2024 Year in Sport, Chess: Gukesh’s glory, Arjun’s ascent, Humpy’s triumph — A golden year for Indian chess

Indian chess shone brightly in 2024, marking a historic year of unparalleled achievements.

The crowning moment came from 18-year-old D. Gukesh, who shattered Garry Kasparov’s long-standing record to become the youngest World Chess Champion. His thrilling 14th-round victory over China’s Ding Liren in Singapore cemented his place among the sport’s all-time greats.

Earlier, Gukesh had stunned the chess world by winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament as its youngest-ever victor, scoring an impressive nine points. His triumphs didn’t stop there — Gukesh led India to double gold at the Budapest Chess Olympiad, delivering a record-breaking 3000+ rating performance on Board 1 and claiming individual gold.

India’s team performance in Budapest was historic, as both the Open and Women’s teams clinched their first-ever gold medals. This milestone came just two years after earning bronze at the Olympiad in Chennai, showcasing India’s meteoric rise in global chess.

The year also saw Arjun Erigaisi breaching the 2800 Elo mark and Koneru Humpy reclaiming the Women’s World Rapid Championship title after five years.

With these feats, 2024 was indeed a landmark year that positioned India as a global powerhouse in chess, led by its new golden generation.

JANUARY

Chinese chess player sues to regain title

Chinese chess player Yan Chenglong filed a lawsuit against the national association for mental distress after being stripped of his title for drinking alcohol and defecating in his hotel bathtub. Yan admitted the incidents but cited stomach problems as the reason for his behaviour. The association accused him of damaging hotel property and tarnishing the tournament’s reputation.

Vaishali and RB Ramesh honored

GM R. Vaishali received the Arjuna Award for being the third Indian woman to achieve the GM title, joining Humpy and Dronavalli Harika. Her coach, RB Ramesh, was honoured with the Dronacharya Award for his contributions to Indian chess, mentoring both Vaishali and R. Praggnanandhaa.

FIDE Candidates 2024: Carlsen withdraws

Magnus Carlsen officially withdrew from the FIDE Candidates 2024 in Toronto, forfeiting his spot to Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov. The tournament would determine the challenger for World Champion Ding, with India’s rising chess stars in focus.

Praggnanandhaa becomes India’s No. 1

At Tata Steel Masters 2024, R. Praggnanandhaa defeated World Champion Ding and surpassed Viswanathan Anand to become India’s top-rated player with a live rating of 2748.3. The victory marked Praggnanandhaa’s career-high ranking of World No. 11.

FIDE alters Candidates 2026 pathways

FIDE announced significant changes for the Candidates Tournament 2026, removing automatic qualification for the World Championship runner-up. According to FIDE, the revisions were aimed to enhance competition and ensure balanced representation among top players.

Tata Steel Chess 2024: Gukesh and Mendonca shine

Leon Luke Mendonca won the Tata Steel Challengers title, while Gukesh tied for the Masters crown but lost the tie-break to China’s Wei Yi. Gukesh’s final-round win placed him in a four-way tie, with Wei ultimately claiming the title.

FEBRUARY

Vaishali wins Sportswoman of the Year (Individual) at Sportstar Aces Awards 2024

Vaishali also won the Sportstar Aces Award for Sportswoman of the Year (Individual) at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai.

The highlight of Vaishali’s 2023 came at the Asian Games in Hangzhou where she helped the Indian women’s team win the silver medal. “I thank The Hindu group and Sportstar for recognising my efforts. I feel truly honoured. I am speechless,” Vaishali said.

She won the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss without dropping a single game (8.5/11) and qualified for the Candidates 2024. At the Qatar Masters 2023, she won the women’s prize. Earlier in the year, she beat two 2600-rated Grandmasters, Luis Paulo Supi and Jergus Pechac, finishing 12th in the Tata Steel Challengers 2023.

The strong performances over the year helped Vaishali become the 84th Grandmaster of India.

