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FIDE Rating list April 2026: Divya Deshmukh breaks into world top 10

by Rasika Ratnaparkhi - 02/04/2026

The FIDE April 2026 rating list has shown some significant changes for Indian chess. The most prominent one is Divya Deshmukh’s historic entry into the Women’s Top 10. Arjun Erigaisi is back in the World Top 10. World Champion D Gukesh, however, slipped to World No. 15 after a dip in form. Nihal Sarin climbed to World No. 22, while Pranav V made a big jump to World No. 52 after a strong run of results. In the women’s section, Koneru Humpy remained unchanged, R Vaishali slipped one place to World No. 19, and Harika Dronavalli climbed to World No. 18. Read the article to know more. Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

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Arjun in World Top 10, Divya in Women’s Top 10!

Open: Twelve Indians in the Top 100

In March, India’s sole representative in the World Top 10 was World Champion D Gukesh. In April, the count remains unchanged, but it is Arjun Erigaisi who holds that place. Among the top 100, there are twelve Indians. They are: Arjun Erigaisi (World No. 10), R Praggnanandhaa (World No. 12), D Gukesh (World No. 15) Nihal Sarin (World No. 22), Vidit Gujrathi (World No. 29), Aravindh Chithambaram (World No. 35), Pentala Harikrishna (World No. 43), Pranav V (World No. 52), Murali Karthikeyan (World No. 67), Raunak Sadhwani (World No. 75), Aryan Chopra (World No. 84) and Pranesh M (World No. 94).

Arjun Erigaisi did not play any tournament in March, yet still climbed the rankings to become World No. 10. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

D Gukesh played at the Prague Chess Festival, where he lost six rating points. Not at his best, the World Champion slipped from World No. 10 to 15. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Despite not playing any tournament, Praggnanandhaa moved up from World No. 13 to 12. | Photo: FIDE

Because of his performance at Chess Bundesliga 2025-26, Nihal Sarin gained 7 rating points and moved up from World No. 24 to 22. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Pranav V won the KazChess Masters Nauryz 2026 and finished fourth at the Saint Louis Masters 2026. He gained 16 Elo points and jumped from World No. 79th to 52nd. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Arjun, Praggnanadhaa, Gukesh, Nihal and Vidit are the Indians in the World Top 30 in classical format. | Source: FIDE

These are the twelve Indians in the World Top 100 in classical format. | Source: FIDE

Women: Seven Indians in the Top 100

Seven Indian women continue to feature in the world top 100: GM Koneru Humpy (World No. 6), GM Divya Deshmukh (World No. 10), GM Harika Dronavalli (World No. 18), GM R Vaishali (World No. 19), Vantika Agrawal (World No. 63), Savitha Shri B (World No. 92) and Padmini Rout (World No. 96). Compared to March, Koneru Humpy remained unchanged in her rankings. Divya Deshmukh made a historic entry into the top 10. Harika Dronavalli climbed two places from World No. 20 to 18; meanwhile, Vaishali dropped from 18 to 19.

Humpy did not play any tournaments in March and her ranking remains unchanged. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Divya Deshmukh finished third at the Prague Chess Festival, gained 13 rating points and made a historic entry into the Women's Top 10. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Vaishali did not play any tournament but her rank dropped to 19. | Photo: Michal Walusza

Harika Dronavalli played in the IV Women's Chess Championship, Masters, where she finished third, gained 4 rating points, and moved up from World No. 20 to 18. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club

Four Indians are still in the World Top 20 among Women in classical chess. | Source: FIDE

These are seven Indians among the World Top 100 Women in classical chess | Source: FIDE

Countries

India continues to hold the World No. 2 position in terms of the average rating of the top ten players across categories. In the Open category, India remains second, behind the USA by 29 Elo points.

India is still no.2 in the Top Federation list in Open | Source: FIDE

India also retains the No. 2 position in the Women’s category, where the gap is 88 Elo points.

India is still at the No. 2 rank among the Top Federation Women. | Source: FIDE

In the Mixed category, India dropped one place, with China leading the list. India trails China by 22 points.

India remains at no.2 in Top Federations Mixed | Source: FIDE
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