Decorated players
As of 2022, 24 different individuals have been conferred India's top civilian and sports awards. Five different individuals have been conferred the Padma awards. [9] Anupama Gokhale was the first chess player to be awarded the Padma Shri at the age of 16 in 1986. Viswanathan Anand became the first sportsperson to receive the second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2008 after becoming the undisputed World Chess Champion in 2007. [10] [11]
Nineteen different individuals have received top sports honours of India as of 2023. Anand was the recipient of the inaugural highest sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–92. Twenty individuals have been awarded the Arjuna Award for exceptional performance in chess at the international level. Manuel Aaron was the first chess player to receive this award in its inception year of 1961. [12] Rohini Khadilkar was the second chess player and first female chess player to receive this award in 1980–81. In total, seven women chess players have received this award. Three chess coaches—Raghunandan Gokhle (spouse of Anupama Gokhale), Koneru Ashok (father and coach of Koneru Humpy), and Ramachandran Ramesh (a.k.a RB Ramesh, coach of siblings Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali Rameshbabu)—have received the Dronacharya Award, the highest sports coaching honour of India. [13]
| Name | State | Year | Title | M/F | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padma Vibhushan | ||||||
| 1 | Viswanathan Anand | Tamil Nadu | 2008 | GM | M | [14] |
| Padma Bhushan | ||||||
| - | Viswanathan Anand | Tamil Nadu | 2001 | GM | M | [14] |
| Padma Shri | ||||||
| 2 | Anupama Gokhale | Maharashtra | 1986 | WIM | F | [14] |
| 3 | Bhagyashree Thipsay | Maharashtra | 1987 | WIM | F | [14] |
| - | Viswanathan Anand | Tamil Nadu | 1988 | GM | M | [14] |
| 4 | Koneru Humpy | Andhra Pradesh | 2007 | GM | F | [14] |
| 5 | Harika Dronavalli | Andhra Pradesh | 2019 | GM | F | [15] |
| Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | ||||||
| - | Viswanathan Anand | Tamil Nadu | 1991-92 | GM | M | [16] |
| Arjuna Award | ||||||
| 6 | Manuel Aaron | Tamil Nadu | 1961 | IM | M | [17] |
| 7 | Rohini Khadilkar | Maharashtra | 1980–81 | WIM | F | [17] |
| 8 | Dibyendu Barua | West Bengal | 1983 | GM | M | [17] |
| 9 | Pravin Thipsay | Maharashtra | 1984 | GM | M | [17] |
| - | Viswanathan Anand | Tamil Nadu | 1985 | GM | M | [17] |
| - | Bhagyashree Thipsay | Maharashtra | 1987 | WIM | F | [17] |
| 10 | Devaki Prasad | Karnataka | 1987 | IM | M | [17] |
| - | Anupama Gokhale | Maharashtra | 1990 | WIM | F | [17] |
| 11 | Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi | Tamil Nadu | 2000 | IM | F | [17] |
| 12 | Krishnan Sasikiran | Tamil Nadu | 2002 | GM | M | [17] |
| - | Koneru Humpy | Andhra Pradesh | 2003 | GM | F | [17] |
| 13 | Surya Shekhar Ganguly | West Bengal | 2005 | GM | M | [17] |
| 14 | Pentala Harikrishna | Andhra Pradesh | 2006 | GM | M | [17] |
| - | Harika Dronavalli | Andhra Pradesh | 2007 | GM | F | [17] |
| 15 | Tania Sachdev | Delhi | 2009 | IM | F | [17] |
| 16 | Parimarjan Negi | Delhi | 2010 | GM | M | [17] |
| 17 | Abhijeet Gupta | Delhi | 2013 | GM | M | [17] |
| 18 | R Praggnanandhaa | Tamil Nadu | 2022 | GM | M | [18] |
| 19 | Bhakti Kulkarni | Goa | 2022 | IM | F | [18] |
| 20 | R Vaishali | Tamil Nadu | 2023 | IM | F | [19] |
| Dronacharya Award | ||||||
| 21 | Raghunandan Gokhle | Maharashtra | 1986 | CM | M | [20] |
| 22 | Koneru Ashok | Andhra Pradesh | 2006 | M | [20] | |
| 23 | RB Ramesh | Tamil Nadu | 2023 | GM | M | [19] |
| Dhyan Chand Award | ||||||
| 24 | Abhijit Kunte | Maharashtra | 2021 | GM | M | [21] |
