Gukesh Dommaraju
- November 28, 2025
World Champion since 2024, winner of the 2024 title match
Highest Elo rating: 2794
Ranking: highest third place
Tournament career: Winner of two super-tournaments:
2024 Candidates Tournament
Chennai Grand Masters 2023
2x tied first place at Tata Steel Masters, but lost tie-break
Chess Olympiads: gold and bronze team medals, 2x gold individual medal
Why he deserves it:
And here we have the first of eighteen world champions!
First, let me clarify why eighteen world champions do not simply occupy the first eighteen spots, as you might have expected. The answer is twofold. Firstly, from 1850-1886 this title did not exist, and part of the era covered by this series does not account for this title. The best players from this time cannot be penalized just because they were not world champions. Secondly, the title of world champion is, of course, very significant (after all, it is by far the only reason why Gukesh is ranked so high), but in my opinion, it does not guarantee a place in the top twenty by itself. There are world champions who held the title only briefly, became champions with a bit of luck, or otherwise did not win much. Conversely, there are players who won tournaments and were the best in the world for decades, but due to various circumstances, the world champion title eluded them. The world champion title is very significant, it is the main measure, but it is not an absolute trump card.
Furthermore, let me remind you that for current young players like Gukesh, as well as Praggnanandhaa, Firouzja, and Abdusattorov, there is a great expectation of further significant successes, and I would be surprised if these players do not rank high in these lists by the end of their careers. But this ranking was compiled in real-time and reflects the state at the end of 2025. I cannot, in principle, award bonus points for something that may or may not happen. Praggnanandhaa, Firouzja, and Abdusattorov have not even made it into the top hundred yet, but I would not be surprised if they do in a few years. For now, they are not there.
Back to Gukesh. Why he is where he is probably doesn’t need much explanation: he is a world champion, having reached the highest chess peak. Rather, the question that needs answering is why I have prioritized several players who did not reach this peak before him.
Gukesh has so far won only two super-tournaments and twice lost a tie-break in Wijk aan Zee. His highest world ranking was third, which is not very satisfying for a world champion. Moreover, despite wearing the chess crown, he has never officially or unofficially been the best player in the world. He even recently dropped out of the elite world top ten for a month, which is a very unflattering statistic for a world champion. In short, he succeeded in the Candidates, had some luck with opponents in the title match – let’s admit that – and is a rightful world champion. However, that does not mean he should be higher in this ranking – he still has a lot to win. Nevertheless, he has a very solid foundation at the start of his career.
Best games:
Dommaraju Gukesh vs Anish Giri
Tata Steel Masters 2025
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Miroslav Janeček graduated in English Philology at Palacký University Olomouc. Currently he works in Prague as a content editor for a large marketing company. His roots are in Opava - the historic and cultural centre of the Czech part of Silesia. That city is also the home of Slezan Opava, the chess club where Miroslav started to play chess, later went on to work as a youth coach and which he to this day proudly represents. As an aspiring chess publicist, he is the main author of articles on ChessDB.cz. In his free time, in addition to chess and writing, he also devotes himself to racket sports, history, and literature.