Arjun Erigaisi returns to World #5, Three Indians still in Top 10
Arjun Erigaisi has returned to World no.5 in the December 2025 FIDE Rating list. He gained 6.4 Elo rating points at FIDE World Cup 2025. R Praggnanandha maintained his place at World no.7, despite losing some rating. World Champion, D Gukesh dropped to World no.10 after his third round exit. There are now only five Indians in Top 30. Pentala Harikrishna gained 3 Elo rating points after his career best performance at a FIDE World Cup. Pranav Venkatesh maintained his rating after having a great World Cup. Among the Women, four are still in Top 20. GM Humpy Koneru moved up to World no.5, despite not playing a rated game in November. GM Divya Deshmukh dropped to World no.12. IM Padmini Rout and IM Savitha Shri B are the only two Indian women among top ten Indians to have gained Elo rating points. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Eleven Indians in World Top 100
November was a tough month for the Indians as a majority of them had a forgettable FIDE World Cup 2025. Arjun Erigaisi was playing well until he got eliminated by the eventual runner-up, Wei Yi (CHN) in the Quarterfinals. Pentala Harikrishna had his career-best run at a World Cup before he got eliminated by GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (MEX) who had a dream run.
Women: Seven Indian in Top 100
Four Indian women are still in top 20. They are - GM Humpy Koneru, World no.5, GM Divya Deshmukh, World no.12, GM R Vaishali, World no.17 and GM Harika Dronavalli, World no.19 among women. Humpy moved up to World no.5, although she did not play a rated game in November. Divya dropped a rank to twelve after her first round exit at FIDE World Cup 2025. IM Padmini Rout gained 16.5 Elo rating points from 28th Bavarian Open and FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2025. She recovered the exact Elo points she lost in the previous rating list. IM Savitha Shri B added 14.7 Elo rating points from a GM round-robin tournament in Bijelina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also from World Women's Team Championship 2025. There are currently seven Indians among the Top 100 women.
Countries
India had the no.2 position in November 2025 FIDE Rating list in terms of average rating of top ten players in the Open, twelve Elo rating points behind the USA. The gap was maintained in November. December statistics will be updated once available.
