Gukesh is India’s No.1, while Mamedyarov, Abdusattorov, and Shankland are out of the World Cup
Author: Maria Fragaki
After winning both games against GM Misratdin Iskandarov at the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Indian GM Gukesh D. found his way up to World’s No.9, surpassing chess legend Vishy Anand in live rating, and becoming India’s No.1. If Gukesh keeps this rating until the 1st of September, Anand will be officially dethroned after 37 years!
It was only the April of last year when Gukesh broke into the top 100, less than a month that he scored a double win against Vishy Anand at his SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz debut, and 15 days since he became the youngest player in history to cross the 2750 rating mark and climb to World’s No.11. Yesterday, the Indian chess prodigy surpassed Vishy Anand in live rating to become India’s No.1 and World’s No.9.
In 2016 GM Pentala Harikrishna became India’s No.1 on the live rating list, but didn’t manage to surpass him in the published rating. If Gukesh keeps his rating advantage until the next official FIDE rating list on September 1st, he will be at the top of India’s standings board, after 37 years that Anand is comfortably “sitting” on it!
Meanwhile, three of the World Cup’s top seeds crashed out after losing their Round 2 matches, and some tournament’s favourites chose to move to the tiebreaks today.
Singapore’s GM Tin Jingyao, who was seeded 120th, orchestrated a remarkable upset by eliminating the ninth-seeded GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in an eventful second-round encounter. In a surprising turn of events, the highly-regarded GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov was bested by the 112th seed, GM Vahap Sanal. Furthermore, GM Sam Shankland’s fate was sealed as he failed to recover from his critical blunder in the previous day’s match.
Notably, GM Wesley So came perilously close to joining the ranks of those unexpectedly defeated. However, a skilful recovery against Turkish GM Emre Can secured his place in tiebreaks, where he will contend alongside esteemed GM Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
