How D Gukesh surpassed Arjun Erigaisi to become India's new No. 1 in FIDE rankings

D Gukesh beat Arjun Erigaisi in the updated FIDE rankings to become the current No. 1 Indian chess player. Gukesh has had two wins and three draws in the Tata Steel Chess tournament so far.

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World chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh recently overtook Arjun Erigaisi to become the highest-ranked Indian in the updated FIDE rankings. Gukesh has climbed to fourth place in the FIDE rankings and currently boasts 2784 ranking points. Arjun, who had 2801 ranking points before the ongoing Tata Steel Chess 2025 tournament, slipped to fifth place with 2779.5 ranking points.

Gukesh, on the other hand, had 2,777 rating points at the start of January. Before the tournament, 18-year-old Gukesh was ranked fifth in the FIDE rankings. The ranking could, however, change during the tournament in the Netherlands, since only five rounds have been played.

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 the Netherlands. Gukesh started his campaign
with a victory over local favorite Anish Giri And
also beat Vincent Keymer Wednesday. The Chennai youngster also played draws against Fabiano Caruana, Vladimir Fedoseev and Alexey Sarana.

Arjun, meanwhile, started with a defeat against fellow Indian Pentala Harikrishna in the opening match, before drawing against Anish Giri in the second match. He then suffered back-to-back defeats against R Praggnanandhaa and Vladimir Fedoseev in the third and fourth games respectively, before playing to a draw against Leon Luke Mendonca. With just 1/5 of a point, Arjun is currently tied with Mendonca at the bottom of the Masters section standings. 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 winning a historic World Chess Championship title in Singapore in December 2024. He beat China’s Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 to become only the second Indian, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand, to win his world champion title. . Gukesh then decided to skip the FIDE Rapid and Blitz World Championships in New York.