List of Indian chess players
Amongst Indian chess players there are 91 Grandmasters ; 123 International Masters ; 23 Woman Grandmasters, including some who also hold the higher IM title; and 42 Woman International Masters as of June 2025. India has over 30,000 players rated by FIDE, the International Chess Federation.
As of July 2025, the top 10 active Indian chess players have an average rating of 2725, the 2nd highest in the world, behind the United States. The top 10 active women Indian players have an average rating of 2412, the 2nd highest in the world behind China.
As of 2023, 24 different players have been conferred with the highest civilian and sports honours of India, including the Padma awards and the Arjuna Award. Viswanathan Anand was the first sportsperson to receive the second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2008 and the inaugural highest sports award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, in 1991–92.
Top players
The list of top 10 active players as of September 2025. The top 100 players of the world include 11 Indian players, amongst them Viswananthan Anand at Rank 14. The top 100 women players of the world include 8 Indian players, amongst them Humpy Koneru at Rank 5.Top junior players
The list of top 10 active junior players as of September 2025. The top 100 junior players of the world include 22 Indian players, among them Praggnanandhaa R at rank 1, Gukesh D at rank 2. The top 100 junior girl players of the world include 13 Indian players, among them Divya Deshmukh at rank 1.Name Rating Title State Birth 1 Praggnanandhaa R 2785 GM Tamil Nadu 2 Gukesh D 2767 GM Tamil Nadu 3 Raunak Sadhwani 2658 GM Maharashtra 4 Leon Luke Mendonca 2615 GM Goa 5 Pranesh M 2611 GM Tamil Nadu 6 Pranav Anand 2603 GM Tamil Nadu 7 Pranav V 2596 GM Karnataka 8 Aditya Mittal 2589 GM Maharashtra 9 Bharath Subramaniyam 2565 GM Tamil Nadu 10 Aditya Samant 2517 IM Maharashtra Name Rating Title State Birth 1 Divya Deshmukh 2478 GM Maharashtra 2 Prishita Gupta 2353 WFM Delhi 3 Rakshitta Ravi 2326 WGM Tamil Nadu 4 Savitha Shri B 2321 IM Tamil Nadu 5 Velpula Sarayu 2284 WIM Telangana 6 Tejaswini G 2277 WIM Tamil Nadu 7 Shubhi Gupta 2271 WFM Andhra Pradesh 8 Sherali Pattnaik 2270 FM Andhra Pradesh 9 Sahithi Varshini M 2266 FM Andhra Pradesh 10 Kolagatla Alana Meenakshi 2260 WFM Andhra Pradesh
Decorated players
As of 2022, 24 different individuals have been conferred India's top civilian and sports awards. Five different individuals have been conferred the Padma awards. Anupama Gokhale was the first Indian chess player to be awarded the Padma Shri at the age of 16 in 1986. Viswanathan Anand became the first sportsperson to receive the second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2008 after becoming the undisputed World Chess Champion in 2007.Nineteen different individuals have received top sports honours of India as of 2023. Anand was the recipient of the inaugural highest sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–92. Twenty individuals have been awarded the Arjuna Award for exceptional performance in chess at the international level. Manuel Aaron was the first chess player to receive this award in its inception year of 1961. Rohini Khadilkar was the second chess player and first female chess player to receive this award in 1980–81. In total, seven women chess players have received this award. Three chess coaches—Raghunandan Gokhle, Koneru Ashok, and Ramachandran Ramesh —have received the Dronacharya Award, the highest sports coaching honour of India.
Titled players
As of July 2025, India has 88 Grandmasters including 4 female players holding the title, 156 International Masters including 10 female players holding the title, 12 Woman Grandmasters, and 46 Woman International Masters. The first titled player of India was Manuel Aaron, when he became the first IM of India in 1961. Viswanathan Anand became India's first GM in 1988.The first Indian to obtain WIM title was Jayshree Khadilkar in 1979 and WGM title was Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi in 2001. The first Indian woman to become GM was Koneru Humpy in 2002 and IM was Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi in 2002.