Men: Thirteen Indians in the Top 100
Note: Tata Steel Masters 2026, one of the most significant classical events of the year, was not included in the February 2026 FIDE Rating List as the tournament concluded after the month had already started. As a result, there are no major changes in the classical ratings in the latest list.
India currently has thirteen players in the world’s top 100. They are: Arjun Erigaisi (World No. 5), R Praggnanandhaa (World No. 8), D Gukesh (World No. 9), Viswanathan Anand (World No. 13), Nihal Sarin (World No. 26), Vidit Gujrathi (World No. 29), Aravindh Chithambaram (World No. 32), Pentala Harikrishna (World No. 43), Murali Karthikeyan (World No. 71), Pranav V (World No. 83), Raunak Sadhwani (World No. 85), Aryan Chopra (World No. 89) and Pranesh M (World No. 100).
GM Arjun Erigaisi played in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz, where he finished third in both the Rapid and Blitz events. His Rapid rating dropped by 5 points and he slipped from World No. 3 to World No. 4. His Blitz rating fell by 1 point, with his World No. 7 ranking in Blitz remaining unchanged. | Photo: Prajwal Bhat
GM R Praggnanandhaa also competed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. He finished sixth in both the Rapid and Blitz events. He gained 1 Elo point in Rapid and 7 Elo points in Blitz, and is currently ranked World No. 34 in Rapid and World No. 22 in Blitz. | Photo: John Saunders
World Champion D Gukesh pulled out from the Tata Steel Chess India tournament so his ratings across all formats remain unchanged. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
GM Aravindh Chithambaram played in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. His Rapid rating dropped by 21 points and Blitz rating by 20 points. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
GM Nihal Sarin won the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament and finished second in the Blitz section. He gained 22 Elo points in Rapid and 18 Elo points in Blitz. Nihal is currently ranked World No. 25 in Rapid and World No. 16 in Blitz. | Photo: IA NI Vivek Sohani
Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Viswanathan Anand, Nihal Sarin, and Vidit Gujrathi are in the World Top 30 in classical format. | Source: FIDE
There are thirteen Indians in the World Top 100 in classical format. | Source: FIDE
In the Rapid format, Arjun Erigaisi, Viswanathan Anand, D Gukesh, and Nihal Sarin are currently placed in the world top 30. | Source: FIDE
In the Blitz format, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Viswanathan Anand, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi are currently placed in the world top 30. | 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. 6), GM Divya Deshmukh (World No. 12), GM R Vaishali (World No. 16), and GM Harika Dronavalli (World No. 18). In comparison with the January ratings, GM Koneru Humpy dropped one position, GM Divya Deshmukh and GM R Vaishali remained unchanged, while GM Harika Dronavalli climbed up by one place.
GM Koneru Humpy did not play any tournaments in January and slipped one place in the world rankings. | Photo: FIDE
GM Divya Deshmukh played the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. She finished third in the Rapid event. But she lost 6 Elo points in Rapid and 24 Elo points in Blitz. | Photo: Michal Walusza
GM R Vaishali finished fifth in both the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. Her Rapid rating dropped by 5 points, while her Blitz rating dipped by just 1 point, resulting in no significant change to her overall standings. | Photo: Anna Shtourman
GM Harika Dronavalli also featured in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. Her Rapid rating decreased by 6 points, while her Blitz rating dropped by 12 points. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
IM Vantika Agrawal was also in action at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz. While her Rapid rating dropped by 7 points, she achieved a significant gain of 84 Elo points in Blitz. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
IM Padmini Rout played in the Caissa Festival, where her Rapid rating dropped by 52 Elo points and her Blitz rating dropped by 4 points. | Photo: Himank Ghosh
Four Indians are still in the World Top 20 among Women in classical chess. | Source: FIDE
There are seven Indians among the World Top 100 Women in classical chess | Source: FIDE
In the Women's Rapid format, Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, Harika Dronavali and Vaishali Rameshbabu are currently placed in the world top 30. | Source: FIDE
In the Women's Blitz format, Koneru Humpy, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh are currently placed in the world top 30. | 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 January 2026 FIDE Rating list. In the Open category, India remains second, behind the USA by 15 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 93 Elo points.
India is still at the No. 2 rank among the Top Federation Women. | Source: FIDE
In the Mixed category, India continues at World No. 2, with the rating gap holding steady at 18 Elo points.
India remains at no.2 in Top Federations Mixed | Source: FIDE
