FIDE rankings: Gukesh out of top 10; Erigaisi becomes India No. 1

Indian chess witnessed a landmark September as Arjun Erigaisi ascended to world number four and Nihal Sarin joined the elite 2700 club. Vaishali Rameshbabu secured a Women’s Candidates spot, while Divya Deshmukh also impressed. Junior prodigies like Pranav Venkatesh, Abhimanyu Mishra, and Ashwath Kaushik achieved significant rating gains, underscoring India’s burgeoning status as a global chess powerhouse.