September 2026 FIDE Ratings: Praggnanandhaa Is Indian No. 1

Praggnanandhaa Indian No. 1 On September FIDE Rating List

GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is back in the top 10 and has overtaken GM Arjun Erigaisi as Indian number-one after winning the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. A marathon month in St. Louis had a big impact on the September FIDE rating list as victory in the 2026 Sinquefield Cup saw GM Wesley So return to the top five for the first time in four years. Victory in the 2026 Cairns Cup propelled GM Tan Zhongyi up to women's number-six, while 14-year-old Indian WCM Modipalli Deekshitha catapulted into the women's top 25 by gaining 297 points in one month.

At the very top, GM Magnus Carlsen continues his reign, while GM Hikaru Nakamura returns to the number-two spot after a three-month hiatus despite his focus, like Carlsen's, having been on the 2026 Esports World Cup. He owes the climb to GM Fabiano Caruana dropping a few points in the Sinquefield Cup.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 100: September 2026

Change # Name Title Fed Rating (+-) Born - 1 / 1 Magnus Carlsen GM 2823 1990 ↑ 2 / 3 Hikaru Nakamura GM 2792 1987 ↓ 3 / 2 Fabiano Caruana GM 2789 (-3) 1992 - 4 / 4 Javokhir Sindarov GM 2778 (+1) 2005 ↑ 5 / 6 Wesley So GM 2774 (+9) 1993 ↓ 6 / 5 Vincent Keymer GM 2764 (-3) 2004 ↑ 7 / 8 Nodirbek Abdusattorov GM 2762 2004 ↑ 8 / 12 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu GM 2761 (+11) 2005 - 9 / 9 Arjun Erigaisi GM 2759 2003 ↓ 10 / 7 Anish Giri GM 2757 (-7) 1994 ↓ 11 / 10 Alireza Firouzja GM 2757 2003 ↓ 12 / 11 Wei Yi GM 2752 1999 - 13 / 13 Jan-Krzysztof Duda GM 2743 1998 - 14 / 14 Viswanathan Anand GM 2739 1969 ↑ 15 / 20 Amin Tabatabaei GM 2737 (+11) 2001 ↓ 16 / 15 Ding Liren GM 2733 1992 ↓ 17 / 16 Liem Le GM 2732 1991 ↓ 18 / 17 Leinier Dominguez Perez GM 2732 1983 ↓ 19 / 18 Richard Rapport GM 2726 (-3) 1996 ↑ 20 / 23 Levon Aronian GM 2725 (+4) 1982 - 21 / 21 Hans Moke Niemann GM 2725 2003 - 22 / 22 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov GM 2720 (-3) 1985 ↑ 23 / 24 Ian Nepomniachtchi GM 2719 1990 ↑ 24 / 28 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave GM 2718 (+5) 1990 - 25 / 25 Nihal Sarin GM 2718 2004 ↑ 26 / 27 Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus GM 2716 2011 ↓ 27 / 26 Dmitry Andreikin GM 2714 (-3) 1990 ↑ 28 / 29 Yu Yangyi GM 2710 1994 ↑ 29 / 32 Samuel Sevian GM 2708 (+7) 2000 ↓ 30 / 19 Jorden van Foreest GM 2706 (-22) 1999 ↓ 31 / 30 Parham Maghsoodloo GM 2705 2000 ↓ 32 / 31 Gukesh Dommaraju GM 2703 2006 - 33 / 33 Vidit Gujrathi GM 2697 1994 - 34 / 34 Veselin Topalov GM 2695 1975 ↑ 35 / 40 Wang Hao GM 2694 (+13) 1989 - 36 / 36 Awonder Liang GM 2693 (+3) 2003 ↓ 37 / 35 Vladimir Fedoseev GM 2691 (-2) 1995 - 38 / 38 Teimour Radjabov GM 2689 1987 - 39 / 39 Nodirbek Yakubboev GM 2685 2002 ↑ 40 / 41 Andrey Esipenko GM 2680 2002 ↑ 41 / 45 Pranav Venkatesh GM 2677 (+7) 2006 - 42 / 42 Aravindh Chithambaram GM 2677 1999 - 43 / 43 Peter Leko GM 2676 1979 - 44 / 44 Pranesh M GM 2674 (+1) 2006 ↑ 45 / 49 Alexey Sarana GM 2666 2000 ↑ 46 / 50 Nikita Vitiugov GM 2666 1987 ↑ 47 / 52 Rustam Kasimdzhanov GM 2665 1979 ↑ 48 / 51 David Howell GM 2665 1990 ↓ 49 / 47 Aydin Suleymanli GM 2664 (-4) 2005 ↑ 50 / 54 Haik Martirosyan GM 2664 (+2) 2000 ↑ 51 / 53 Pavel Eljanov GM 2664 1983 ↓ 52 / 37 Matthias Bluebaum GM 2662 (-27) 1997 ↑ 53 / 55 Ray Robson GM 2659 1994 ↑ 54 / 61 Radoslaw Wojtaszek GM 2658 (+3) 1987 ↑ 55 / 71 Jose Martinez GM 2657 (+13) 1999 ↑ 56 / 69 Volodar Murzin GM 2656 (+6) 2006 ↑ 57 / 58 Jeffery Xiong GM 2656 2000 ↓ 58 / 57 Kirill Alekseenko GM 2656 1997 ↓ 59 / 56 Johan-Sebastian Christiansen GM 2656 1998 ↑ 60 / 62 Frederik Svane GM 2655 2004 ↓ 61 / 59 Shamsiddin Vokhidov GM 2654 (-1) 2002 ↑ 62 / 66 Daniil Dubov GM 2654 (+2) 1996 - 63 / 63 Alexander Morozevich GM 2654 1977 ↑ 64 / 98 Mahammad Muradli GM 2653 (+23) 2003 - 65 / 65 Vladislav Artemiev GM 2653 1998 ↑ 66 / 67 Bu Xiangzhi GM 2651 1985 ↓ 67 / 60 Harikrishna Pentala GM 2648 (-7) 1986 ↓ 68 / 48 Karthikeyan Murali GM 2647 (-21) 1999 ↑ 69 / 70 Aryan Tari GM 2647 1999 ↑ 70 / 87 Aryan Chopra GM 2646 (+9) 2001 ↓ 71 / 64 Sam Shankland GM 2646 (-7) 1991 ↑ 72 / 80 Raunak Sadhwani GM 2645 (+5) 2005 ↑ 73 / Brandon Jacobson GM 2644 (+18) 2003 ↓ 74 / 68 Bogdan-Daniel Deac GM 2644 (-7) 2001 ↓ 75 / 74 Loek van Wely GM 2643 1972 ↓ 76 / 46 Igor Kovalenko GM 2642 (-27) 1988 ↓ 77 / 76 Robert Hovhannisyan GM 2642 1991 - 78 / 78 Boris Gelfand GM 2641 1968 ↑ 79 / 82 Alexander Onischuk GM 2639 1975 ↑ 80 / 85 Aram Hakobyan GM 2638 2001 ↑ 81 / 84 Grigoriy Oparin GM 2638 1997 ↓ 82 / 79 Ernesto Inarkiev GM 2637 (-4) 1985 ↑ 83 / 86 Lu Shanglei GM 2637 1995 ↓ 84 / 75 Ediz Gurel GM 2636 (-7) 2008 ↑ 85 / 95 Leon Luke Mendonca GM 2633 (+2) 2006 ↑ 86 / 92 Gawain C B Maroroa Jones GM 2633 1987 ↑ 87 / 91 Nikolas Theodorou GM 2633 2000 ↑ 88 / 93 Thai Dai Van Nguyen GM 2633 2001 ↓ 89 / 77 David Anton GM 2632 (-9) 1995 ↑ 90 / 94 Ruslan Ponomariov GM 2632 1983 ↓ 91 / 83 Rauf Mamedov GM 2631 (-8) 1988 ↑ 92 / 99 Xu Xiangyu GM 2631 (+2) 1999 ↑ 93 / 96 Ivan Cheparinov GM 2631 1986 ↓ 94 / 89 Vasyl Ivanchuk GM 2630 (-4) 1969 ↓ 95 / 73 Shant Sargsyan GM 2630 (-13) 2002 ↑ 96 / 97 Abhimanyu Mishra GM 2630 2009 ↓ 97 / 88 Maksim Chigaev GM 2629 (-6) 1996 ↑ 98 / Abhimanyu Puranik GM 2629 2000 ↑ 99 / Alexander Grischuk GM 2628 1983 ↑ 100 / Mikhail Antipov GM 2628 1997

Almost all the changes at the top were down to the Sinquefield Cup and Grand Chess Tour Finals.

