How much prize money did Indian chess players earn in 2024? ft. D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa

India’s D Gukesh led the charts for Indians with the highest prize money in chess in 2024. The 18-year-old recently won the World Chess Championship in Singapore after beating Ding Liren. In the title clash, Gukesh won 7.5-6.5 after 14 rounds. After winning the title, the teenager got a whopping prize money of Rs 11.45 crore, taking his 2024 total winnings to Rs 13 crore.

Praggnanandhaa, on the other hand, was part of the Indian team, which won the gold medal in the Open section at the 45th Chess Olympiad. Last year, Gukesh defeated Praggnanandhaa in the Candidates at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada. Praggnanandhaa earned prize money of Rs 1.7 crore last year.

Koneru Humpy, the leading women’s chess star from India, bagged the FIDE Women’s Rapid Championship that took place in New York. She defeated Irene Sukandar of Indonesia in the last round. She earned Rs 1.06 crore in 2024.

Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigiasi earned Rs 1.03 crore last year. In 2024, he won the WR Chess Masters Cup after beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

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Total chess prize money in 2024

D Gukesh - Rs 13 crore

R Praggnanandhaa – Rs 1.7 crore

Koneru Humpy – Rs 1.06 crore

Arjun Erigaisi – Rs 1.03 crore

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D Gukesh rules the roost for India in chess

Gukesh had a wonderful 2024 after becoming the youngest world chess champion and the first teenager to be crowned champion. He broke the record of Garry Kasparov, who had won the title at 22.

Gukesh also joined the legendary Viswanathan Anand on the list of Indians to have won the World Chess Championship.

In his title clash against Ding, the match seemed to go into a tie-break with the scorecard reading 6.5-6-5 at the end of the 13th game. But a massive error from Ding made sure that Gukesh had the last laugh.