Praggnanandhaa becomes junior World No. 1 in FIDE rankings

Praggnanandhaa became the junior World No. 1 as per the FIDE rankings. The 18-year-old Indiangrandmaster gained four Elo raing points due to his performance at the Tata Steel Chess tournament 2024.

Indian-origin Ashwath becomes youngest to beat a Grandmaster

An eight-year-old Indian-origin boy become the youngest player to defeat a GM in classical chess.

Ashwath Kaushik, who represented Singapore, defeated Polish chess grandmaster Jacek Stopa at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland, who at 37 is nearly five times older than him.

The previous record was set only a few weeks earlier when Serbia’s Leonid Ivanovic, who is several months older than Ashwath, beat 60-year-old Bulgarian grandmaster Milko Popchev at the Belgrade Open.

MARCH

Prague Masters 2024: Praggnanandhaa finishes joint second; Gukesh shares fifth spot; Vidit last

Praggnanandhaa finished joint-second after settling for a draw with David Navara of the Czech Republic in the final round of the Prague Masters Chess 2024.

With this, Praggnanandhaa also became the top-rated Indian going into the Candidates 2024 in Toronto.

Gukesh, Richard Rapport of Romania and David Navara, the local star ended on 4.5 points sharing the fifth spot followed by Bartel and Keymer having 3.5 points each. Vidit Gujrathi had to be content with a last place finish on three points.

Nitin Narang elected as new AICF president; Dev Patel, Dharmendra among new office bearers

Haryana’s Nitin Narang was elected as the new president of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) in March.

The AICF General Body, following the National Sports Code, unanimously elected the new set of office bearers for the term 2024-27 in a meeting held in New Delhi.

Narang replaced Sanjay Kapoor as president. Dev A Patel of Gujarat succeeds Bharat Singh Chauhan, as the new secretary while International Arbiter Shri Dharmendra Kumar of Bihar is the new Treasurer, replacing Naresh Sharma.

Carlsen launches Freestyle tour, India first on list

Carlsen launched a World Freestyle Chess tour as the variant of the game, also known as Chess960. He Partnered with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner to set up a new, exclusive tour.

The prize money for the Indian leg of the tour was expected be 500,000 USD, Carlsen and Buettner said in a joint statement.

Chess960, created by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996, was been gaining in popularity after an invitational tournament played at the Weissenhaus Luxury Resort, which hosted the G7 Foreign Minister summit in 2022.

APRIL

Arjun Erigaisi replaces Anand as top ranked Indian in official FIDE rating list

GM Arjun replaced Anand as the highest-ranked Indian in the official FIDE rating list. Arjun who was placed seventh in April in the world rankings with a live rating of 2758.3. The 20-year-old leapfrogged Anand in the live rating list in March.

Arjun also became only the second Indian after Gukesh to surpass Anand as the India No. 1 on a published FIDE Rating list. He was also the fourth Indian after Anand, Pentala Harikrishna and Gukesh to enter the top 10 in world rankings.

Gukesh emerges as youngest Candidates winner, becomes second Indian to qualify for World Championship final

Gukesh, at the 17, became the youngest winner of the FIDE Candidates tournament.

Finishing on top of the table with nine points in the eight-player competition in Toronto, he became only the second Indian to qualify for a World Championship final after Anand.

With this, Gukesh was guaranteed a spot in the World Chess Championship final against reigning champion, Ding.

Candidates 2024: Vaishali posts fifth straight win to finish as joint runner-up with Humpy, Lie; Tan Zhongyi wins the title

Tan Zhongyi won the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2024 but Vaishali exceeded all expectations by cruising to a fifth successive victory and finishing joint runner-up with compatriot K. Humpy and defending champion China’s Lei Tingjie.

MAY

Abu Dhabi declared as host for 47th FIDE Chess Olympiad in 2028

The president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Arkady Dvorkovich, and the general secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Aref Hamad Al Awani signed the agreement on hosting and organising the 47th Chess Olympiad, the 4th Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, and the 98th FIDE Congress.