2026 Sinquefield Cup Final Standings

So and Praggnanandhaa tied for first place, with So, who won the playoff, gaining nine points and moving up to world number-five, a spot he last occupied in October 2022.

Wesley So edged out Praggnanandhaa to win the Sinquefield Cup. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.

In the intervening period, So had dropped out of the top 10, but that's nothing compared to the volatility of Praggnanandhaa, who as recently as May this year was rated 2733 and world number-17. Then he was bottom of the Norway Chess 2026 standings after round six before staging a stunning four-game winning streak to win the event. The Indian 21-year-old's rise continued as he won the Grand Chess Tour and $200,000 despite suffering a classical loss to Caruana in the Finals.

Praggnanandhaa was the last man standing as he clinched victory over Caruana in the Grand Chess Tour Finals. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.

The Sinquefield Cup was also notable as a tough event for the Dutch representatives. GM Anish Giri (-7) almost slipped out of the top 10 (he was saved by the tiebreak of GM Alireza Firouzja playing fewer games), while GM Jorden van Foreest's maiden season on the Tour ended in a painful five losses (-22 points and 11 places).

The events were also key for the 2026-7 FIDE Circuit standings. GM Javokhir Sindarov, who may become world champion and not need to qualify for the 2028 FIDE Candidates Tournament, picked up 18 points across the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup, but the key moves were made by Praggnanandhaa (35 points) and So (32). Caruana missed out on any points from the Sinquefield Cup, even if he did enough to reach the Tour Finals.

2026-7 FIDE Circuit Standings

The FIDE Circuit standings were also shaken up by the events in St. Louis. Image: FIDE.

One other significant event was the 15-round Turkish Super League. GM Amin Tabatabaei played just seven rounds, but his 6/7, 2871 performance saw him gain 11 points and climb five places to world number-15.

Among those heading the other way was recent Candidate GM Matthias Bluebaum, who lost just two games across opens in Dortmund, Germany and Nagykanizsa, Hungary, but dropped 27 rating points.

The women's FIDE rating list saw some movement at the top, as Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun regained the number-two spot after GM Lei Tingjie lost nine points in the Turkish Super League—mainly down to a loss to IM Mai Narva.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 100 Women | September 2026

