September 2026 FIDE Ratings: Praggnanandhaa Is Indian No. 1

GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is again within the prime 10 and has overtaken GM Arjun Erigaisi as Indian number-one after profitable the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. A marathon month in St. Louis had a huge impact on the September FIDE score listing as victory within the 2026 Sinquefield Cup noticed GM Wesley So return to the highest 5 for the primary time in 4 years. Victory within the 2026 Cairns Cup propelled GM Tan Zhongyi as much as ladies’s number-six, whereas 14-year-old Indian WCM Modipalli Deekshitha catapulted into the ladies’s prime 25 by gaining 297 factors in a single month.

On the very prime, GM Magnus Carlsen continues his reign, whereas GM Hikaru Nakamura returns to the number-two spot after a three-month hiatus regardless of his focus, like Carlsen’s, having been on the 2026 Esports World Cup. He owes the climb to GM Fabiano Caruana dropping a number of factors within the Sinquefield Cup.    

FIDE Classical Scores Prime 100: September 2026

Nearly all of the modifications on the prime had been right down to the Sinquefield Cup and Grand Chess Tour Finals.

2026 Sinquefield Cup Last Standings

So and Praggnanandhaa tied for first place, with So, who received the playoff, gaining 9 factors and shifting as much as world number-five, a spot he final occupied in October 2022. 

Within the intervening interval, So had dropped out of the highest 10, however that is nothing in comparison with the volatility of Praggnanandhaa, who as lately as Could this 12 months was rated 2733 and world number-17. Then he was backside of the Norway Chess 2026 standings after spherical six earlier than staging a surprising four-game profitable streak to win the occasion. The Indian 21-year-old’s rise continued as he received the Grand Chess Tour and $200,000 regardless of struggling a classical loss to Caruana within the Finals.

The Sinquefield Cup was additionally notable as a tricky occasion for the Dutch representatives. GM Anish Giri (-7) nearly slipped out of the highest 10 (he was saved by the tiebreak of GM Alireza Firouzja enjoying fewer video games), whereas GM Jorden van Foreest‘s maiden season on the Tour led to a painful 5 losses (-22 factors and 11 locations). 

The occasions had been additionally key for the 2026-7 FIDE Circuit standings. GM Javokhir Sindarov, who might change into world champion and never have to qualify for the 2028 FIDE Candidates Event, picked up 18 factors throughout the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup, however the important thing strikes had been made by Praggnanandhaa (35 factors) and So (32). Caruana missed out on any factors from the Sinquefield Cup, even when he did sufficient to achieve the Tour Finals. 

2026-7 FIDE Circuit Standings 

One different important occasion was the 15-round Turkish Tremendous League. GM Amin Tabatabaei performed simply seven rounds, however his 6/7, 2871 efficiency noticed him acquire 11 factors and climb 5 locations to world number-15. 

Amongst these heading the opposite method was current Candidate GM Matthias Bluebaum, who misplaced simply two video games throughout opens in Dortmund, Germany and Nagykanizsa, Hungary, however dropped 27 score factors.   

The ladies’s FIDE score listing noticed some motion on the prime, as Girls’s World Champion Ju Wenjun regained the number-two spot after GM Lei Tingjie misplaced 9 factors within the Turkish Tremendous League—primarily right down to a loss to IM Mai Narva. 

FIDE Classical Scores Prime 100 Girls | September 2026

Essentially the most important motion for the highest gamers once more, nevertheless, was right down to video games performed in St. Louis, with Tan shrugging off her disappointing Candidates and up to date kind to win the Cairns Cup for a second time.

2026 Cairns Cup Last Standings

The previous world champion gained 16 factors and moved up three spots to world number-six, although it might have been number-five if she hadn’t misplaced to IM Stavroula Tsolakidou within the closing spherical.

Tsolakidou (+8) additionally inflicted the one loss on IM Alice Lee, however that did not cease the 16-year-old selecting up her first GM norm with a 2623 efficiency (+23 factors for a 2453 score). Her pal IM Carissa Yip additionally climbed (+9, 2468) as they each hunt the GM title and a bonus of $100,000 from Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield. 

It was a tricky occasion for 2 Indian stars, with GM Koneru Humpy dropping 15 factors and Girls’s World Championship Challenger Vaishali Rameshbabu struggling 4 losses to drop 20 factors to world number-16. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Indian ladies’s chess, nevertheless, as there have been some extraordinary climbs. 14-year-old Modipalli has been unstoppable within the final couple of months, rising from 1985 to 2454, making her the ladies’s world number-23 and ladies’ number-three.

She’s not alone, with Indian WIM Kalyani Sirin selecting up 184 factors (2401, ladies’s world number-45), and WFM Pratitee Bordoloi selecting up 141 (2393, number-51). Pratitee, who additionally rose 232 factors within the earlier month, picked up most of her factors from the 2026 Czech Open, however the standout outcome was the 13-year-old changing into the Asian U20 Girls Junior Champion with 7.5/9.  

In fact, large features are partly the results of the Okay-factor and can also rapidly be misplaced, however not all the time. 16-year-old European Girls’s Champion Anastasiia Hnatyshyn remained the ladies’ number-one by performing near her new sky-high score within the Kanizsa Open.

Is Anastasiia Hnatyshyn legit after her shock European Championship title run a number of months in the past? 🤔

Possibly sure! 😮
She simply made one other WGM norm in her first occasion since! (That is 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

— Girls’s Chess Protection (@OnTheQueenside) August 24, 2026

We could also be about to witness a brand new wave of girls’s expertise to rival the expertise we noticed sweep to the highest of the general score listing. 

FIDE Classical Scores Prime 25 Juniors | September 2026

There have been no dramatic modifications on the prime of the junior score listing this month, although GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus did in truth play to maintain his 2716 score, making attracts in opposition to prime gamers and beating GM Vasyl Ivanchuk within the Turkish Tremendous League.

It was a great month for 19-year-old Indian gamers named Pranav, with GM Pranav Venkatesh edging as much as third and nearer to 2700 after selecting up seven factors in the identical Turkish League, whereas GM Pranav Anand moved again above 2600 primarily by profitable the Brasov Grand Prix on the very finish of July.  

One other Indian star, GM Aditya Mittal, gained 17 factors with seven wins within the Turkish League, whereas—sneak preview—he’ll be climbing additional, together with GM Abhimanyu Mishra, after they tied for first place in a powerful Slovak open that may depend for subsequent month’s rankings.

@chess_sk
Received 2026 Skalica Masters together with GM Aditya Mittal! pic.twitter.com/dVd49Ci4Xr

— GM Abhimanyu Mishra (@ChessMishra) August 30, 2026

A shoutout additionally goes to 18-year-old Polish GM Jan Malek, who gained 14 factors within the 2026 Rubinstein Memorial to climb to number-20. He shared second place in a really robust discipline, however it may have been extra, since he’d raced to 4.5/6 earlier than dropping two of his final three video games.

2026 Rubinstein Memorial Last Standings

Some prime gamers dipped barely on the September listing, with GMs Andy Woodward, Vaclav Finek, and Sina Movahed all dropping round 20 factors, however count on them to regain these factors quickly! 

All knowledge courtesy of FIDE.