Due to the development of digital platforms, the involvement of stakeholders, and the regular attendance of spectators at tournament venues, chess as a sport has greatly prospered in India.
Given the size of the event and how well it was organized, the recently concluded Chess Olympiad in Chennai was one of the most successful events.
You might be wondering how many Grandmasters India has currently produced. Here is the solution to the question of who the top five Indian chess players are:
- Vishwanathan Anand: If we call him as pioneer for uplifting chess in India, it wouldn’t be wrong as the man tried everything in his capacity to make country proud across all pedestals.
His remarkable achievement of winning World Rapid Chess Championship and becoming first Indian player to cross 2800 ELO rating is second to none.
For his epic contribution towards the game of chess, he became the first Indian sportsperson to be awarded as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award (now known as Major Dhyan Chand Award in 1991-92) also become first Indian player to win Padma Bhushan award.
- Pentala Harikrishna: Another man who doesn’t get enough credit for uplifting Chess in India is none other Pentala Harikrishna as the man from Guntur Andra Pradesh becomes the youngest Indian player to earn Grandmaster tag by winning Commonwealth Championship held in 2001.
Having attained a noteworthy ELO rating of 2763.3 in 2016, Harikrishna was able to enter the Top 10 players in the world because to his flawless consistency.
- Vidit Gujrati: Vidit Gujrati was born in Pune Maharastra, took up the game professionally after taking a challenge from his father at a very young age.
Later he started taking game seriously and didn’t looked back, his distinct achievements in Chess include becoming the youngest Indian Player to win Under 14 Youth Championship to be held in 2008 and the moment he achieved this feat he was coined the title of “International Grand Master”.
Very few people knew this, He is the fourth youngest Indian player to achieve ELO rating of 2726.
- Koneru Humpy: Koneru Humpy, is another player from India to make into this list, credited for inspiring next lot of girls to pick this game professionally.
Humpy won 2019, FIDE Women’s Chess Championship also due to her tactical brilliance and supremacy, she became the first Indian women player to earn “Grand Master Title” at the age of 15.
She became the second women player in the world to bag the ELO rating of 2600 in 2006.
- Bhaskaran Adhibhan: Another name in the list belongs to Bhaskaran Adhibhan who initially got fame by winning Under 16 Asian Championship in the year 2007.
His achievement include, representing country in 2010 Asian Games where he successfully bagged Bronze medal.
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