World chess champion D Gukesh continued his quick ascent on Thursday, defeating fellow countryman Arjun Erigaisi to take fourth place in the most recent FIDE standings.

Gukesh, 18, accomplished the feat after beating German player Vincent Keymer in the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands, for the second time.

Erigaisi, the top-ranked Indian for a long time, dropped to fifth place with 2779.5 rating points, while Gukesh, who just received the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, now has 2784 rating points.

With 2832.5 points, Magnus Carlsen of Norway is the unchallenged world No. 1; he is followed by Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura of the United States (2802) and his countryman Fabiano Caruana (2798).

Since he defeated Ding Liren of China to win the world championship in Singapore in December of last year, Gukesh has been in outstanding form.

He missed the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York, taking a vacation from the game to attend events and celebrations back home.

Gukesh has won every game since he rejoined the board in Wijk Aan Zee. With eight rounds remaining in the competition, he has now won thrice and drawn three times.

In September of last year, Erigaisi was ranked as the number one player in India. He reached his best rating of 2801 in December, making him the 15th-highest-rated player in history and the only Indian to surpass the 2800 mark after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.

Erigaisi, who participated in India’s successful run at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest the previous year, was disappointed when he came home from the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York, where he had hoped to earn a candidate spot.

With just one point so far in the upcoming Tata Steel Tournament, the 21-year-old is having a difficult time, while Gukesh has 3.5.