D. Gukesh breaks into top 20 in chess rankings, is World No. 18 in live ratings

D. Gukesh surpassed Vidit Gujrathi and P. Harikrishna to become the second-best Indian player in FIDE ratings.

D. Gukesh, who won 2 medals at the recently concluded Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram, broke into the top 20 in FIDE rankings. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

D. Gukesh continued his relentless climb in the world rankings after scoring a hat-trick of wins in the ongoing Turkish Isbank Chess Super League in Ankara on Thursday.

Playing on the top board for third-round leader Turkish Airlines Sports Club, Gukesh defeated Grandmasters Aryan Gholami (2507), Andrey Esipenko (2682) Vahap Sanal (2574) to reach World No. 18 in live rankings and 2735.9 as per live ratings.

With R. Praggnanandhaa making waves in the cash-rich FTX Crypto Cup rapid event, and Arjun Erigaisi leading the Abu Dhabi Masters after three rounds, Gukesh added to the joy by gaining another 10 rating points and six places from the time he finished the Chess Olympiad with twin medals.

As things stand, the country's youngest Grandmaster trails 12th ranked Viswanathan Anand (2756) by around 20 points and leads third-placed P. Harikrishna by 19 points.

Like never before, India has five players in the top 35 of world rankings and eight in the top 90.

Praggnanandhaa (2675.5) and Nihal Sarin (2671.5), with live rankings of 66 and 69, are targeting the coveted 2700-rating barrier.