April 2009 Rating list released!

Daaim Shabazz March 31, 2009

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Gata Kamsky recording Veselin Topalov's move in game #2. Topalov won. Photo by www.wccc2009.com.

Veselin Topalov (right) completes move against Gata Kamsky.
Photo by www.wccc2009.com.

World Championship Challenger Veselin Topalov vaults back over 2800 (2812, +16) and there were a few changes in the top ten. World Champion Viswanathan Anand (2783, -8) lost a few from his substandard tournament right after winning the World Championship match against challenger Gata Kamsky. Magnus Carlsen (2770, -6) has held steady at #3. Vladimir Kramnik (2759) actually moved up four spots to #4 without playing a rated game. Vassily Ivanchuk who was dropped from #3 in the world is now at #12 (2746, -33).

In addition, Teimour Radjabov (2756, -5), Dmitri Jakovenko (2753, -7), Alexander Morozevich (2751, -20) all lost points which allowed Kramnik to jump. Radjabov also jumped to #5 despite losing points. Levon Aronian (2754, +4) just won the Amber tournament, but it is not counted in the rating. Alexander Grishchuk’s win in Linares gave him a solid 15 points (2748, +15) and he is at #6.

Other notables sees Ni Hua of China now at 2724. Hikaru Nakamura is back over 2700. Most of the top 50 players are under age 35. The youngest player in the top 100 is Wesley So at (age 15). Thirty-one players are at 2700 and above.

India’s Koneru Humpy
Photo by ChessBase.

In terms of the women rankings, the recent World FIDE tournament will not change the order as Humpy Koneru (2612, -9) will regain a handful of points after winning the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. She is still behind Judit Polgar (2693) who has not been very active since attending to her maternity responsibilities. A surging Hou Yifan (2590, +13) is now on the brink of breaking 2600… the Corus B and the Women’s Grand Prix will probably put her over. She would be close to challenging Humpy for the second spot. There is a lot of discussion whether she will challenge Polgar’s record for women. Former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova lost a few points (2549, -8) and rising Georgian star Nana Dzagnidze gained 22 points after a strong tournment in Gibraltar.

On the Junior list, Carlsen lead is no surprise, but Sergey Karjakin (2721, +15) is gaining after a strong win at Corus in January. Fabiano Caruana (2649, +3) has continued his gradual ascent. Wang Hao (2696) hasn’t been active and something strange is happening here since he hasn’t played much since being benched in the last rounds of the Olympiad. His compatriot Li Chao (2643, +18) has gained but Philippines’ Wesley So (2643, +14) continues to gain and recently won the “Battle of the GMs” title in the Philippines. Hou Yifan appears on the overall juniors list for the first time at #20.

In terms of the girls list, Hou leads the pack and she is joined by four of her compatriots. The largest contingent would be from Russia, with a total of six girls in the top 20. Thus, China and Russia comprise of more than half of the girls on the list. Sabina-Francesca Foisor (2311, +5) has changed her federation from Romania to the USA apparently to attend school. She has played in a couple of tournaments with mediocre results. She was a victim in the controversial time scramble against Poland’s Monika Socko.

In the Africa Diaspora, there are a few changes. Pontus Carlsson (2496, -13) after a substandard showing at the Gibraltar Masters. Emory Tate is now at 2325, his lowest rating in many years. His drop is not due to lack of playing. Last year, he played an astounding 107 games and played 52 games thus far this year. Amon Simutowe (2486) will hopefully break 2500 very soon. He is touring the European circuit and recently scored well in Zagreb.

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2812	17	1975
2	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2783	14	1969
3	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2770	27	1990
4	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2759	0	1975
5	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2756	27	1987
6	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2754	37	1982
7	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2753	5	1983
8	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2751	13	1977
9	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2751	0	1979
10	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2748	14	1983
11	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	2747	23	1978
12	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2746	37	1969
13	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2745	0	1972
14	Wang, Yue	g	CHN	2738	38	1987
15	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2733	0	1968
16	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2730	10	1986
17	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2728	9	1983
18	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2726	25	1976
19	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2726	0	1983
20	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2725	6	1985
21	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	2724	16	1983
22	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	2721	27	1983
23	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2721	19	1990
24	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2720	20	1974
25	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2716	5	1985
26	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2709	26	1980
27	Bu, Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2704	18	1985
28	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2703	13	1971
29	Rublevsky, Sergei	g	RUS	2702	0	1974
30	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2701	10	1987
31	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	GER	2700	21	1985
32	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2697	38	1973
33	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2696	29	1989
34	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	2696	11	1971
35	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2695	14	1979
36	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2693	0	1983
37	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2693	0	1976
38	Moiseenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2690	15	1980
39	Bologan, Viktor	g	MDA	2690	11	1971
40	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2688	31	1982
41	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2688	20	1987
42	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	2687	16	1983
43	Harikrishna, P.	g	IND	2686	30	1986
44	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2685	9	1976
45	Onischuk, Alexander	g	USA	2684	28	1975
46	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2684	24	1987
47	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2684	10	1990
48	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2682	20	1981
49	Efimenko, Zahar	g	UKR	2682	19	1985
50	Miroshnichenko, Evgenij	g	UKR	2680	17	1978