Chess players

Gukesh Dommaraju

Grandmaster, India. FIDE rating 2710, October 2026.

Gukesh Dommaraju of India is a grandmaster and the world champion since December 2024. He is rated 2710 and ranked 28th in the world on the FIDE list of October 2026. He defends the title against Javokhir Sindarov in Geneva from 22 November to 12 December 2026, with game 1 on 24 November.

FIDE title: Grandmaster
Federation: India
Born: 29 May 2006, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Classical rating: 2710 (October 2026)
Rapid rating: 2686
Blitz rating: 2659
Peak rating: 2794 (October 2024)
World rank: No. 28 (October 2026)
FIDE id: 46616543

Gukesh grew up in Chennai and was introduced to chess at his school, part of the Velammal group of schools that also produced Praggnanandhaa. He completed the grandmaster title on 15 January 2019 at the Delhi International Open, at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days, 17 days short of Sergey Karjakin's record. He reached a live rating of 2700 in July 2022, crossed 2750 in July 2023 as the youngest player to do so, and in September 2023 passed Viswanathan Anand as India's top-rated player, ending Anand's 37-year run.

In April 2024 he won the Candidates with 9/14, the youngest winner of that event. At the Budapest Olympiad that September he scored 9/10 on board one and won individual and team gold. From 25 November to 12 December 2024 he played Ding Liren in Singapore and won 7.5-6.5, becoming the 18th world champion and the youngest undisputed champion at 18 years and six months; the previous mark, 22 years and seven months, was Garry Kasparov's from 1985. His peak classical rating, 2794, came on the October 2024 list.

The Singapore match swung several times. Gukesh lost game 1, won game 3, won game 11 and lost game 12. The 14th and last classical game looked like a draw and a tiebreak until Ding's 55th move in a rook ending; three moves later Gukesh had won the game and the title. His classical rating is the highest of his three: on the October 2026 list he is rated 2710 in classical, 2686 in rapid and 2659 in blitz.

Since the title his results have dropped. In 2026 he was 10th of 14 at Tata Steel with 6.5/13, shared fourth at the Menorca Masters in April, where Nihal Sarin beat him twice, last at Norway Chess with 8 points and last at the Chennai Grand Masters in July with 2/7. In April he cut his Grand Chess Tour schedule to two rapid and blitz events. At the Samarkand Olympiad he played board four, won seven of his first ten games, scored 8.5/11 and took the board-four silver medal, then lost the last round to Gleb Dudin of Hungary.

The defence is a 14-game match at the Fondation Martin Bodmer in Cologny, Geneva, first to 7.5 points, with tiebreaks on 12 December at 7-7 and a prize fund of US$2.5 million. Sindarov is 72 points higher on the October 2026 list, 2782 to 2710, and both players are 20, the youngest pairing in the history of world championship matches. The players are due in Geneva on 20 November, and every game starts at 15:00 Geneva time, 7:30 PM IST.

Next events

1.Salesforce FIDE World Championship Match 2026: 22 November to 12 December 2026 (game 1 on 24 November), Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland. Defends the title against Javokhir Sindarov.

Recent results

Gukesh's recent results
Event	Dates	Result
46th Chess Olympiad, Samarkand	16 to 27 September 2026	8.5/11 on board four for India and the board-four silver medal; India took team silver
Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026, Chennai	16 to 22 July 2026	8th of 8 with 2/7
Norway Chess 2026, Oslo	25 May to 5 June 2026	6th of 6 with 8 points
Menorca Masters 2026	7 to 12 April 2026	Shared 4th with 4.5/10
Tata Steel Masters 2026, Wijk aan Zee	16 January to 1 February 2026	10th of 14 with 6.5/13
Global Chess League 2025, Mumbai (PBG Alaskan Knights)	December 2025	Third; the Knights beat the Ganges Grandmasters 4-2 in the third-place match
FIDE World Cup 2025, Goa	1 to 26 November 2025	Knocked out by Frederik Svane

Career highlights

1.Completed the grandmaster title on 15 January 2019 at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days, then the second-youngest grandmaster in history.
2.Crossed 2750 in July 2023, the youngest player to do so.
3.Passed Viswanathan Anand as India's top-rated player in September 2023, ending Anand's 37-year run.
4.Won the 2024 Candidates with 9/14, the youngest winner of the event.
5.Scored 9/10 on board one at the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest, with individual and team gold.
6.Beat Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in Singapore in December 2024 to become the 18th world champion and the youngest undisputed champion, at 18.
7.Won the board-four silver medal at the 2026 Olympiad in Samarkand with 8.5/11.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gukesh Dommaraju's next tournament?

The world championship match against Javokhir Sindarov in Geneva. The programme opens on 22 November 2026 with a media day and the opening ceremony, game 1 is on 24 November, game 14 on 11 December, and tiebreaks follow on 12 December if the score is 7-7. Games start at 15:00 in Geneva, 7:30 PM IST.

What is Gukesh Dommaraju's FIDE rating?

On the October 2026 FIDE list Gukesh is rated 2710 in classical chess, 2686 in rapid and 2659 in blitz, and he is 28th in the world in classical. His highest classical rating is 2794, on the October 2024 list.

How old is Gukesh Dommaraju?

Gukesh was born on 29 May 2006 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, so he is 20. He and Sindarov are both 20 at the start of the 2026 match, the youngest pairing in world championship history.

When is the Gukesh vs Sindarov world championship match?

Game 1 is on 24 November 2026 at the Fondation Martin Bodmer in Cologny, Geneva, and the match ends by 12 December. It is 14 classical games, first to 7.5 points, with 120 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment from move 41. The prize fund is US$2.5 million.

How did Gukesh become world champion?

He won the 2024 Candidates with 9/14, then beat Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in Singapore between 25 November and 12 December 2024. He lost game 1, won games 3 and 11, lost game 12 and won the 14th and last classical game, so the match needed no tiebreak.

Sources

Facts checked on 20 October 2026. Ratings are from the FIDE list of October 2026.

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