In a first, four Indian chess players in the top 10 rankings
For the first time in history, four Indians are in the top 10 chess rankings. Alongside D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa — now regulars among the world's elite — Aravindh Chithambaram has climbed to ninth place with a live rating of 2757.8.
The milestone followed Aravindh's victory at the 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Armenia, on Friday, where he edged out his close friend and training partner under coach RB Ramesh, Praggnanandhaa.
Both players tied for first place with 6.5 points each after nine rounds, but Aravindh claimed the title due to a superior Sonneborn-Berger score (tiebreak points), due to his stronger performance against higher-ranked opponents.
The tournament began with a draw between Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh, and the two remained evenly matched until the final round. Entering the last game, both Indians were tied at 5.5 points after eight rounds, needing a win to secure the title. Praggnanandhaa struck first, defeating Armenia's Robert Hovhannisyan, forcing Aravindh to win his game to clinch the event.
Aravindh obliged, overcoming Armenia's Aram Hakobyan with the black pieces to claim the championship. Both players remained undefeated, scoring four wins and five draws each. However, Praggnanandhaa later reflected on a missed opportunity in the second round against Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre, where he had a winning position.
'It was a good tournament for me, but I still missed this one chance in the second round. I could have probably won the tournament had that result gone my way, now it'll probably be tied for the first spot.' Praggnanandhaa told Chessbase India, accompanied by his trainer, Vaibhav Suri.
'Overall happy with my performance, I was mostly well prepared for almost all the rounds, just rue that game against Jonas otherwise I would have been on plus five,' he added.
Aravindh's win in Armenia mirrored his earlier title win at the Prague Masters, where he outperformed Praggnanandhaa in a star-studded field featuring Wei Yi, Anish Giri, and Vincent Keymer. While Aravindh took the title, Praggnanandhaa's performance was equally impressive. The 19-year-old now sits sixth in the live ratings (2774.2) and leads the FIDE Circuit standings.
With 83.59 points from five events — including wins at the Tata Steel Masters and Grand Chess Tour Romania Classic, a joint-second finish in Prague, third place in GCT Poland Rapid & Blitz, and now second in Armenia — Praggnanandhaa is the frontrunner to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament via the FIDE Circuit. He holds a commanding 42.27-point lead over second-placed Aravindh (41.32 points), who has competed in three events.
Both players will next compete at the Uzchess Cup in Uzbekistan, starting June 18, alongside strong players like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Arjun Erigaisi.
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