World Chess Champion D Gukesh has lost his India No. 1 position in the latest FIDE rankings after a disappointing finish at Norway Chess 2025. He has been dethroned by his compatriot.
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Indian Grandmaster
Arjun Erigaisi
has become the new India No. 1 in the latest FIDE chess rankings, going ahead of
D Gukesh
, who recently became the World Champion. In the updated FIDE rankings, Erigaisi jumped to the third spot with an Elo rating of 2782, while Gukesh is now placed at number five with a 2776 rating points.
Gukesh had been in the spotlight for his brilliant performance at the Candidates Tournament and his historic win at the 2024 World Chess Championship. However, a poor run at the recently concluded Norway Chess 2025 has hurt his ratings and cost him his place in the FIDE rankings.
Norway Chess 2025: Here’s what went down in the final round
Defending champion Magnus Carlsen, who was the overnight leader with 15 points after round 9, ended the tournament with 16 points after fashioning the great escape against Erigaisi and steering the game to a draw in the 10th round on Friday.
Gukesh finished third – the same as in the 2023 edition – with 14.5 points, while Caruana was second with 15.5 points. Erigaisi finished fifth with 13 points.
Erigaisi won the Armageddon tie-break against Carsen following the miraculous draw by the Norwegian, but it did not matter in the end as the five-time world champion had already secured a point with the stalemate to win the title.
While Gukesh quietly walked out of the arena after losing to Caruana, Carlsen said he had to “literally fight for his life” to stay in the match against Arjun Erigaisi.
A defeat for the Norwegian would have been catastrophic, as the Gukesh-Caruana game was still in progress, and a Classical win for either would have dashed his hopes of a seventh Norway Chess title and the accompanying prize purse of approximately USD 69,500.
In fact, had Gukesh managed to draw his game against the American Grandmaster, he would have secured the title, provided Carlsen had lost his Classical encounter against Erigaisi.
Under the Norway Chess format, a Classical win earns three points, while a draw gives each player one point. A drawn game is followed by an Armageddon tie-break to decide the winner, who is awarded an additional half point.
(With agency inputs)
