September 2026 FIDE Scores: Praggnanandhaa Is Indian No. 1

GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is again within the high 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 big effect 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 girls’s number-six, whereas 14-year-old Indian WCM Modipalli Deekshitha catapulted into the ladies’s high 25 by gaining 297 factors in a single month.

On the very high, 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 couple of factors within the Sinquefield Cup.    

FIDE Classical Scores Prime 100: September 2026

Nearly all of the adjustments on the high have been all the way 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 just lately as Might this yr was rated 2733 and world number-17. Then he was backside of the Norway Chess 2026 standings after spherical six earlier than staging a shocking 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 troublesome 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 taking part in 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 have been additionally key for the 2026-7 FIDE Circuit standings. GM Javokhir Sindarov, who could turn out to be world champion and never must 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 have 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 succeed in 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 achieve 11 factors and climb 5 locations to world number-15. 

Amongst these heading the opposite approach was latest 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 high, as Ladies’s World Champion Ju Wenjun regained the number-two spot after GM Lei Tingjie misplaced 9 factors within the Turkish Tremendous League—primarily all the way down to a loss to IM Mai Narva. 

FIDE Classical Scores Prime 100 Ladies | September 2026

Probably the most important motion for the highest gamers once more, nonetheless, was all the way down to video games performed in St. Louis, with Tan shrugging off her disappointing Candidates and up to date type 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 troublesome occasion for 2 Indian stars, with GM Koneru Humpy dropping 15 factors and Ladies’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 girls’s chess, nonetheless, 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 women’ number-three.

She’s not alone, with Indian WIM Kalyani Sirin selecting up 184 factors (2401, girls’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 consequence was the 13-year-old changing into the Asian U20 Girls Junior Champion with 7.5/9.  

In fact, large good points are partly the results of the Okay-factor and may shortly be misplaced, however not at all times. 16-year-old European Ladies’s Champion Anastasiia Hnatyshyn remained the women’ 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 couple of months in the past? 🤔

Perhaps 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

— Ladies’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 adjustments on the high of the junior score listing this month, although GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus did the truth is play to maintain his 2716 score, making attracts towards high 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 will be climbing additional, together with GM Abhimanyu Mishra, after they tied for first place in a robust 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 sturdy subject, nevertheless it might have been extra, since he’d raced to 4.5/6 earlier than shedding two of his final three video games.

2026 Rubinstein Memorial Last Standings

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

Prodigy Watch

The Prodigy Watch by Chess By The Numbers founder Tai Pruce-Zimmerman tracks the progress of younger chess superstars, together with his “prodigy rank” a measure of how a participant’s present score at their present age compares traditionally. If there are 11 gamers in chess historical past who’ve been rated greater at or earlier than the participant’s age, then the participant would have a prodigy rank of 12. You may read more about Prodigy Watch here, whereas here is this month’s replace:

Prodigy Watch September 2026: Ladies Prime 15

Probably the most surprising emergent prodigy this month was on the women’ listing. Modipalli, who was rated 1985 two months in the past, shot up nearly 300 score factors this month on high of her triple-digit August good points, and immediately the 14-year-old is rated 2454, with a #5 Prodigy Rank out of virtually nowhere. It is going to be very fascinating to see her upcoming outcomes and whether or not her score drops, ranges off, or continues to rise as she performs extra.

Huge good points from an Indian woman to leap into the listing aren’t a brand new story, we noticed it final month from Pratitee, and we noticed it once more this month… from Pratitee! August good points of 232 score factors and a #33 Prodigy Rank have been glorious, however the 13-year-old wasn’t finished and on this month’s listing she added 141 extra score factors, leaping all the way in which to 2393 and now boasts a Prodigy Rank of #6 (and in addition #99 on the open listing). And that is nonetheless not all! We even have Kalyani, a 16-year-old Indian woman who broke 2400 for the primary time and shot into our listing as nicely with a #40 Prodigy Rank.

These large outcomes overshadow smaller progress from names that are not new. Lee’s second-place end within the Cairns Cup not solely earned her a GM norm but additionally pushed her to a brand new private finest score and introduced her Prodigy Rank again as much as #13.

Prodigy Watch September 2026: Open Prime 25 

The open listing wasn’t resistant to no matter superpowers have been going round this month, as there have been a number of different gamers popping out of nowhere for us to debate. No fewer than 4 extra gamers gained 100+ score factors this month, en path to new score PRs.

Indian CM Vyom Malhotra now immediately has a top-20 Prodigy Rank at 2438 Elo and 12 years of age. CM Boris Kolodziejczyk, representing France and in addition 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 final month we had him at #489. And India’s Ayaan Phutane, simply 10 years previous, additionally added 100 score factors to his prior finest and noticed his Prodigy Rank rise from #86 to #27.

Identical to on the women’ aspect, these huge jumps from unfamiliar names overshadowed some sturdy performances from these we have tracked for some time. English FM Supratit Bannerjee‘s Prodigy Rank was simply outdoors the top-50 final month, however he is as much as 23 now and rated over 2400 for the primary time, with a robust efficiency on the 2026 British Championship.

The month-to-month score good points have been extra modest than the opposite gamers we have talked about at “simply” 67 factors, so he’ll should console himself with changing into an IM-elect! 

All information courtesy of FIDE.