Change # Name Title Fed Rating (+-) Born - 1 / 1 Hou Yifan GM 2596 1994 ↑ 2 / 3 Ju Wenjun GM 2553 1991 ↓ 3 / 2 Lei Tingjie GM 2552 (-9) 1997 - 4 / 4 Zhu Jiner GM 2550 2002 - 5 / 5 Bibisara Assaubayeva GM 2536 (-2) 2004 ↑ 6 / 9 Tan Zhongyi GM 2536 (+16) 1991 ↓ 7 / 6 Aleksandra Goryachkina GM 2536 1998 ↓ 8 / 7 Anna Muzychuk GM 2524 (-5) 1990 ↓ 9 / 8 Koneru Humpy GM 2509 (-15) 1987 - 10 / 10 Polina Shuvalova IM 2509 (+2) 2001 - 11 / 11 Kateryna Lagno GM 2506 1989 - 12 / 12 Alexandra Kosteniuk GM 2495 (-9) 1984 - 13 / 13 Divya Deshmukh GM 2490 2005 ↑ 14 / 15 Nana Dzagnidze GM 2478 1987 ↑ 15 / 16 Alina Kashlinskaya IM 2474 1993 ↓ 16 / 14 Vaishali Rameshbabu GM 2469 (-20) 2001 ↑ 17 / 20 Carissa Yip IM 2468 (+9) 2003 ↑ 18 / 19 Nino Batsiashvili GM 2466 (+7) 1987 ↓ 19 / 17 Anastasiia Hnatyshyn WFM 2463 (-2) 2010 ↓ 20 / 18 Mariya Muzychuk GM 2463 1992 ↑ 21 / 22 Song Yuxin IM 2457 (+5) 2005 ↑ 22 / 24 Alua Nurman IM 2455 (+13) 2007 ↑ 23 / Modipalli Deekshitha WCM 2454 (+297) 2012 ↑ 24 / 29 Alice Lee IM 2453 (+23) 2009 ↓ 25 / 21 Harika Dronavalli GM 2453 1991 ↓ 26 / 25 Afruza Khamdamova WGM 2443 (+3) 2009 ↑ 27 / 28 Stavroula Tsolakidou IM 2441 (+8) 2000 ↑ 28 / 36 Nurgyul Salimova IM 2439 (+23) 2003 ↓ 29 / 27 Zhao Xue GM 2439 1985 ↑ 30 / 31 Bella Khotenashvili GM 2435 (+7) 1988 ↓ 31 / 23 Anna Shukhman WGM 2434 (-9) 2009 ↑ 32 / 35 Olga Badelka IM 2424 (+8) 2002 ↓ 33 / 30 Lela Javakhishvili IM 2424 (-6) 1984 ↑ 34 / 37 Leya Garifullina IM 2418 (+3) 2004 ↓ 35 / 32 Yuliia Osmak IM 2418 1998 ↑ 36 / 39 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh IM 2414 1997 ↑ 37 / 46 Meruert Kamalidenova IM 2413 (+13) 2005 - 38 / 38 Anna Ushenina GM 2412 (-2) 1985 ↑ 39 / 40 Mai Narva IM 2411 (+6) 1999 ↑ 40 / 68 Nadya Toncheva FM 2408 (+36) 2005 ↓ 41 / 33 Teodora Injac IM 2406 (-11) 2000 ↓ 42 / 41 Elisabeth Paehtz GM 2404 1985 ↓ 43 / 26 Ulviyya Fataliyeva IM 2402 (-38) 1996 ↑ 44 / 52 Bat-Erdene Mungunzul WIM 2402 (+10) 2005 ↑ 45 / Kalyani Sirin WIM 2401 (+184) 2010 ↓ 46 / 34 Marie Sebag GM 2401 (-16) 1986 ↓ 47 / 44 Antoaneta Stefanova GM 2401 1979 ↓ 48 / 42 Dinara Wagner IM 2399 (-4) 1999 - 49 / 49 Ding Yixin WGM 2398 1991 ↓ 50 / 47 Vantika Agrawal IM 2395 (-4) 2002 ↑ 51 / Pratitee Bordoloi WFM 2393 (+141) 2013 ↓ 52 / 48 Irina Krush GM 2393 (-5) 1983 - 53 / 53 Govhar Beydullayeva WGM 2392 2003 ↓ 54 / 43 Deimante Daulyte-Cornette IM 2391 (-11) 1989 ↓ 55 / 51 Nataliya Buksa IM 2390 (-3) 1996 ↑ 56 / 57 Pia Cramling GM 2388 1963 ↓ 57 / 54 Oliwia Kiolbasa IM 2386 (-5) 2000 ↑ 58 / Xeniya Balabayeva WGM 2384 (+59) 2005 - 59 / 59 Shen Yang IM 2383 1989 ↑ 60 / 65 Savitha Shri B IM 2382 (+7) 2007 ↓ 61 / 60 Elina Danielian GM 2382 1978 ↓ 62 / 61 Olga Girya GM 2380 1991 ↑ 63 / 69 Eline Roebers IM 2378 (+7) 2006 ↓ 64 / 63 Xiao Yiyi WGM 2376 1996 ↓ 65 / 64 Almira Skripchenko IM 2376 1976 - 66 / 66 Guo Qi IM 2375 1995 ↓ 67 / 55 Mariam Mkrtchyan WGM 2374 (-16) 2004 ↓ 68 / 67 Rachael Li WIM 2374 2010 ↓ 69 / 56 Lu Miaoyi IM 2371 (-17) 2010 - 70 / 70 Meri Arabidze IM 2370 (-1) 1994 ↓ 71 / 50 Klaudia Kulon IM 2368 (-27) 1992 - 72 / 72 Alisa Galliamova IM 2368 1972 - 73 / 73 Huang Qian WGM 2366 1986 ↑ 74 / 87 Rakshitta Ravi WGM 2364 (+12) 2005 ↓ 75 / 45 Sabrina Vega Gutierrez IM 2363 (-38) 1987 ↑ 76 / 86 Aleksandra Maltsevskaya IM 2363 (+11) 2002 ↓ 77 / 76 Liya Kurmangaliyeva FM 2361 2005 ↑ 78 / 91 Irina Bulmaga IM 2359 (+9) 1993 ↑ 79 / 92 Sophie Milliet IM 2358 (+11) 1983 ↑ 80 / 82 Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova IM 2357 (+2) 1999 ↓ 81 / 71 Zsoka Gaal IM 2357 (-12) 2007 ↓ 82 / 80 Khanim Balajayeva IM 2356 2001 ↑ 83 / 84 Amina Kairbekova WGM 2355 (+2) 2006 ↑ 84 / Jennifer Yu FM 2354 (+14) 2002 ↑ 85 / Bodhana Sivanandan FM 2354 (+16) 2015 ↓ 86 / 81 Ekaterina Atalik IM 2354 (-2) 1982 ↓ 87 / 83 Anastasia Bodnaruk IM 2354 1992 ↓ 88 / 77 Lilit Mkrtchian IM 2353 (-7) 1982 ↓ 89 / 85 Peng Zhaoqin GM 2353 1968 - 90 / 90 Gunay Mammadzada IM 2351 2000 ↓ 91 / 74 Monika Socko GM 2350 (-15) 1978 ↓ 92 / 88 Marta Garcia Martin IM 2349 (-2) 2000 ↓ 93 / 75 Tatev Abrahamyan IM 2347 (-18) 1988 ↑ 94 / Elnaz Kaliakhmet WIM 2347 (+43) 2010 ↓ 95 / 93 Lara Schulze FM 2345 2002 ↓ 96 / 94 Alina Bivol IM 2345 1996 ↑ 97 / Pauline Guichard IM 2344 (+20) 1988 ↓ 98 / 89 Padmini Rout IM 2344 (-7) 1994 ↓ 99 / 96 Anita Gara IM 2344 1983 ↓ 100 / 95 Mitra Hejazipour WGM 2344 1993

