R Praggnanandhaa Clinch UzChess Cup, Climbs To India No.1 In Live Rankings

Hyderabad : Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has officially become India's No.1 after winning the UzChess Cup Masters title on Friday. The 19-year-old Grandmaster beat Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the black pieces in the final round to win the championship and mark a significant moment in the history of Indian chess.

Praggnanandhaa becomes India’s No.1

With the triumph, Praggnanandhaa’s live rating has jumped to 2778.3, and he has jumped to the fourth position in the rankings. The change in the ratings also marks the generational shift in Indian chess, as he surpassed D Gukesh in live classical ratings to become India's No.1 in live rankings. This isn’t the first time the youngster is making waves on the global stage. 2025 has turned out to be a year of positive results for the Indian Grandmaster.

He has now surpassed both world champions, Gukesh (2776.6) and Arjun (2775.7).

Norwegian chess icon Magnus Carlsen (2839.2), as well as veteran American GMs Hikaru Nakamura (2807) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2), have occupied the top three places in the live ratings.

Praggnanandhaa’s stellar run in 2025

Praggnanandhaa kicked off the year by winning the Tata Steel Chess tournament in February. He secured a thrilling victory against D Gukesh in the tiebreaker. He finished the classical portion in the first place, tied with D Gukesh and then won the blitz tiebreak.

He also won the Superbet Chess Classic Romania last month and earned a prize of $77667. The 19-year-old has added another feather to his cap, winning the UzChess Cup Masters 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Road to UzChess Cup title

Praggnanandhaa beat some of the leading players across the global landscape, including compatriots Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram as well as home favourites Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov.

The Indian Grandmaster had finished level on 5.5 points with Javokhir and Nodirbek. All three players then finished level on two points in the first round of the blitz tie-breaks.

Praggnanandhaa, however, raced ahead in the second round of the tie-breaks, finishing with 1.5 points compared to 1 for Javokhir and 0.5 for Nodirbek.