Nihal Sarin’s classical chess rating has risen to 2720 in FIDE’s November 2026 records, an increase of 11 points from October. The update follows his strong performance at the European Club Cup in Budva, Montenegro.
The Indian grandmaster scored five points from six games and won the individual gold medal on board two, as reported by ChessBase India and Chess.com. FIDE’s monthly record lists six standard-rated games for the November update, alongside the change from October’s 2709 rating.
The improvement also puts Nihal two points above his September rating of 2718. It is not a new peak rating: his FIDE history records 2723 earlier in 2026. His rapid and blitz figures remain unchanged from October at 2712 and 2721 respectively.
The numbers reflect separate rating lists for different time controls, so the classical increase does not represent a change in his rapid or blitz standing. Nihal, who earned the grandmaster title in 2018, closes the latest reporting month with a clear recovery in his standard rating.
Nihal Sarin in 2023. Archive photo: Stefan64, “NihalSarin23.jpg”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo credit: Stefan64. CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported.
