Chess in India

1.1 What is the short answer on chess in India?

India has had two world champions: Viswanathan Anand and D. Gukesh. Anand won the world title five times between 2000 and 2012. Gukesh won it in December 2024. India also won both gold medals at the 2024 Chess Olympiad.

1.2 Where did chess begin, and who runs it today?

Chess first appeared in India about the 6th century CE. The early game was called chaturanga. Some scholars see it as the forerunner of modern chess. By the 10th century the game had spread to the Middle East and Europe.

Today the All India Chess Federation (AICF) runs the sport in India. Its headquarters is in New Delhi, with an office in Chennai. Its president is Nitin Narang. The world body is FIDE. It was founded on 20 July 1924 in Paris. Its seat is now in Lausanne, Switzerland.

2.1 Who is Anand, and what did he win?

Viswanathan Anand was born in Madras on 11 December 1969. He became a Grandmaster in 1988. That made him India’s first Grandmaster. In 1991 he won his first major international tournament. He finished ahead of Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.

He won the FIDE world championship five times. The years are 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

2.2 Which honours did Anand receive?

• Padma Vibhushan in 2008, not 2007.
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991-92. He shared the first award with billiards champion Geet Sethi.

3.1 How did Gukesh become world champion?

In April 2024 Gukesh won the Candidates Tournament at the age of 17. He became the youngest challenger for the world title.

He then played Ding Liren of China for the title. Gukesh won the match 7.5-6.5 on 12 December 2024. He was 18. FIDE calls him the youngest world champion in history. He is the 18th world champion. He is the second Indian world champion, after Anand.

4.1 What has Praggnanandhaa achieved?

R. Praggnanandhaa, called Pragg, became a Grandmaster in 2018. In October 2026 his FIDE standard rating was 2763.

In 2026 he won Norway Chess in Oslo. He is the first Indian to win it. He finished on 18 points. Wesley So had 17, Alireza Firouzja 15.5 and Magnus Carlsen 13.

In August 2026 he also won the Grand Chess Tour finals in St. Louis. He is the first Indian to win that tour.

4.2 What did Arjun Erigaisi do?

Arjun Erigaisi crossed the 2800 rating mark in the December 2024 list. He was only the 15th player in history to do so. He was the second Indian to reach 2800, after Anand.

5.1 Who are India's leading women players?

Koneru Humpy became a Grandmaster in 2002. She also won the FIDE Women’s World Rapid title in 2024. Dronavalli Harika became a Grandmaster in 2011.

Divya Deshmukh became the fourth Indian woman Grandmaster in 2025. She joined Humpy, Harika and R. Vaishali.

5.2 What happened at the 2025 Women's World Cup?

The final was played in Batumi, Georgia. The event ran from 6 to 28 July 2025. Divya beat Humpy 1.5-0.5 in the tiebreaks. She was the third-ever winner. Her win also earned her the Grandmaster title and a place in the 2026 Candidates.

In April 2026 Vaishali won the Women’s Candidates in Cyprus. That set up a world title match against Ju Wenjun.

Years come from FIDE profiles and the news pages listed under Sources.

6.1 Who is the youngest Grandmaster ever?

Abhimanyu Mishra of the USA holds the record. He earned his final norm on 30 June 2021. He was 12 years, 4 months and 25 days old.

Sergey Karjakin of Russia held the record before him. He earned the title at 12 years and 7 months. That was in 2002. Mishra beat the mark by about 66 days.

6.2 How many Grandmasters does India have?

India’s 98th Grandmaster was Aswath S. He earned his final norm in Pune in July 2026.

7.1 What happened at the 2022 Olympiad?

The 44th Chess Olympiad was held in India. The torch relay was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 19 June 2022. Uzbekistan won the Open section and Ukraine won the Women’s. India’s second team and India’s women both won bronze.

7.2 What happened in Budapest in 2024?

India won gold in both sections at the 45th Olympiad. The Open team won 10 matches and drew one. It beat Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the last round. The women also won their last round 3.5-0.5, against Azerbaijan.

7.3 What happened in Samarkand in 2026?

The 46th Olympiad ended on 27 September 2026 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan won the Open section. India took silver on tiebreak. Germany was third. In the Women’s section China won, Kazakhstan took silver and India took bronze.

India kept the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy. It was the third straight edition that India won it.

8.1 What else has happened recently?

• Goa 2025: India hosted the FIDE World Cup. Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan won it. The closing ceremony was on 26 November 2025.
• Cyprus 2026: Sindarov won the Candidates Tournament near Paphos.
• Samarkand 2026: Timur Turlov was elected FIDE President on 26 September 2026.

9.1 Which real exam questions came from this topic?

9.2 Which facts do students mix up?

• Gukesh: Candidates at 17, world title at 18. Opponent: Ding Liren.
• Olympiad gold for both sections was 2024 in Budapest. In 2026 India won Open silver.
• Anand shared the first Khel Ratna with Geet Sethi.
• Padma Vibhushan to Anand: 2008.