IM Varugeese Koshy passes away

International Master Varugeese Koshy passed away at the age of 66 years. One of India’s finest trainers, Koshy mentored a host of Indian chess players including GMs P. Harikrishna, S. L. Narayanan and N.R. Visakh among others at some point in their careers.

Born in Adoor (Pathanamthitta district of Kerala), Koshy worked with the Central Reserve Police Force in Mt. Abu, Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO, Jamshedpur) and ONGC from where he retired in 2018.

Shyaamnikhil ends 12-year wait, becomes India’s 85th GM

P Shyaamnikhil became India’s 85th Grandmaster by completing his third and final GM norm in the just-concluded Dubai Police Masters chess tournament, ending a 12-year-wait for the player who took to the sport as an eight-year-old.

Shyaamnikhil needed just one win, and eight draws to complete the long-overdue GM title, which he achieved in the tournament.

The 31-year-old conjured the requisite 2500 ELO rating points, the minimum requirement to be a GM, way back in 2012 with two Grandmaster norms, but for the third one, he had to wait for 12 years.

Casablanca Chess: Carlsen emerges champion ahead of Nakamura; Anand on third

Carlsen won the Casablanca Chess Variant tournament, a four-player event with 4.5 points from six rounds at Casablanca, Morocco.

In the tournament, in which the players were required to make moves from certain positions onwards from well-known games from the past, Hikaru Nakamura of the United States finished runner-up with 3.5 points while Anand was third.

The five-time World Champion from Chennai scored three points. Bassem Amin of Egypt finished last with one point.

Sharjah Masters 2024: Arjun finishes seventh, Iranian Daneshvar wins the trophy

Arjun played out a draw with eventual winner Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran in the ninth and final round to finish seventh at the Sharjah Masters International chess tournament. With a four-way tie at the top of the tables on 6.5 points each, Daneshvar pipped everyone to clinch his maiden title here with his best tiebreak score.

India submitted its bid to host the World Chess Championship clash between teen sensation Gukesh and defending champion Ding.

Norway Chess 2024: Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen for the first time in classical game

Praggnanandhaa stunned World No. 1 Carlsen in the third round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger for his first win against the Norwegian in the classical game.

It was Praggnanandhaa’s first-ever win in classical chess against the five-time World champion.

Arjun Erigaisi becomes World No. 5 in live FIDE rankings

Arjun made his top 5 debut in the live FIDE rankings after a perfect start at the French Top 16 Club Championship.

The 20-year-old Arjun, who hails from Warangal, beat compatriot Pentala Harikrishna and Germany’s Vitaly Kunin in the first two rounds. As a result, he reached a live rating of 2767.5, just a few points away from World No. 4 Ian Nepomniachtchi.

JUNE

Arjun Erigaisi becomes World No. 4 in live FIDE rating list, achieves career-high 2771.2 rating

India’s Arjun continued his upward ascend in the FIDE world live ratings, going above Nepomniachtchi to become the new World No. 4 after beating France’s Loic Travadon in the French Team Chess Championship 2024.

With a career-high rating of 2771.2, the Warangal wunderkind was just behind Norway’s Carlsen, USA’s Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in the live rating list.

Playing for the Metz Fischer chess club in the French Team Chess Championship, Arjun grabbed his fourth successive win in as many rounds.

Norway Chess 2024: Carlsen, Ju emerge as winners, Praggnanandhaa finishes third

Carlsen and Ju Wenjun emerged as the champions at the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger. Carlsen, with 17.5 points, was the clear winner in the open section, as was Ju, with 19, in the women’s.

In the final round, the local hero defeated Caruana in Armageddon. His closest rival, Nakamura was beaten by Praggnanandhaa, also in Armageddon.

Nakamura still finished runner-up with 15.5 points, while the Chennai teenager took third place with 14.5. Alireza Firouzja of France, with 13.5 points, ended up fourth after inflicting yet another defeat on World Champion Ding.

