D Gukesh returns to top ten in FIDE rankings, Arjun Erigaisi falls to 6th position

D Gukesh has returned to the top ten bracket in the FIDE ratings, released on 1 November. Last month, Gukesh had slipped out of the top ten and was in 11th position. Ahead of his World Cup opener in the second round, he has climbed to ninth position in the standings, with a rating of 2763.

Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa have fallen two places from their previous rankings, to sixth and seventh, respectively. German GM Vincent Keymar has climbed five spots higher to fourth position with a rating of 2773, followed by Anish Giri (2769), who has climbed two berths higher. On the other hand, Alireza Firouzja has fallen to 10th position in the standings. Additionally, Wesley So holds the eighth position.

Gukesh will also be in action at the Chess World Cup 2025 and will be the top seed. Meanwhile, Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa are the second and third seeds. Defending champion Magnus Carlsen has skipped the event, and so have Nakamura and Caruana.

In the women’s section, Hou Yifan remains at the top, followed by Zhu Jiner and Lei Tingjie. Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh is in 11th place, and Koneru Humpy is in sixth.

The opening ceremony of the Chess World Cup was held on Friday in Goa. A new trophy was unveiled, named the Viswanathan Anand Trophy.

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who was present during the ceremony, said, “The last time India hosted the FIDE World Cup we had less than 10 Grandmasters. Now we have 90 and India holds the Olympiad titles in both open and women category and the Women’s World Cup title won by Divya Deshmukh.”

“India has come a long way in these 23 years and I am confident that hosting this world cup will only help us produce more champions in the future.”