The most significant movement for the top players again, however, was down to games played in St. Louis, with Tan shrugging off her disappointing Candidates and recent form to win the Cairns Cup for a second time.

2026 Cairns Cup Final Standings

The former world champion gained 16 points and moved up three spots to world number-six, though it would have been number-five if she hadn't lost to IM Stavroula Tsolakidou in the final round.

Tan Zhongyi struck back to win the Cairns Cup after a tough year. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Tsolakidou (+8) also inflicted the only loss on IM Alice Lee, but that didn't stop the 16-year-old picking up her first GM norm with a 2623 performance (+23 points for a 2453 rating). Her friend IM Carissa Yip also climbed (+9, 2468) as they both hunt the GM title and a bonus of $100,000 from Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield.

The Cairns Cup went well for both Alice Lee and Carissa Yip. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

It was a tough event for two Indian stars, with GM Koneru Humpy dropping 15 points and Women's World Championship Challenger Vaishali Rameshbabu suffering four losses to drop 20 points to world number-16. It wasn't all doom and gloom for Indian women's chess, however, as there were some extraordinary climbs. 14-year-old Modipalli has been unstoppable in the last couple of months, rising from 1985 to 2454, making her the women's world number-23 and girls' number-three.

She's not alone, with Indian WIM Kalyani Sirin picking up 184 points (2401, women's world number-45), and WFM Pratitee Bordoloi picking up 141 (2393, number-51). Pratitee, who also rose 232 points in the previous month, picked up most of her points from the 2026 Czech Open, but the standout result was the 13-year-old becoming the Asian U20 Girls Junior Champion with 7.5/9.

Pratitee Bordoloi with her trophy. Photo: ChessBase India.

Of course, huge gains are partly the result of the K-factor and may also quickly be lost, but not always. 16-year-old European Women's Champion Anastasiia Hnatyshyn remained the girls' number-one by performing close to her new sky-high rating in the Kanizsa Open.

