Anand second in rankings

Viswanathan Anand has returned to the number two ranking in world chess according to the latest ratings list released by the FIDE, the governing body of world chess. The Indian ace is now rated at 2774, gaining eight points from his last position, while Vladimir Kramnik, dropped 13 points and is now rated at 2764.

Also Read Anand wins Amber Rapid title Anand wins Corus title

The list is still headed by Garry Kasparov, whose latest rating is 2817, his lowest in more than two years and the gap between him and Anand is now 42 points.

Anand's rise has been on the cards for sometime now, but with the release of latest ratings list, it is now official. Anand's gain of points came from the Corus Grandmasters tournament, where the Indian star won the title, while Kramnik's below par performance cost him a lot of points. Interestingly, Kasparov also lost as many as 14 points because of his poor showing at Linares, where Anand did not play this year.

Peter Leko has risen from tenth to fourth in the same list, while Bulgarian Veselin Topalov is up one place to fifth.

India's Krishnan Sasikiran is ranked 39th in the world at 2659.