January FIDE Rating list has been released!

The January FIDE Rating list is now available for download at the FIDE website. GM Garry Kasparov add 9 points to his meteoric rating and now stands at 2847. The top four positions have remained intact with Vladimir Kramnik (2807), Viswanathan Anand (2753), and Veselin Topalov (2743). Hungary's Peter Leko vaulted six positions and now stands at #5 with an ELO of 2736. Alexander Morozevich took the most serious dive from the top 10 falling 15 positions from his previous standing at #8.

Judit Polgar remains the strongest women by an amazing 140 ELO points and has also reached the 2700 barrier on the overall list. Koneru Humpy (2496) continues to rise and now stands at the #5 position on the woman's charts. She is #1 on the girls' charts followed closely by Russians Tatiana Kosintseva (2457) and Alexandra Kostenuik (2456). Top Juniors include FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov (2734) and Alexander Grischuk (2712).

In Africa, Morocco's
Hichem Hamdouchi tops the charts at 2615, well ahead Algeria's Aimen Rizouk (2519).  Egypt touts the majority of the Africa's top players with Fouad El-Taher leading the country at 2493. Both Amon Simutowe (2408) of Zambia and his friend Watu Kobese (2404) of South Africa are the top players south of the Sahara.  In the Caribbean, Cuba's Lázaro Bruzón (2613) and Lenier Domínguez (2602) lead the charge while Kevin Denny (2316) is the highest rated from the English-speaking Caribbean. In North America, the top player of African descent is Maurice Ashley at 2485 followed by William Morrison (2390) and Stephen Muhammad (2368). Michael Schleifer of Canada stands at 2347. In Europe, Sweden's Pontus Carlsson is at 2371.

FIDE Ratings (January 2003)

Posted by The Chess Drum: 4 January 2003