FIDE's world number-one ranking has been held for 15 consecutive years, starting from July 1, 2011, by you-know-who GM Magnus Carlsen.
GM Gukesh D, the youngest champion in history, holds the world title and will defend it against World Cup winner GM Javokhir Sindarov later this year in Geneva's 2026 World Chess Championship match.
GM Praggnanandhaa R isn't in the conversation for either of those traditional honours right now. But it is the 21-year-old Indian who GM Viswanathan Anand, the former five-time World Champion and legend of the game, believes is the best player in the world at this moment.
Pragg, as he is known, received the glowing compliment after winning the 2026 Grand Chess Tour in stunning fashion last week.
"I think at the moment, I would say he’s the number one player in the world," Anand told the Times of India.
There is, of course, one rather large Norwegian caveat.
Anand acknowledged that Carlsen "doesn't compete in the same events", but pointed to Praggnanandhaa's remarkable recent form across classical, rapid and blitz.
Praggnanandhaa completed an extraordinary comeback against GM Fabiano Caruana in St Louis last week, overturning a six-point final-day deficit to win 15–13 and become the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour.
It continued a remarkable summer in which the former child prodigy from Chennai also won Norway Chess, becoming the first Indian to win the super-tournament, and did so ahead of Carlsen, and the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz.
Anand highlighted something else that has become a Pragg speciality: finishing tournaments at a sprint.
"He has this capacity, and it's becoming more and more noticeable that he's able to win late games and change everything,” Anand said. “And that's a very, very rare skill and useful skill to have."
His next assignment is the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, where India will defend the gold medal it won so emphatically in Budapest in 2024.
And Anand believes Pragg's form is now so compelling that India faces an intriguing decision over whether to put him above Gukesh on board one.
"Right now, it's very tempting to drop Praggnanandhaa on the first board," Anand told the Indian Express.
Officially, Praggnanandhaa is nowhere near world number one. On form, Anand thinks he already is.