Chennai, May 2
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has entered the top ten chess players' club in the World with an ELO rating of 2,763.
Gukesh, now ranked sixth in the open category, is ahead of the seventh-ranked World Chess Champion Chinese GM Ding Liren with a rating of 2,762.
What is further interesting is that another Indian chess sensation GM Arjun Erigaisi is ranked eighth in the world with a rating of 2,761.
According to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Gukesh gained twenty points after winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament that concluded in Canada recently.
By virtue of winning the Candidates Tournament, Gukesh has become the challenger for the world title now held by Liren.
It was a huge jump for Gukesh to be ranked sixth now as he was ranked 16th before the Candidates Tournament.
In the epic Ramayana, the Hindu God Lord Hanuman made the jump from India to Sri Lanka in search of Lord Rama's wife Goddess Sita.
"I believe Gukesh will be the slight favourite against Ding Liren. The world champion is a very good player. However, he has not been very active and his form is not at its peak," GM Susan Polgar former women's world champion (1996-99) told IANS when queried about the Indian's chances of becoming a world champion.
On his part, Erigaisi gained five points, as per the rating list issued by the FIDE.
Perhaps this is also for the time in the FIDE list, two Indians figure in the top ten chess clubs in the world.
According to FIDE, two Indian Woman Grandmasters (WGM), Priyanka Nutakki (rating 2,357) and P.V. Nandhidhaa (2,359) gained 83 and 81 points last month in different rating tournaments while GM R.Vaishali gained 14 points at the Women's Candidates Tournament.
(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)