Chennai teenager D Gukesh has toppled five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand as India’s top-ranked chess player in live world ratings after winning a World Cup match at Baku in Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old D Gukesh beat Misratdin Iskandarov in a second round match to overtake Viswanathan Anand in the live world (FIDE) rankings. It is for the first time in 36 years that chess maestro Anand has lost his top slot.
“Gukesh D won again today and has overcome Viswanathan Anand in live rating! There is still almost a month till next official FIDE rating list on September 1, but it’s highly likely that 17-year-old will be making it to the top 10 in the world as the highest-rated Indian player,” the international chess federation (FIDE) said in a tweet.
If he stays ahead of Anand till September 1, he will become the first Indian to surpass Anand since Pravin Thipsay in July 1986 in the FIDE world rankings.
The latest gain of 2.5 rating points took Gukesh’s live rating to 2755.9, while Anand’s is 2754.0. As a result, Gukesh toppled Anand from the World No. 9 in live rankings. Anand now figures at the 10th spot.
Gukesh will take on compatriot S L Narayanan in the third round of the World Cup.
