India had an exciting year in chess, with D Gukesh taking the spotlight by winning the World Chess Championship in Singapore. Following that, Koneru Humpy snagged the title at the World Rapid Championship in New York. According to the latest FIDE rankings released on Wednesday, Gukesh holds the fifth spot, just behind fellow Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, who is ranked fourth with a rating of 2801. Gukesh's ELO rating stands at 2783.

In the women's rankings, Koneru is in sixth place with a rating of 2523, while Divya Deshmukh is in 14th with a rating of 2490. D Harika follows closely in 16th with an ELO rating of 2489. R Vaishali, who won bronze at the Blitz Championship, is currently 19th. The 21-year-old Grandmaster had a strong showing, defeating Zhu Jiner 2.5-1.5 in the quarterfinals but fell to the eventual champion Ju Wenjun 0.5-2.5 in the semifinals. On the first day of the blitz event, Vaishali led the women's standings with eight wins and three draws, securing her spot in the knockout stage.

Magnus Carlsen is still at the top of the FIDE rankings with an impressive ELO rating of 2831, followed closely by American Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. On the other hand, Viswanathan Anand holds the 10th spot with a rating of 2750.

In a thrilling turn of events at the World Chess Championship, Gukesh triumphed over defending champion Ding Liren in the crucial fourteenth game. The match started off evenly, seemingly going Liren's way, but a huge mistake from the Chinese Grandmaster on the 55th move led him to resign, allowing Gukesh to claim the title of the youngest world champion ever and India's second champion after Anand.

Gukesh's victory sparked a frenzy on social media, with fans and chess players alike celebrating his achievement. However, not everyone was thrilled; Carlsen, Nakamura, and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik expressed their disappointment, claiming the championship lacked quality. Following his win, Gukesh is also in line to receive the Khel Ratna award.

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