List of FIDE chess world number ones

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A total of seven chess players have been the chess world number one on the official FIDE rating list since it was first published in July 1971.[1]

The first world number one, in July 1971, was Bobby Fischer. In January 1976 Anatoly Karpov became the highest-rated player on the FIDE list, FIDE having dropped Fischer (whose rating was higher than Karpov's) from the list due to inactivity. In January 1984, Garry Kasparov became the third world number one. He would dominate for 22 years from 1984 until his retirement from professional chess on 10 March 2005, with three brief interruptions: Anatoly Karpov briefly held the world number one ranking again in July 1985, as well as during 1994 when FIDE excluded Kasparov from the list; and the fourth world number one, Vladimir Kramnik, briefly held the ranking in January 1996. In January 1990, Kasparov surpassed Fischer's peak of 2785 and became the first player ever to achieve a 2800 rating. In July 1999, he reached his peak rating, 2851. This was the highest FIDE rating in history until January 2013, when it was surpassed by Magnus Carlsen.

On Kasparov's retirement, the world number one ranking passed to Veselin Topalov, since Kasparov was removed from the rating list in April 2006 due to inactivity. In April 2007, Viswanathan Anand became the sixth player to top the rankings.[2] Kramnik briefly returned to the number one ranking in January 2008, but was again joint number one by rating, being placed first in the list due to having played more games in the rating period in question. For most of the period April 2007 to November 2009, the top ranking was held by either Anand or Topalov. The seventh and current world number one is Magnus Carlsen, who first achieved this ranking in the January 2010 list, and has been world number one since July 2011 after having lost and reclaimed the position from Anand during 2010 and 2011.

Publication details[edit]

There were unofficial lists in 1964, 1969, 1970 and January 1971, as the Elo rating system was first introduced.[where?]

From 1971 to 1980, there was one main rating list published each year (for a total of 10), initially published in July from 1971 to 1973, then once in May (1974), before switching to annual publication in January from 1975 to 1980 (in this period, some supplements and amendments were also published).

From 1981 to July 2000, two lists per year were published, in January and July (for a total of 39 lists). In July 2000, the publication schedule was increased to four times a year (January, April, July, October) operating from July 2000 to July 2009 (for a total of 36 lists). In July 2009, the publication schedule was increased again, to six times a year (January, March, May, July, September, November) operating from July 2009 to July 2012 (for a total of 18 lists). In July 2012 the publication schedule was increased again to the current monthly schedule.

Publication of the rating lists in the 1970s and 1980s was in Chess Informant and other chess publications. The number of games played by individuals during the rating period was added to the lists from July 1985 onwards. Player ID numbers were used from January 1990. From January 1999, the practice of rounding to the nearest five Elo points was discontinued, and ratings were then rounded to the nearest Elo point for publication. From July 2000 onwards, the ratings are available from the FIDE website.[1]

In January 2010 former World Champion Boris Spassky criticized the current emphasis on ratings rather than World Champions.[3] Although Spassky was World Champion during the inception of the FIDE rankings in 1971, he never became the number-one rated player in the world; since July 1971 he, Vladimir Kramnik, and Ding Liren (the current Champion) are the only undisputed World Champions to never become ranked world number one during their tenure as champions as of September 2023. (Kramnik has been ranked number one, but never while he was champion.)

List of world number ones[edit]

Top players (list)[edit]

The following is a list of the players ranked number one on the FIDE rating system from the first official list in July 1971 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question. A rating denoted with bold text followed by an asterisk (*) is a career high rating.

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
1971 (before official FIDE ratings) United States Fischer (2760)
1972 United States Fischer (2785*)
1973 United States Fischer (2780)
1974 United States Fischer (2780)
1975 United States Fischer (2780)
1976 Soviet Union Karpov (2695)
1977 Soviet Union Karpov (2690)
1978 Soviet Union Karpov (2725)
1979 Soviet Union Karpov (2705)
1980 Soviet Union Karpov (2725)
1981 Soviet Union Karpov (2690) (2700)
1982 Soviet Union Karpov (2720) (2700)
1983 Soviet Union Karpov (2710)
1984 Soviet Union Kasparov (2710) (2715)
1985 Soviet Union Kasparov (2715) Soviet Union Karpov (2720)
1986 Soviet Union Kasparov (2720) (2740)
1987 Soviet Union Kasparov (2735) (2740)
1988 Soviet Union Kasparov (2750) (2760)
1989 Soviet Union Kasparov (2775)
1990 Soviet Union Kasparov (2800)
1991 Soviet Union Kasparov (2800) (2770)
1992 Russia Kasparov (2780) (2790)
1993 Russia Kasparov (2805) (2815)
1994 Russia Karpov (2740) [4] Russia Karpov (2780*) [4]
1995 Russia Kasparov (2805) (2795)
1996 Russia Kramnik (2775) Russia Kasparov (2785)
1997 Russia Kasparov (2795) (2820)
1998 Russia Kasparov (2825) (2815)
1999 Russia Kasparov (2812) (2851*)
2000 Russia Kasparov (2851*) (2849)
2001 Russia Kasparov (2849) (2827) (2838)
2002 Russia Kasparov (2838) (2836)
2003 Russia Kasparov (2847) (2830)
2004 Russia Kasparov (2831) (2817) (2813)
2005 Russia Kasparov (2804) (2812)
2006 Russia Kasparov (2812) Bulgaria Topalov (2804) (2813)
2007 Bulgaria Topalov (2783) India Anand (2786) (2792) (2801)
2008 Russia Kramnik (2799) India Anand (2803) (2798) Bulgaria Topalov (2791)
2009 Bulgaria Topalov (2796) (2812) (2813) (2810)
2010 Norway Carlsen (2810) (2813) (2826) India Anand (2804)
2011 Norway Carlsen (2814) India Anand (2817*) Norway Carlsen (2821) (2823) (2826)
2012 Norway Carlsen (2835) (2837) (2843) (2848)
2013 Norway Carlsen (2861) (2872) (2868) (2864) (2862) (2870) (2872)
2014 Norway Carlsen (2872) (2881) (2882*) (2881) (2877) (2870) (2863) (2862)
2015 Norway Carlsen (2862) (2865) (2863) (2876) (2853) (2850) (2834)
2016 Norway Carlsen (2844) (2851) (2855) (2857) (2853) (2840)
2017 Norway Carlsen (2840) (2838) (2832) (2822) (2827) (2826) (2837)
2018 Norway Carlsen (2834) (2843) (2842) (2839) (2835)
2019 Norway Carlsen (2835) (2845) (2861) (2875) (2872) (2882*) (2876) (2870) (2872)
2020 Norway Carlsen (2872) (2862) (2863) (2862)
2021 Norway Carlsen (2862) (2847) (2855) (2856)
2022 Norway Carlsen (2865) (2864) (2861) (2856) (2859)
2023 Norway Carlsen (2859) (2852) (2853) (2835) (2839) (2829) (2830)
2024 Norway Carlsen (2830) (Future)
Year January February March April May June July August September October November December

