Data | Young and Restless: More Indian GMs among juniors

Six of the top 20 junior chess players in the world belong to India

With 11 of the country’s 72 Grandmasters (GMs) aged below 21, India has a bright future in chess. Six of the top 20 junior players in the world belong to India. GM Arjun Erigaisi from Telangana is also likely to quickly cross the coveted 2700 ELO rating mark, traditionally termed the Super GM mark. It is a recognition of this fact that has led to India being chosen to host the 44th international Chess Olympiad in Chennai in July/August this year

Of the Top 20 junior chess players (aged 20 and below), six are Indian GMs in the latest 2700chess.com live ratings list. GM Arjun Erigaisi was ranked third overall with a Live ELO rating of 2674.4. He is behind Iranian-born GM Alireza Firouzja (the 18-year-old now represents France) with a rating of 2804 and 20-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko with a rating of 2717.9. Leon Mendonca, 16, from Goa was the newest addition from India to the list

Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

 India has a total of 11 GMs who are aged 20 or below, according to FIDE’s latest list. This is the highest number of GMs for any country for the juniors’ category. The players also had a high average ELO rating of 2562.6

The top five youngsters in India have steadily increased their ELO ratings in the last four years. Kerala’s Nihal Sarin and Tamil Nadu’s R. Praggnanandhaa had a strong headstart in 2018, but in recent months, Arjun Erigaisi and Tamil Nadu’s D. Gukesh have had meteoric rises, with Maharashtra’s Raunak Sadhwani not far behind

In terms of the average ELO ratings of the top 10 players in each country, India held the fifth position as of FIDE’s latest list with an average ELO of 2672.5. Russia continues to lead the list with 2739 points

India’s highest rated chess player remains Viswanathan Anand (2751) followed by Maharashtra’s Vidit Gujrathi (2722.6) and Andhra Pradesh’s P Harikrishna (2705.2)