D Gukesh moves to career-best third spot on FIDE Ratings for March; R Praggnanandhaa back in top-10

Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju moved to a career-best third spot on the official FIDE Ratings list for March, surpassing Fabiano Caruana as well as compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the process. Though he had a forgettable outing in the Freestyle Chess event in Weissenhaus, Germany recently, Gukesh has been on a roll as far as the Classical format is concerned.

Not only did the 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster defeat Ding Liren in Singapore to become the youngest world champion in chess history in December, he had also finished runner-up at the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament in Netherlands for a second consecutive year.

‘Pragg’ back in top-10 after winning Tata Steel Chess heroics

Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa is back in the top-10 for the first time since July last year, currently occupying the eight spot ahead of Alireza Firouzja and Ian Nepomniachtchi – ranked ninth and 10th respectively. ‘Pragg’ had defeated Gukesh in the tie-breaks to be crowned Tata Steel Chess champion last month, becoming only the second Indian to win the event after Viswanathan Anand.

The March #FIDERating lists are out!

Highlights 👇
🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen continues his reign at the top.
🇮🇳 World Champion Gukesh D gained 10 points, climbing to world #3 for the first time.
🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa R gained 17 points returning to the top 10.
🇨🇳 Hou Yifan continues her… pic.twitter.com/cTDzlk7sAT

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) March 1, 2025

Erigaisi, though, has managed to stay among the top five despite a below-par performance at Tata Steel Chess, finishing 10th out of 14 competitors in the Masters section.

Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, who has been at loggerheads with FIDE in recent months, has been leading their ratings list continuously since 2011 and remains top of the standings with a rating of 2833.

American GM Hikaru Nakamura occupies the second spot and is the only player other than Carlsen to have a rating in excess of 2800 (2802).

Caruana, who had recently finished runner-up at the Freestyle Chess Weissenhaus event, dropped to the fourth spot from second.

The Italian-born American GM was only slightly better than Erigaisi at Tata Steel Chess, finishing ninth with a score of 6 and suffering three defeats along the way, including against Praggnanandhaa.