October 2008 FIDE Rating list

Daaim Shabazz October 2, 2008

1 19 2 minutes read

There was a lot of suspense leading up to the October 2008 rating list with many suspecting that Norwegian phenom Magnus Carlsen would vault to the number one spot and set an age record for the top rating. That moment would be short-lived. Carlsen faltered at the end of the Bilboa tournament and dropped from his temporary perch atop the list. It then appeared as if Vassily Ivanchuk would take the mantle, but when all was said and done, Veselin Topalov (pictured right) reclaimed his number one position for the first time in two years (2791, +14). Topalov gained the spot by winning the Final Masters Bilbao tournaments. Alexander Morozevich snuck in the #2 spot (2787, -1) despite losing a point. The Russian is followed by Ivanchuk (2786, +5) at #3 and Carlsen (2786, +11) at #4. Viswanathan Anand has dropped to #5 after an abysmal performance in Bilboa (2783, -15).

Vladimir Kramnik (2772, -16) continues to fall from grace heading into his match with Anand. Levon Aronian has rebounded and is inching toward the top after gaining a handsome 20 points (2757, +20) after winning the FIDE Grand Prix and finishing 50% in a strong Bilboa Masters.

A new breed is making headway into the top 20 and names such as Teimour Radjabov (2751, +7), Dmitry Jakovenko (2737, +28), Wang Yue (2736, +32), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2731, -11) and Sergey Karjakin (2730, +3) have taken the place of “normal” names like Peter Svidler, Boris Gelfand, Alexei Shirov and Evgeny Bareev. China has soared into the upper echelons of the list by now boasting three players over 2700 (Wang Yue, Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua) with one on the brink (Wang Hao). Wang Yue has impressed lately and is now #11.

GM Wang Yue is now the world’s #11 player.
Photo by ChessBase.

Perhaps one of the biggest stories of this rating list is Hikaru Nakamura’s eclipse of the 2700 barrier (2704, +7). For many years there has been question of whether he can reach such a level. His talent was never in question, but he had a penchant for playing dubious openings and experimenting in crucial situations. He has certainly rounded out his play in order to correct his opening weaknesses. He has since moved to Canada and plans to play in the European circuit.

In the categorical lists, Judit Polgar remains at the top of the women’s chart and some are calling for a “unifier” tournament featuring Polgar and another female challenger. That would have to be women’s champion Alexandra Kosteniuk (2525), but it is perhaps safe to say that she is far stronger than any female chess player. However, Humpy Koneru (2618, -4) is #2 and the rising Hou Yifan (2578, +1) represent the future. Hou is perhaps one who could challenge Polgar given her age, talent and tenacity.

In the junior list, Magnus Carlsen (2786, +11) is at a comfortable distance from Sergey Karjakin (2730, +3), but the rising star appears to be France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2716, +35), who is now the nation’s #1 player. As mentioned, Wang Hao (2696) is rising and compatriot Li Chao (2622) is also improving rapidly. These two juniors will be a part of the Chinese Olympiad team which hopes to win their first gold medal.

Rating Lists: https://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2791	10	1975
2	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2787	9	1977
3	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2786	50	1969
4	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2786	31	1990
5	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2783	10	1969
6	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	16	1975
7	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2757	23	1982
8	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2751	23	1987
9	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2747	16	1979
10	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2737	39	1983
11	Wang, Yue	g	CHN	2736	23	1987
12	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2734	16	1971
13	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	2732	12	1978
14	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2731	16	1985
15	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2730	24	1990
16	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2729	22	1974
17	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2727	24	1976
18	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2726	34	1972
19	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2720	26	1983
20	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2719	27	1968
21	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	2719	15	1983
22	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2719	14	1983
23	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2719	13	1983
24	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2716	30	1990
25	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2715	30	1985
26	Bu, Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2714	9	1985
27	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2711	0	1976
28	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	2710	5	1983
29	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2705	23	1983
30	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2704	6	1987
31	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2703	27	1986
32	Rublevsky, Sergei	g	RUS	2702	14	1974
33	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2696	28	1986
34	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2696	9	1989
35	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2694	9	1981
36	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2686	56	1973
37	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	g	ROU	2684	19	1976
38	Najer, Evgeniy	g	RUS	2682	20	1977
39	Bologan, Viktor	g	MDA	2682	9	1971
40	Milov, Vadim	g	SUI	2681	9	1972
41	Efimenko, Zahar	g	UKR	2680	10	1985
42	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	2679	5	1971
43	Moiseenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2678	40	1980
44	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	GER	2678	17	1985
45	Roiz, Michael	g	ISR	2677	32	1983
46	Fressinet, Laurent	g	FRA	2676	12	1981
47	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2675	21	1980
48	Postny, Evgeny	g	ISR	2674	40	1981
49	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2672	11	1979
50	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2672	5	1979

Daaim Shabazz October 2, 2008

1 19 2 minutes read

One Comment

Daaim Shabazz says:

October 2, 2008 at 10:56 am

IM Emory Tate has plummeted almost 40 points (2338, -38). GM Pontus Carlsson (2515, +1) and GM-elect Amon Simutowe (2462, +5) are steady. Simutowe had a successful outing at the Riviera dei Cedri tournament. He has actually reported that some of his unrated games would push him to 2481. Carlsson will be at the Olympiad in Dresden, but I haven’t seen confirmation for Simutowe. He is listed on the Zambian roster.

Not much happening in the Black chess world in terms of FIDE events.