Mumbai, Jan 1 (NationPress) Arjun Erigaisi preserved his rating of 2801 and held onto the fourth position, while the newly-crowned World Classical Champion Gukesh Dommaraju took the fifth spot in the classical Open section in the first ranking list of 2025 released by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Wednesday.
Erigaisi, the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to surpass the prestigious 2800 rating in classical chess, holds a rating of 2801 and is just one ELO behind American Hikaru Nakamura (2802). Another American, Fabiano Caruana (2803), is a further one ELO ahead at the second position in a competitive quest for the second spot behind Magnus Carlsen, who leads the ranking with a rating of 2831.
Gukesh, who triumphed over China's Ding Liren -- ranked 22nd with a rating of 2728 -- to clinch the World Championship title in Singapore a few weeks ago, rounds out the top five with a rating of 2783.
Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand is the third Indian in the top ten, positioned 10th in the rankings with a rating of 2750.
Reflecting the vibrant state of Indian chess following the country's gold medal victory in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, a total of nine players from the nation feature in the Top 50. Praggnanandhaa stands at 13th with a rating of 2741, VR Aravindh Chithambaram (2726) is at 23rd, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2721) at 24th, followed by Pentala Harikrishna (2695) at 36th, Nihal Sarin (2687) at 41st, and Raunak Sadhwani (2675) at 48th position.
Among other Indian players, Murali Karthikeyan (2651) is in 77th position, followed by Leon Luke Mendonca (2639) at 95th, S.L Narayanan (2638) at 99th, and Abhimanyu Puranik (2636) at 100th position.
In the women's section, the top four places in the classical rankings are held by Chinese players, with former World Champion Hou Yifan leading with a 2633 ELO rating, followed closely by Ju Wenjun (2561) in second, Tan Zhongyi (2561) in third, and Lei Tingjie (2552) in fourth.
Indian player Koneru Humpy is ranked 6th with a rating of 2523, being the only Indian in the top 10 of the women's rankings. Divya Deshmukh with a rating of 2490 stands at 14th, while Dronavalli Harika (2489) is two spots behind at 16th.
Vaishali Rameshbabu, the third Indian woman to earn the Grandmaster title, is positioned 19th with a rating of 2476. Vantika Agrawal, a pivotal member of the Indian team that achieved gold in the 35th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, is ranked 39th with a rating of 2411. Tania Sachdev is in 51st with a rating of 2396, followed by P.V. Nandhidhaa (2380) at 65th, Bhakti Kulkarni (2357) at 83rd, Padmini Rout (2356) at 85th, and Velpula Sarayu (2347) at 95th, completing the top 100.
In the junior men's section, World Champion Gukesh is ranked No.1 with Praggnanandhaa closely trailing in second position.