World Junior Chess Championship 2024: Divya Deshmukh wins Girls’ title; Nogerbek wins in Open section

Divya Deshmukh added another significant title to her already impressive collection. The 18-year-old from Nagpur won the World junior girls’ chess championship after beating Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva in the final round in Gandhinagar.

The top-seeded Divya finished with 10 points, out of a possible 11, as she remained unbeaten, winning nine games and drawing two. The title in the open section was claimed by Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek

Arjun Erigaisi wins Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 with a round to spare; Achieves 2779.9 live rating

India’s highest-rated chess player Arjun continued his top run as he dominated the 10-player field to win the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 in Jermuk, Armenia, with a round to spare.

Arjun beat Russia’s Volodar Murzin with white pieces in 63 moves to end the penultimate round (eight) with six points, a full 1.5 points ahead of the three-player deadlock on second position with 4.5 points.

With four wins and as many draws in eight rounds, Arjun accounted for 9 Elo rating points; his live rating of 2779.9 took him to world No. 4 behind Carlsen, Nakamura and Caruana.

JULY

Anand wins Leon Masters for the 10th time

Anand proved his mettle once again by defeating Spaniard Jaime Santos Latasa 3-1 in the finals to win the Leon Masters for the 10th time.

The 54-year-old Anand, who lived in Spain for many years before shifting his base back to Chennai, proved yet again that this was one of his favourite hunting grounds. It was in 1996, or 28 years back, that Anand won his first Leon Masters title.

The format featured four players with his compatriot Arjun, and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov being the other two players in the tournament.

Singapore to host 2024 World Championship between Gukesh and Ding

Singapore was announced as the host by the International Chess Federation for the 2024 FIDE World Championship match between Challenger Gukesh and defending champion Ding.

The Singapore Chess Federation obtained the hosting rights to conduct the match between November 20 and December 15, 2024.

FIDE received three applications for hosting the World Championship Match – New Delhi (India), Chennai (India), and Singapore. After reviewing the bids and inspecting all potential host cities for their venues, amenities, event programs, and opportunities, the country was chosen.

Koneru Humpy decides to skip Chess Olympiad 2024

Former World Rapid Chess Champion, Humpy, decided to skip Chess Olympiad to be held in Budapest (Hungary) in September 2024 citing fatigue.

“I have opted out of the Olympiad because I am no longer in a position to play back-to-back tournaments and also the fact that I have already confirmed my entry into some of the major events,” the 37-year-old Humpy informed Sportstar from Vijayawada.

“I will be taking part in the World Rapid and Blitz team championship in Kazakhstan from July 31 in which players from different countries will be in each team and also then in the Grand Prix Series in October in London,” she said.

Bangladesh’s top chess grandmaster Ziaur Rahman dies mid-match

Bangladesh’s top-ranked Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman died at the age of 50 after suffering a stroke and collapsing on his board in the middle of a National Championship match.

Ziaur was the highest-ranked of Bangladesh’s five chess grandmasters.

He won the national championship multiple times and represented Bangladesh in the 44th Chess Olympiad in India in 2022.

AUGUST

World Blitz Team Championship 2024: Team MGD1 clinches silver medal; Arjun beats Carlsen

Arjun-led Team MGD1 banked on its all-Indian star cast to clinch the silver medal in the inaugural World Blitz Team Championships, a club-based event conceptualised by world chess governing body FIDE, in Astana, Kazakhstan.

In the final against Team WR Chess, Arjun, the highest-rated Indian in Classic Ranking, beat Carlsen on the top board in Round 1.

But the Norwegian’s teammates won on the other boards to give the team a comfortable lead. Team MGD1 put up a strong fight in the second round to hold the eventual champion 3.0-3.0, but that was not enough to take the match into the play-off.

