India has two representatives in the top 5 rankings in FIDE’s latest published rankings after a historic Chess Olympiad where both the Indian teams won gold medals while there were four individual golds as well for the country’s chess players.
In the chess rankings which are published every month, Arjun Erigaisi is ranked No 3 in the world while Gukesh is ranked No 5.
Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh are also on top of the lists in the open juniors and girls categories for this month after stellar performances at Budapest Chess Olympiad.
Both players won individual golds on their respective boards at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest last week, with Arjun Erigaisi currently just three points away from breaking into the elusive 2800 club. He gained 19 rating points. Meanwhile, Gukesh gained a whopping 30 rating points over the course of the past month to propel himself to the no 5 spot in the October 2024 rating list.
Both Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh have touched their career high ratings after the Chess Olympiad. Arjun Erigaisi overhauled Fabiano Caruana to break into the top 3 after the American star lost two rating points.
Meanwhile, the world champion from China, Ding Liren, who Gukesh will face in the world chess championship later this year, has slipped out the top 20 rankings after his rating slipped to 2728. He had an under-par Olympiad, where he was unable to win a single match for China.
Gukesh, meanwhile, also overtook Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the list of best junior players and climbed to first place. An Indian is also on the top of the charts in the list for the junior women’s players with Divya Deshmukh. All three Indians, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Divya Deshmukh went through the Olympiad without suffering a single defeat and spurred their team to golds.
While Gukesh played in 10 games, winning eight and drawing two, Arjun Erigaisi played in all 11 rounds, winning nine and losing none.
India are represented by Koneru Humpy, who did not compete at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, in the women’s rankings with the veteran ranked at No 6.
Divya Deshmukh also gained 18 points in the month gone by, primarily thanks to her performance at the Chess Olympiad.
