjun have had contrasting fortunes in the ongoing Tata Steel Chess tournament in Netherlands. Gukesh began his campaign with a win over home favourite Anish Giri and also defeated Vincent Keymer on Wednesday. The youngster from Chennai also played out draws against Fabiano Caruana, Vladimir Fedoseev and Alexey Sarana.
Arjun, meanwhile, began with a loss to fellow Indian Pentala Harikrishna in the opening game, before drawing against Anish Giri in Game 2. He then suffered consecutive losses to R Praggnanandhaa and Vladimir Fedoseev in the third and fourth games respectively, before playing out a draw against Leon Luke Mendonca. With just 1/5 points, Arjun is currently tied with Mendonca at the bottom of the standings in the Masters section. Gukesh is in third place with 3.5/5 points, behind Praggnanandhaa (4/5) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (4/5).
Gukesh is yet to lose a game since he clinched a historic World Chess Championship title in Singapore in December 2024. He had defeated China’s Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 to become only the second Indian, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand, to clinch he World Championship title. Gukesh then decided to skip the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York.
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