Young Gukesh D overtakes Viswanathan Anand to become India's No. 1 chess player in FIDE live rankings

Viswanathan Anand has been India’s top ranked chess player since 1986.

Indian teenager Gukesh D has surpassed his idol and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in FIDE Live Rankings to become India’s highest ranked chess player on Thursday.

Dommaraju Gukesh defeated Azerbaijan’s Mistradin Iskandarov in the second round of the FIDE World Cup Baku to achieve this feat. Gukesh gained 2.5 Points for his victory and surpassed Anand (2754.0) to become the world number nine with 2755.9 points, with Anand dropping down to 10th spot.

If Gukesh stays ahead till Sep1, he will become the first Indian to surpass Anand since July 1986, when another Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay surpassed Viswanathan Anand.

Earlier in July this year, Gukesh also became the youngest chess player to cross the 2750 mark, breaking the previous record held by Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, who is the current World No. 1 since July 2011. Gukesh is also third youngest in history to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.

On October 16 last year, at the age of 16, he became the youngest player ever to defeat then world champion Magnus Carlsen, when he beat Magnus at the Aimchess Rapid Tournament.

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