D Gukesh slips out of top-ten, 12th in live chess rankings after gritty draw to Divya Deshmukh

D Gukesh has been in poor and erratic form since clinching the World Championship title in December last year. The Indian GM became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, but he has been facing stiff competition from his opponents. He began 2025 on a strong note, coming second at the Tata Chess Masters. But since then, it has been an up-and-down experience for him.

At the ongoing FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, he suffered three consecutive losses, including defeats to 16-year-olds Abhimanyu Mishra and Ediz Gurel.

D Gukesh’s latest live ranking

On Friday, he was held by Divya Deshmukh in a six-hour marathon match, which ended in a draw. The Women’s World Cup winner outfoxed Gukesh, who had the advantage, and he finally shook hands for a draw.

The 19-year-old has now slipped out of the top-ten rankings, and is now 12th in the live chess standings with 2748.2 rating points.

The game against Divya ended in a rook-and-knight versus rook endgame. Gukesh had the advantage with the rook-and-knight. But it wasn’t enough as Divya defended with precision.

In Samarkand, Divya is also ahead of Gukesh with four points. Meanwhile, he has 3.5 points.

At the Tata Masters, Gukesh lost to R Praggnanandhaa in the tie-breaker title-deciding round. In the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 in Romania, he came sixth. Meanwhile, at Norway Chess 2025, he came third with 14.5 points. During his campaign, he beat Hikaru Nakamura in the third round, after back-to-back losses in the opening two rounds to Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi. Then he also beat Carlsen in the sixth round. At the SuperUnited Croatia Rapid and Blitz in Zagreb, Gukesh also beat Carlsen in the blitz category.

Meanwhile, Divya defeated Koneru Humpy at the final of the Women’s Chess World Cup, and the win also saw her become India’s 88th Grandmaster. Qualifying for the final also saw her seal a berth at the 2026 Candidates Tournament.