New Delhi (PTI): Continuing his rapid rise, world champion D Gukesh dethroned compatriot Arjun Erigiasi to become the highest-ranked Indian chess player, at fourth, in the latest FIDE rankings on Thursday.
Gukesh, 18, achieved the feat when he logged his second victory in the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee (Netherlands) defeating Vincent Keymer of Germany.
Gukesh, who was awarded the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna recently, has amassed 2784 rating points, while Erigaisi, who was the highest-ranked Indian for a long time, has slipped to fifth with 2779.5 rating points.
Norway's Magnus Carlsen continues to be the undisputed world No.1 with 2832.5 points, followed by United States' Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (2802) and country-mate Fabiano Caruana (2798).
Gukesh has been in sublime form ever since he beat China's Ding Liren to clinch the world title in Singapore in December last year.
He took a break from the game to attend to functions and festivities back home and skipped the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York.
On his return to the board, Gukesh has not lost a single game in Wijk Aan Zee. He has two victories and three draws so far in the tournament with eight rounds still to go.
Erigaisi had became India's top-rated player in September last year and in December achieved his peak rating of 2801, which had made him the 15th-highest rated player in history and only the second Indian after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to beach the 2800 threshold.
Erigaisi. who was a part of India's triumphant journey in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest last year, had gone to the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York hoping to secure a Candidates berth but returned home disappointed.
The 21 year old is struggling in the ongoing Tata Steel Tournament, having garnered just one point so far, while Gukesh has 3.5.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mangaluru: The Mangaluru Police have taken into custody a TV channel cameraman, Sharan, in connection with the recent vandalism at the Bejai massage center in the city.
Sharan's arrest comes after the police detained Prasad Attavara, founder of the Rama Sena organization, in connection with the same incident. The police are currently interrogating Sharan as part of their investigation.
According to sources, Sharan was present when Rama Sena workers broke into the massage center and vandalized it. Despite being aware of the attack, Sharan allegedly failed to inform the police department.
ALSO READ: Ram Sena activists vandalize massage parlor in Bejai, attack man
This is not Sharan's first brush with controversy. In 2009, he was arrested and charged for his involvement in the Mangalore pub vandalism case, which made international headlines. On that occasion, Sharan had accompanied the vandals and filmed the incident.