D Gukesh of Chennai touched Elo 2750 with two wins in the last two rounds of Turkish League on Thursday. With that, he broke Magnus Carlsen’s record of being the youngest to touch this level of FIDE rating.

When the world governing body publishes the new rating list on August 1, the 17-year-old is expected to breach 2750. His live rating now is 2750.1. He will break Carlsen’s record by two months (see box). He is world No. 11 now and mere 3.1 points behind India No. 1 Viswanathan Anand (2754).
“It’s amazing feat to touch Elo 2750 at such a young age. Simply fantastic and good for the game. More youngsters playing at the top level and an Indian doing well can only be good for the sport,” said coach RB Ramesh who himself has produced another Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa.

Ramesh, who is now in Switzerland accompanying his students for a chess meet, was the coach of the India2 team at the Olympiad in 2022 in Mamallapuram when Gukesh started with a stunning 8/8 on the top board and helped the team win the bronze medal.
Since that performance — gold medal on the top board with rating performance of 2867 — he has gone from strength to strength.
“He has got tremendous self belief. Surprisingly, the lack of it is a major issue even among some top players.
To have this peak confidence over a long stretch of time is not easy or normal. That sets Gukesh apart,” added Ramesh.