Grand Chess tour 2024: Firouzja wins GCT and Sinquefield leg; Praggnanandhaa ties for fifth with Gukesh

Alireza emerged as the champion of the Sinquefield Cup 2024 and also won the Grand Chess Tour 2024.

Winning three and drawing the remaining six games, Firouzja remained undefeated throughout the event.

Defending champion of the GCT and someone who looked like a runaway winner till he reached his home turf, Caruana had to be content with the second-place finish in the tournament.

The third place was shared by Maxime Vachier-Lagaver of France and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

While the third-place finishers had an identical score of five points each behind Caruana, the Indian duo of Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh tied for the fifth spot.

National Chess Championship: Karthik comes from behind and edges Ganguly to script thrilling title win

Grandmaster Karthik Venkataraman of Andhra Pradesh won the 61st National Chess Championship in Gurgaon.

Besides the champion’s title, Karthik won the cash prize of six lakh rupees. Surya Shekhar Ganguly, who was leading throughout the tournament, had to settle for second place. IM Neelash Saha, with nine points, the same as Karthik and Ganguly, was placed third due to a lower tiebreak.

SEPTEMBER

India dominates Budapest Olympiad to win historic double gold

The Indian team’s splendid run at the Chess Olympiad 2024 saw it bagging its first-ever gold medal in both the Open and Women’s section in Budapest, Hungary.

Out of 193 teams in the Open and 181 in the Women’s section, India also retained the Gaprindashvili Cup, awarded to the country with the best overall performance across both categories.

While the women’s team surpassed Kazakhstan for the top prize in a closely fought battle, the men’s team had an exemplary run in the 11-round Swiss tournament. It accounted for 21 points out of 22, winning 10 rounds while drawing just one.

Gukesh, Arjun, Divya and Vantika Agrawal also won individual gold medals.

OCTOBER

Arjun Erigaisi creates history, becomes second Indian after Anand to cross 2800 in live Elo rating list

Arjun made history by becoming the youngest Indian and only the second from the country after Anand to surpass the coveted 2800 Elo rating mark.

Arjun — playing for team Alkaloid in the European Chess Club Cup 2024 — beat Russia’s Dmitry Andreikin in the fifth round with White pieces to achieve the feat. This win also helped him become the World No. 3 in the live rating list.

Arjun became the 16th player to cross the 2800-rating mark.

Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, at 18 years and five months, is the youngest player to cross the 2800 barrier. Five-time World Champion, Magnus Carlsen sits second on this list.

Global Chess League 2024: Triveni Continental Kings defeats PBG Alaskan Knights to retain title

Triveni Continental Kings defeated PBG Alaskan Knights in the finals to defend its Global Chess League title in London.

Despite losing both matches to the Alaskan Knights in the league stage of the GCL, the defending champions showcased their class in the final. The Continental Kings clinched victory with match scores of 9-7 and 13-7.

NOVEMBER

Chennai Grandmasters 2024: Aravindh Chithambaram clinches title on Super GM debut

Aravindh Chithambaram clinched the second edition of the Chennai Grandmasters title by defeating Levon Aronian 2-0 in a blitz tie-break at the Anna Centenary Library auditorium.

Aravindh pipped Aronian and Arjun, who finished on joint top after the end of seven classical rounds.

Kolkata’s Anish Sarkar becomes youngest rated chess player at 3 years

At just three years, eight months, and 19 days, Anish Sarkar from Kolkata became the youngest-rated chess player in history.

Born on January 26, 2021, Anish made his debut in competitive chess with the West Bengal state Under-9 Open.

He earned an initial FIDE rating of 1555.

Tata Steel Chess India 2024: Carlsen sweeps rapid, blitz with round to spare; Goryachkina, Lagno winners in Women’s Section

Carlsen was a class apart at the Tata Steel Chess India 2024, as he secured both the rapid and blitz titles, claiming victories with a round to spare.

Among Indians in the Open section, Praggnanandhaa was second in rapid, while Arjun finished third in blitz.