Is Anastasiia Hnatyshyn legit after her shock European Championship title run a few months ago? 🤔

Maybe yes! 😮

She just made another WGM norm in her first event since! (That's her 2nd in a row after her IM norm as European Champion!) 🇺🇦https://t.co/eGXOZHxpfA

📷: David Llada https://t.co/LtpUQIOq2x pic.twitter.com/EOt6qoaW7y — Women's Chess Coverage ( @OnTheQueenside ) August 24, 2026

We may be about to witness a new wave of women's talent to rival the talent we saw sweep to the top of the overall rating list.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 25 Juniors | September 2026

Change # Name Title Fed Rating (+-) Born - 1 / 1 Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus GM 2716 2011 - 2 / 2 Gukesh Dommaraju GM 2703 2006 ↑ 3 / 4 Pranav Venkatesh GM 2677 (+7) 2006 ↓ 4 / 3 Pranesh M GM 2674 (+1) 2006 - 5 / 5 Volodar Murzin GM 2656 (+6) 2006 - 6 / 6 Ediz Gurel GM 2636 (-7) 2008 ↑ 7 / 8 Leon Luke Mendonca GM 2633 (+2) 2006 ↑ 8 / 9 Abhimanyu Mishra GM 2630 2009 ↑ 9 / 10 Denis Lazavik GM 2621 2006 ↓ 10 / 7 Andy Woodward GM 2619 (-21) 2010 ↑ 11 / 13 Aleksey Grebnev GM 2614 2006 ↓ 12 / 11 Marc'Andria Maurizzi GM 2612 (-7) 2007 ↑ 13 / 14 Mukhiddin Madaminov GM 2611 2006 ↑ 14 / 20 Aditya Mittal GM 2610 (+17) 2006 ↓ 15 / 12 Ihor Samunenkov GM 2608 (-8) 2009 ↑ 16 / 21 Pranav Anand GM 2606 (+22) 2006 ↓ 17 / 16 Bharath Subramaniyam GM 2605 (+4) 2007 ↓ 18 / 15 Christopher Yoo GM 2600 (-5) 2006 ↓ 19 / 18 Xiao Tong(QD) GM 2598 (+2) 2008 ↑ 20 / 22 Jan Malek GM 2587 (+14) 2007 ↓ 21 / 17 Vaclav Finek IM 2578 (-19) 2010 ↓ 22 / 19 Sina Movahed GM 2576 (-19) 2010 - 23 / 23 Bardiya Daneshvar GM 2572 2006 - 24 / 24 Ivan Zemlyanskii GM 2563 (-6) 2010 - 25 / 25 Xue Haowen GM 2556 2008

There were no dramatic changes at the top of the junior rating list this month, though GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus did in fact play to keep his 2716 rating, making draws against top players and beating GM Vasyl Ivanchuk in the Turkish Super League.

It was a good month for 19-year-old Indian players named Pranav, with GM Pranav Venkatesh edging up to third and closer to 2700 after picking up seven points in the same Turkish League, while GM Pranav Anand moved back above 2600 mainly by winning the Brasov Grand Prix at the very end of July.

Another Indian star, GM Aditya Mittal, gained 17 points with seven wins in the Turkish League, while—sneak preview—he's going to be climbing further, along with GM Abhimanyu Mishra, after they tied for first place in a strong Slovak open that will count for next month's ratings.

@chess_sk

Won 2026 Skalica Masters along with GM Aditya Mittal! pic.twitter.com/dVd49Ci4Xr — GM Abhimanyu Mishra ( @ChessMishra ) August 30, 2026

A shoutout also goes to 18-year-old Polish GM Jan Malek, who gained 14 points in the 2026 Rubinstein Memorial to climb to number-20. He shared second place in a very strong field, but it could have been more, since he'd raced to 4.5/6 before losing two of his last three games.

2026 Rubinstein Memorial Final Standings

Some top players dipped slightly on the September list, with GMs Andy Woodward, Vaclav Finek, and Sina Movahed all losing around 20 points, but expect them to regain those points soon!

Prodigy Watch

The Prodigy Watch by Chess By The Numbers founder Tai Pruce-Zimmerman tracks the progress of young chess superstars, with his "prodigy rank" a measure of how a player's current rating at their current age compares historically. If there are 11 players in chess history who have been rated higher at or before the player's age, then the player would have a prodigy rank of 12. You can read more about Prodigy Watch here, while here's this month's update:

Prodigy Watch September 2026: Girls Top 15

Player Rating Age Prodigy Rank FED Change from Last Month Bodhana Sivanandan 2354 11.49 3 - Modipalli Deekshitha 2454 14.59 5 new Pratitee Bordoloi 2393 13.39 6 +27 Anastasiia Hnatyshyn 2463 16.22 7 -1 Charvi Anilkumar 2296 12.50 11 -4 Sriiyukthaa Marksim Karki Abirami 2146 10.77 11 +8 Alice Lee 2453 16.88 13 +9 Sharvaanica A S 2206 11.67 14 +12 Afruza Khamdamova 2443 17.51 23 -2 Anna Shukhman 2434 17.32 24 -5 Aamuktha Guntaka 2338 14.67 25 -11 Dorsa Sadat Khalafvand 2206 12.67 26 - Stella Xin 1972 10.42 31 -1 Abigail Zhou 2011 10.67 34 -5 Kalyani Sirin 2401 16.67 40 +190

