Teen Gukesh D overtakes idol Viswanathan Anand to become India's highest FIDE rankings player, Anand Mahindra teases Vishy
Gukesh D ended Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand's 37-year reign as India's highest-ranking chess player in the live world (FIDE) rankings on Thursday. The 17-year-old defeated Mistradin Iskandarov in the second round of the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, and scored a live rating of 2755.9, while Anand's rating was at 2754.0. With this, Gukesh replaced his idol to move up to World No.
9 in the classic open category, while the five-time World Champion slipped to the 10th spot. Anand, who first made it to the World's top 10 in July 1991, has remained India's top-ranked player in all published lists since January 1987. He only dropped to second place in the live world rankings twice since 1986.
Gukesh's outstanding performance has captivated the chess world and his fans in India. Billionaire businessman Anand Mahindra was impressed with Gukesh too. He shared a throwback picture of himself with the teen prodigy, who «allowed» him a few moves to play against him.
«This pic with you as well as the few moves you allowed me to play against you will be hugely valuable parts of my archive of memories… May you rise to be the World’s Numero Uno…,» his post read. The Chairman of Mahindra Group also teased Vishy. He added, «It must feel strange to have someone overtake you, but how satisfying that it’s someone YOU inspired to play the game!» Vishy was «absolutely proud» of Gukesh, however, he didn't address Mahindra's post.
«We started off with one GM, one World Champion and now we have two top ten players. Congratulations to the generation of Indian talent especially to our new No.1,» he tweeted. Gukesh will take on compatriot SL Narayanan in the third round.
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