In the Women’s section, Russian dominance was the central theme. Aleksandra Goryachkina’s consistent play saw her capture the rapid title, while three-time World Blitz Champion Kateryna Lagno exhibited her trademark poise and control to win the blitz crown, both with a round to spare.

Among Indians, only Vantika had a strong showing in both time formats.

She finished third in the rapid while just missing out on a podium finish in blitz due to an inferior tiebreak with third-placed Goryachkina.

Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: Delhi announced as one of five host cities

Carlsen’s highly anticipated Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour was officially announced in Singapore, with Delhi confirmed as one of the five major host cities for its inaugural edition.

Carlsen has partnered with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner to launch the exclusive tour, which kicks off in Weissenhaus, Germany, from February 7–14, 2025.

The tour will span five countries, with tournaments in Germany, India, France (Paris), the USA (New York), and South Africa (Cape Town). The prize pool for the Delhi leg is expected to be $500,000 – $1,000,000.

Nihal Sarin wins President’s Cup 2024 in Uzbekistan

Indian GM Nihal Sarin clinched the President Cup after drawing against Nodirbek Abdusattorov with black pieces in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Sarin ended the tournament at the top of the standings with 7.5 points after playing out nine rounds while local player Abdusattorov’s chances were dealt a blow with the final-round draw. The Uzbek finished fifth with 6.5 points.

Another local player Javokhir Sindarov took second place with 7 points while Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo finished third with 7 points as well.

Other Indians in the fray to finish in the top 10 out of the 118-strong field include Neelash Saha (eighth, 6 points) and Karthikeyan Murali (ninth, 6 points).

DECEMBER

World Chess Championship 2024: Gukesh becomes youngest World Champion, breaks Kasparov’s record

Gukesh created history as the 18-year-old became the youngest World Chess Champion in the history of the sport after beating Ding in the 14th round of their World Championship clash in Singapore.

With his, he broke the previous record set by the legendary Garry Kasparov, who was just 22 when he beat then-champion Anatoly Karpov in 1985.

After breaking the record of becoming the youngest-ever winner of the FIDE Candidates tournament in April, the Chennai GM also became only the second Indian after Anand to clinch this coveted title.

In an year where he won Candidates, an individual and team gold at the Budapest Olympiad and then the World Championship title, 2024 was truly the year of Gukesh.

Russian chess federation head accuses Ding of losing on purpose against Gukesh in World Championship 2024

The president of the Chess Federation of Russia, Andrei Filatov, accused Ding of losing the World Chess Championship 2024 on purpose against Gukesh. Russian news agency TASS quoted Filatov as saying that the result raises questions and that the International Chess Federation (FIDE) should open an investigation.

Koneru Humpy wins Women’s World Rapid Championship 2024

Humpy beat Indonesia’s Irine Kharisma Sukandar in Round 11 to win FIDE World Rapid Championship 2024 in Wall Street, New York.

This was Humpy’s second World Rapid title after claiming the top spot in 2019 in Moscow.

Humpy had finished on joint-top in the 2023 Samarkand Rapid Championship before losing to eventual winner Anastasia Bodnaruk in tiebreaks.

Caruana qualifies for Candidates 2026 through FIDE Circuit Rating 2024, Arjun misses out by a whisker

Arjun Candidates 2026 qualification hopes ended through FIDE Circuit 2024 Ratings after Russia’s 18-year-old sensation Volodar Murzin won the World Rapid Championship 2024 in New York.

Arjun needed to finish clear first (sole leader) or win via tiebreaks after finishing joint-first to get the Candidates 2026 spot through Circuit Rating points.

This also meant that 2018 World Championship challenger Caruana became the first player to qualify for Candidates 2026 after leading the FIDE Circuit 2024 leaderboard.

Arjun will have more chances to qualify for Candidates in this cycle as out of the seven spots left for the challenger tournament, three are reserved for the top three in World Cup 2025, two from FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, one from Circuit 2025 rating, and one with the highest rating average between August 2025 and January 2026.