The most shocking emergent prodigy this month was on the girls' list. Modipalli, who was rated 1985 two months ago, shot up almost 300 rating points this month on top of her triple-digit August gains, and suddenly the 14-year-old is rated 2454, with a #5 Prodigy Rank out of almost nowhere. It will be very interesting to see her upcoming results and whether her rating drops, levels off, or continues to rise as she plays more.

Modipalli Deekshitha has suddenly become the second most promising women's prodigy. Photo: Leca Open.

Massive gains from an Indian girl to jump into the list aren't a new story, we saw it last month from Pratitee, and we saw it again this month... from Pratitee! August gains of 232 rating points and a #33 Prodigy Rank were excellent, but the 13-year-old wasn't done and on this month's list she added 141 more rating points, jumping all the way to 2393 and now boasts a Prodigy Rank of #6 (and also #99 on the open list). And that's still not all! We also have Kalyani, a 16-year-old Indian girl who broke 2400 for the first time and shot into our list as well with a #40 Prodigy Rank.

These huge results overshadow smaller progress from names that aren't new. Lee's second-place finish in the Cairns Cup not only earned her a GM norm but also pushed her to a new personal best rating and brought her Prodigy Rank back up to #13.

Prodigy Watch September 2026: Open Top 25

Player Rating Age Prodigy Rank FED Change from Last Month Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus 2716 15.25 1 - Faustino Oro 2537 12.88 4 - Roman Shogdzhiev 2445 11.57 5 -3 Sarbartho Mani 2292 10.40 10 - Advik Amit Agrawal 2374 11.64 17 -2 Bram Ten Dam 2349 11.21 17 +1 Aarit Kapil 2335 10.97 17 +3 Sergey Sklokin 2477 13.23 18 - Vyom Malhotra 2438 12.67 19 +148 Bodhana Sivanandan 2354 11.49 21 +3 Andy Woodward 2619 16.33 22 -8 Ashwath Kaushik 2303 11.07 22 +1 Supratit Banerjee 2420 12.52 23 +35 Aidan Gafurov 2367 11.67 23 -3 Ayaan Phutane 2254 10.67 27 +59 Marc Barcelo Melnyk 2163 10.03 32 -21 Ediz Gurel 2636 17.74 34 -6 Abhimanyu Mishra 2630 17.57 35 -2 Ruben Yanmi Quintans 1898 8.37 37 -9 Tamizh Amudhan S 1998 9.00 42 +29 Ihor Samunenkov 2608 17.21 46 -8 Khagan Ahmad 2524 14.89 46 +30 Sina Movahed 2576 16.27 47 -17 Boris Kolodziejczyk 2386 12.67 48 +209 Ivan Zemlyanskii 2563 16.00 49 -7

The open list wasn't immune to whatever superpowers were going around this month, as there were several other players coming out of nowhere for us to discuss. No fewer than four more players gained 100+ rating points this month, en route to new rating PRs.

Indian CM Vyom Malhotra now suddenly has a top-20 Prodigy Rank at 2438 Elo and 12 years of age. CM Boris Kolodziejczyk, representing France and also 12, shot to 2386 and a #48 Prodigy Rank. Turkish FM Baver Yilmaz, 13 and now rated 2444, jumped to a Prodigy Rank of #59 when last month we had him at #489. And India's Ayaan Phutane, just 10 years old, also added 100 rating points to his prior best and saw his Prodigy Rank rise from #86 to #27.

Just like on the girls' side, these massive jumps from unfamiliar names overshadowed some strong performances from those we've tracked for a while. English FM Supratit Bannerjee's Prodigy Rank was just outside the top-50 last month, but he's up to 23 now and rated over 2400 for the first time, with a strong performance at the 2026 British Championship.

The monthly rating gains were more modest than the other players we've mentioned at "just" 67 points, so he'll have to console himself with becoming an IM-elect!

All data courtesy of FIDE.