Only 1 Indian in the World's top 10

The March 2026 FIDE rating list reflects results from major events, including the Tata Steel Masters & Challengers 2026, along with other international swiss tournaments that concluded by the end of February. India has only 1 player in the top 10 list, World Champion D Gukesh. Among the top 100, there are twelve Indians. They are: D Gukesh (World No. 10), Arjun Erigaisi (World No. 11), R Praggnanandhaa (World No. 13), Nihal Sarin (World No. 24), Vidit Gujrathi (World No. 30), Aravindh Chithambaram (World No. 34), Pentala Harikrishna (World No. 43), Murali Karthikeyan (World No. 70), Raunak Sadhwani (World No. 77), Pranav V (World No. 79), Pranesh M (World No. 89) and Aryan Chopra (World No. 92).

Arjun lost 30 rating points at the Tata Steel Masters 2026 and dropped from world No. 5 to No. 11. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh lost nearly six points at Tata Steel Masters and slipped one place to No. 10. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Praggnanandhaa dropped from No. 8 to No. 13 after losing 17 points at Tata Steel Masters. | Photo: IA NI Vivek Sohani

Aravindh lost 16 rating points at the Tata Steel Masters and now stands at world No. 34. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Despite not playing in February, Nihal Sarin moved up two places from world No. 26 to No. 24. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh, Arjun, Praggnanadhaa, Nihal and Vidit are in the World Top 30 in classical format. | Source: FIDE

These are the twelve Indians in the World Top 100 in classical format. | Source: FIDE

Women: Seven Indians in the Top 100

Four Indian women continue to feature in the world top 20: GM Koneru Humpy (World No. 5), GM Divya Deshmukh (World No. 12), GM R Vaishali (World No. 18), and GM Harika Dronavalli (World No. 20). Compared with February, GM Koneru Humpy climbed one place, GM Divya Deshmukh remained unchanged, and both GM R Vaishali and GM Harika Dronavalli dropped two places.

Humpy did not play any tournaments in February, yet climbed one position in the rankings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Anna Shtourman

Divya did not play any classical tournament in February, and her ranking remained unchanged. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Vaishali did not play any classical tournament in February, but her ranking dropped from world No. 16 to No. 18. | Photo: nikiel.photo

Even Harika did not play any classical tournament in February, but her ranking slipped from world No. 18 to No. 20. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Four Indians are still in the World Top 20 among Women in classical chess. | Source: FIDE

These are seven Indians among the World Top 100 Women in classical chess | Source: FIDE

Countries

India continues to hold the World No. 2 position in terms of the average rating of the top ten players across categories, with no change from the February 2026 FIDE Rating list. In the Open category, India remains second, behind the USA by 33 Elo points.

India is still no.2 in the Top Federation list in Open | Source: FIDE

India also retains the No. 2 position in the Women’s category, where the gap is 90 Elo points.

India is still at the No. 2 rank among the Top Federation Women. | Source: FIDE

In the Mixed category, India dropped one place, with China leading the list. India trails China by 24 points.

India remains at no.3 in Top Federations Mixed | Source: FIDE