CHESS PLAYERS from India

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Indian Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Indian Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Viswanathan Anand (1969 - )

With an HPI of 54.80, Viswanathan Anand is the most famous Indian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 86 different languages on wikipedia.

Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster, a former five-time World Chess Champion and a record two-time Chess World Cup Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and he has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time. In 2022, he was elected the deputy president of FIDE. Anand defeated Alexei Shirov in a six-game match to win the 2000 FIDE World Chess Championship, a title he held until 2002. He became the undisputed world champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010, and Boris Gelfand in 2012. In 2013, he lost the title to challenger Magnus Carlsen, and he lost a rematch to Carlsen in 2014 after winning the 2014 Candidates Tournament. In April 2006, Anand became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list, after Kramnik, Topalov, and Garry Kasparov. He occupied the number one position for 21 months, the sixth-longest period on record. Known for his rapid playing speed as a child, Anand earned the sobriquet "Lightning Kid" during his early career in the 1980s. He has since developed into a universal player, and many consider him the greatest rapid chess player of his generation. He won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017, the World Blitz Cup in 2000, and numerous other top-level rapid and blitz events. Anand was the first recipient of the Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honour. In 2007, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award.

2. Humpy Koneru (1987 - )

With an HPI of 27.11, Humpy Koneru is the 2nd most famous Indian Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 41 different languages.

Koneru Humpy (born 31 March 1987) is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months (this record was subsequently broken by Hou Yifan in 2008). In October 2007, Humpy became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.

3. Pentala Harikrishna (1986 - )

With an HPI of 24.36, Pentala Harikrishna is the 3rd most famous Indian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Pentala Harikrishna (born 10 May 1986) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He became the youngest grandmaster from India after attaining the title in 2001, a record now held by Gukesh D. He was Commonwealth Champion in 2001, World Junior Champion in 2004, and Asian Individual Champion in 2011. He is currently sixth-highest rated player in India. Harikrishna won the Tata Steel Group B in 2012 and the Biel MTO Masters Tournament Open event in 2013. He represented India at seven Chess Olympiads from 2000 to 2012 and won team Bronze at the World Team Chess Championships in 2010. At the Asian Team Championships, Harikrishna won team gold once, team silver twice and individual bronze once. In February 2013, Harikrishna's FIDE rating passed 2700 for the first time. He broke into the top ten players in the world in November 2016 with a FIDE rating of 2768.

4. Tania Sachdev (1986 - )

With an HPI of 22.76, Tania Sachdev is the 4th most famous Indian Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Tania Sachdev (born 20 August 1986) is an Indian chess player, who holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a two-time Indian women's chess champion in 2006 and 2007, one-time Asian women's chess champion in 2007 and three-time and current Commonwealth Women's Chess Champion in 2016, 2018, and 2019. She is also a chess presenter and commentator.

5. Krishnan Sasikiran (1981 - )

With an HPI of 20.67, Krishnan Sasikiran is the 5th most famous Indian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Krishnan Sasikiran (Tamil: கிருஷ்ணன் சசிகிரண்; born 7 January 1981) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He was one of Viswanathan Anand's seconds in the World Chess Championship 2013.

6. Parimarjan Negi (1993 - )

With an HPI of 19.99, Parimarjan Negi is the 6th most famous Indian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Parimarjan Negi (born 9 February 1993) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 20 days, which made him the second youngest grandmaster in history at the time. As of September 2023, he is the seventh youngest player to achieve this feat. Negi is an Indian and Asian champion. He played on the top board for the bronze medal-winning Indian team in the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway. He was granted the Arjuna Award in 2010 by the Government of India.

7. Harika Dronavalli (1991 - )

With an HPI of 18.84, Harika Dronavalli is the 7th most famous Indian Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Harika was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. In 2016, she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and rose up from world no. 11 to world no. 5 in FIDE women's ranking. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.

8. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2005 - )

With an HPI of 18.65, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is the 8th most famous Indian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (born 10 August 2005) is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became an international master at the age of 10, the youngest at the time to ever do so, and a grandmaster at the age of 12, the second-youngest at the time to do so. Praggnanandhaa, alongside his elder sister R Vaishali, became the first brother and sister to hold the Grandmaster title.

9. Padmini Rout (1994 - )

With an HPI of 10.40, Padmini Rout is the 9th most famous Indian Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Padmini Rout (born 5 January 1994) is an Indian chess player. She holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She has won the National Women's Premier Championship five times, consecutively from 2014 to 2017 and again in 2023, and was the Asian women's champion in 2018. Rout was honoured with the Biju Patnaik Sports Award for the year 2007 and the Ekalavya Award in 2009.