India has only two players in the world top 10 — D Gukesh and Koneru Humpy. Several stars slipped in rankings, but India remains second among federations in Open and Women’s categories.
D Gukesh (Image Credits : X)
The March 2026 FIDE Rating List has brought mixed news for Indian chess. At the very top, only two Indians are currently in the world top 10 in classical chess — D Gukesh in the Open category and Koneru Humpy in the Women’s category.
Gukesh, the reigning world champion, is now ranked World No. 10. He lost nearly six rating points at the Tata Steel Masters and slipped one place in the standings. Arjun Erigaisi faced a tougher setback. After losing 30 rating points at the same tournament, he dropped from World No. 5 to No. 11. R Praggnanandhaa also saw a dip, falling from No. 8 to No. 13 after losing 17 points.
FIDE March 2026 Rating List – Correction❗️
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) March 2, 2026
According to Article 0.2.1 of the FIDE Rating Regulations, a tournament and its playing schedule must be registered:
0.2.1 Not later than 30 days before the tournament starts, if one of the players in the tournament is rated in excess… pic.twitter.com/HrI5qaoC8A
Despite the drop in classical rankings, Arjun remains India’s only player in the world top 10 in Rapid and Blitz formats. In classical chess, India now has 12 players in the world's top 100. Along with Gukesh (10), Arjun (11) and Praggnanandhaa (13), the others include Nihal Sarin (24), Vidit Gujrathi (30), Aravindh Chithambaram (34), Pentala Harikrishna (43), Murali Karthikeyan (70), Raunak Sadhwani (77), Pranav V (79), Pranesh M (89) and Aryan Chopra (92). Interestingly, Nihal moved up two places to No. 24 despite not playing in February.
In women’s chess, seven Indians are in the world top 100. Humpy is the highest-ranked at World No. 5 and even climbed one spot without playing any classical event in February. Divya Deshmukh remains steady at No. 12. R Vaishali and Harika Dronavalli both slipped two places and are now ranked No. 18 and No. 20, respectively. Even though none of them played classical events in February, ranking changes happened due to global rating movements.
On the federation list, India continues to hold the No. 2 position in the world based on average ratings. In the Open category, India is second behind the United States by 33 Elo points. In the Women’s category, India is also No. 2, trailing by 90 points. However, in the Mixed category, India dropped one place, with China now leading. India is 24 points behind China there.
Overall, while India remains a strong force in world chess, the latest ratings show that staying at the very top is becoming more challenging.
