FIDE ratings list – resurgence is the name of the game

With the latest rating list, the proverb 'out with the old and in with the new' must be adapted to say 'in with the old' as a number of veteran players see a resurgence, showing that in spite of an ever younger generation of players, chess is not merely the domain of youth.

At the very top, the first thing we notice is Kramnik in fourth and Karjakin in fifth, when one might have expected the younger Karjakin to slowly increase his lead as the new number one Russian. Instead, a fantastic Dortmund for Vladimir and an unfortunate couple of events for Sergey reversed the trend. Another late-bloomer is Gata Kamsky, who is best remembered as the fantastic prodigy who simultaneously dominated two world championship cycles with Anand and, after failing to win the title, disappeared from chess for eight years. Now, at the age of 37, he is back in the top ten with a rating of 2756, his highest rating ever. To further sweeten his revival, he has also regained the spot of top American after a very poor Biel by Nakamura. Still, the biggest return has to be Alexander Morozevich, who has scored one 2800+ performance after another (in spite of two second-place finishes) and has added 43 Elo to his tally to take a giant leap from 2694 to 2737 and rank 17. At the rate he is going, don't be surprised to see him back in the top ten very soon.

One other re-admittance to the 2700 club could scarcely go unnoticed. That would be Judit Polgar who was already 2699 in the previous rating list, needs to be highlighted as these seemingly negligible hops sometimes have a way of becoming impossible ordeals. Welcome back Judit. (Editor's note: last night we reported the second was Dutch player Loek Van Wely, back at 2700 for the first time since 2001, however his resurgence lasted all but a day, as one day later FIDE added further results to their computations and he was back to 2689. That said, we know he can do it.)

Finally, four young players also made their 2700 breakthroughs this list: 21-year-old Russian Dmitry Andreikin (2705), 23-year-old Czech Viktor Laznicka who joins his countryman David Navara in the elite group, and Hungarian Ferenc Berkes (2706). The fourth marks the second largest rise in the top rankings by Chinese player Li Chao, who gained an astonishing 41 Elo to leap from 2669 to 2710 and become the third Chinese player in the 2700 club.

Nigel Short will be spared the monicker "Top Geezer" as he is debunked by a reborn Yasser Seirawan, experiencing a revival in competitive chess and a fantastic result in the recent World Team Championships. Note that for the first time, the average rating of the top 100 players is now 2700.

FIDE September 2011 – Top 100 Players

Aside from the gains mentioned above, it is worth also noting Anish Giri's steady rise, as he adds a further 21 points to his rating.

Top gains by players

With every rise there is a fall, and though one hates to point them out, they are listed below. Perhaps the worst is that of the friendly Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov, who has been on a steep dive after peaking at 2761 just a year ago.

Top losses by players

In the women's list, aside from Super Judit, a few swings warrant noting, such as Tatiana Kosintseva's bad phase after reaching 2581 last year, and now down to 2536. On the other hand Kateryna Lahno, Ju Wenjun, and Valentina Gunina are all at their highest ratings yet, Gunina now a whisker away from breaking 2500.

FIDE Top 100 Women September 2011

Among the juniors, perhaps the most remarkable is 15-year-old Ukrainian prodigy Illya Nyzhnyk who in the last list was rated 2589, and after a setback to 2561 is no longer in the list of top 20 juniors. On the other hand strong arrivals include Ray Robson at 2583 and new World Junior Champion Dariusz Swiercz (2585), both of whom are 17 years old.

FIDE Top 20 Juniors September 2011

FIDE Top 20 Girls September 2011

Lists and data by courtesy of FIDE