Seventeen-year-old grandmaster D Gukesh has become the highest-rated Indian player in FIDE rankings. He shot past his idol Viswanathan Anand when he defeated Azerbaijan’s Misratdin Iskandarov in the ongoing World Cup in Baku. With this victory, Gukesh’s live rating went up to 2755.9, higher than Anand’s 2754. As Gukesh climbed up to become world No. 9, Anand slipped to the 10th spot. This is a big departure as Anand has been India’s top-ranked player since 1987 – a period of 36 years.

Now Gukesh has set his sights on getting his Elo rating past the 2800 mark – a feat achieved by only 14 players in the history of the sport. To find out more about the rise of Gukesh and what it means for Indian chess, we speak with Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports) at The Hindu. 

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