Year Ender 2024: India’s Emergence as Leaders in World of Chess Spearheaded by D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh

Sport unites, entertains, and brings cheers to its followers. When an individual or team wins continuously, the popularity and fan following of the sport reach new highs. India is currently experiencing the same in the World of Chess. Indian sports lovers have now added chess to their list of games, which will be followed after the country’s performers’ dominance in recent years. Led by D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh, and many other GMs, India is now seen as a leader in the sport earlier dominated by the USSR. Chess Fun Facts: Mark the Start of World Chess Championship 2024 by Learning 10 Interesting Things About Chess, The Game of Strategy and Skill.

Viswanathan Anand put India on the map with his excellence and five-time World Chess Championships. ‘Vishy’ even won two Chess World Cup Championships with Team India. But more importantly, the 55-year-old inspired a generation of Indian chess players who are now taking over the world. D Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and Vidit Gujrathi are some of the top performers in chess for India, while in the women’s division also India has a strong team led by Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R and Divya Deshmukh. Check out their shining moments in the year 2024 below.

Indian Chess Stars Performances in 2024

Viswanathan Anand won the Chess Championship in 2000 and then went on to be the face of the sport till 2013. Indian chess fans had a decade-long wait till some positive news started coming in with Arjun Erigaisi and D Gukesh making some waves in the 64-squared chess board. A year later, in 2024, India possessed one of the strongest teams entering the big events. The same can be said for the women’s division where Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, and Harika Dronavalli slowly becoming household names in India. Gukesh D Becomes FIDE World Chess Champion, Find Out How Much Prize Money Indian Prodigy Wins Beating Former Champion Ding Liren?

Check out various accomplishments of Indian chess masters in the year 2024

D Gukesh’s Candidates Win: Positive signs for Indian chess started surfacing from the start of the year but the peak point was reached when D Gukesh broke the record of becoming the youngest-ever winner of the FIDE Candidates tournament in April. Talented youngster delivered on the world stage claiming the top spot of the table with nine points in the eight-player competition. D Gukesh was a step closer to achieving his dream of becoming the World chess champion.

First Siblings to Play Candidates Event: In December 2023, Vaishali Rameshbabu made a mark in the chess world by crossing the 2500 rating threshold in Spain. A few months later, she participated in the Candidate event with her brother, R. Praggnanandhaa becoming the first sibling pair playing the prestigious event.

Chess Olympiad 2024: Another big moment for Indian chess came when Men’s and Women’s teams entered the Chess Olympiad 2024 as the favourites with all 10 players capable of winning their matches. Topping the groups and defeating strong teams, D Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and Harikrishna Pentala won the team Gold medal. Similarly, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev won the gold medal for the women’s division team event. D Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh went on to top the achievements winning individual gold medals. D Gukesh Gets Emotional on Phone Call With His Mother After Creating History With FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 Win (Watch Video).

Divya Deshmukh 2500 and Arjun Erigaisi 2800 Elo Points: A slightly technical but yet impressive achievement for Arjun Erigaisi as he crossed the 2800 Elo points to become only the second Indian to do so. Divya Deshmukh also crossed the 2500 Elo points marking her best season.

D Gukesh’s FIDE World Chess Championship: Starting the year with a great performance, D Gukesh capped off 2024 with a win in the FIDE World Chess Championship. Winning three rounds in the 14-round match, D Gukesh outperformed the defending champion Ding Liren to become the youngest and only the second Indian to win the FIDE World Chess Championship.

With D Gukesh’s win, India became only the second country post-USSR era to win six FIDE World Chess Championships. Currently, the nation is ranked fourth in the FIDE ratings with 64 Grand Masters and an average of 2668 rating. Looking at the age and form of current chess masters from India, fans can expect more titles and a brighter future for Chess in India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 13, 2024 03:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).