New Delhi: Recently crowned World Chess Champion D Gukesh became the new India No.1, overtaking Arjun Erigaisi in the FIDE live ratings after the completion of the fifth round of the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
The reigning world champion defeated Vincent Keymer in a nerve-wracking 72-move battle on Wednesday. The German Grandmaster was part of Team Gukesh in December 2023 as he became the youngest world champion in history by beating Ding Liren. Gukesh used the strategy to tire out his opponent during the World Championship in Singapore and Keymar adopted the same strategy against the Indian Grandmaster on Wednesday.
Gukesh started the game with some errors and Keymar was in a better position on the board from the middle game. The Indian Grandmaster kept playing until the 72nd move, where his win was inevitable, and the German resigned.
Gukesh has gained 7 Elo points to get his live rating up to 2784, while Arjun Erigaisi lost 21.5 points to reach 2779. When the Tata Steel Masters started on January 18, Erigaisi was only the second Indian after five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand to breach the 2800 mark.
Gukesh unbeaten in Tata Steel Masters
The reigning world champion is currently unbeaten in the tournament, winning two games and drawing three. He played a draw against Vladimir Fedoseev and Alexey Sarana but defeated Anish Giri and Vincent Keymer. The live ratings are expected to be changed and Erigaisi can take his position back if he makes a comeback in the tournament. There are still eight more Swiss rounds to go in the tournament and potential playoffs.
Magnus Carlsen is still leading the live ratings with 2832.5 despite not competing in the tournament. American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura is in second position with 2802 and Fabiano Caruana is third position with 2798 rating. D Gukesh is now in fourth position and Erigaisi is in fifth spot on the leaderboard. R Praggnanandhaa (2753.9) has jumped three positions higher and is in the 10th spot and Viswanathan Anand (2750) is in the 11th position.
The victory against Vincent Keymer in the Tata Steel chess tournament makes Gukesh the new India no 1 (and the world no 4) in the live ratings. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