Timeline of world number ones[edit]

Player statistics[edit]

Seven players have held the world number one ranking over a period of 52 years and 10 months, encompassing 245 rating lists. These seven players include six undisputed world chess champions, with Topalov being the only player to achieve the number one ranking without becoming undisputed world champion, though he was FIDE world champion from 2005 to 2006, and is still an active player. Spassky, Kramnik, and Ding are the only world champions in the period in question to never have been world number one while being champion. (Of these, Kramnik has been world number one, but only when he was not champion; Spassky and Ding were never world number one.)

Fischer was top of the lists successively five times over a period of 4.5 years, though he is considered to have already become the number one player in the world before the official list started, as he topped the unofficial list in 1970. Karpov topped the list 14 times, successively 11 times over a period of 8 years, once for 6 months, and once for a year while Kasparov was excluded. Kasparov was world number one on the official list 52 times over a period of 22 years, and 31 times successively over nearly a decade from July 1996 to January 2006; he was number one 3 times successively over 1.5 years, then 16 times successively over 8 years, then twice successively for one year, and then finally 31 times over 9 years and 9 months. Kramnik was world number one 2 times (for 6 and 3 months), for a total of 9 months. Topalov was world number one successively 4 and 6 times (a total of 10 times), for 12 months and 15 months respectively (for a total of 27 months). Anand was world number one successively 2 and 3 times (a total of 5 times), for 6 months and 9 months respectively (for a total of 15 months). As of September 2023, Carlsen has been world number one a record 147 times, including a record 141 consecutive times since July 2011.

Time at FIDE number one and youngest age at FIDE number one
Player Months at No. 1 Peak rating Age at first time No. 1 Date at first time No. 1 Rating at first time No. 1
Soviet Union Russia Garry Kasparov 255 2851 20 years, 263 days January 1, 1984 2710
Norway Magnus Carlsen 166 2882 19 years, 32 days January 1, 2010 2810
Soviet Union Russia Anatoly Karpov 102 2780 24 years, 223 days January 1, 1976 2695
United States Bobby Fischer 54 2785 28 years, 114 days July 1, 1971 2760
Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 27 2816 31 years, 17 days April 1, 2006 2804
India Viswanathan Anand 21 2817 37 years, 111 days April 1, 2007 2786
Russia Vladimir Kramnik 9 2817 20 years, 190 days January 1, 1996 2775

Women[edit]

List of world female number ones[edit]

The following is a list of the players ranked number one female on the FIDE rating system from the first official list in July 1971 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question. A rating denoted with bold text followed by an asterisk (*) is a career high rating.

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
1971 (before official FIDE ratings) Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2390)
1972 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2450)
1973 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2420)
1974 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2405)
1975 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2410)
1976 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2440)
1977 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2445)
1978 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2425)
1979 Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili (2405)
1980 Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2400)
1981 Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2425) (2405)
1982 Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2390) (2385)
1983 Sweden Pia Cramling (2355) Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2380)
1984 Sweden Pia Cramling (2405) Hungary Susan Polgar (2405)
1985 Hungary Susan Polgar (2430) Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2450)
1986 Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2455) Hungary Susan Polgar (2455)
1987 Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2530) (2550)
1988 Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze (2560*) (2555)
1989 Hungary Judit Polgár (2555)
1990 Hungary Judit Polgár (2550) (2540)
1991 Hungary Judit Polgár (2540) (2550)
1992 Hungary Judit Polgár (2550) (2575)
1993 Hungary Judit Polgár (2595) (2635)
1994 Hungary Judit Polgár (2630)
1995 Hungary Judit Polgár (2630) (2635)
1996 Hungary Judit Polgár (2675) (2665)
1997 Hungary Judit Polgár (2645) (2670)
1998 Hungary Judit Polgár (2675) (2665)
1999 Hungary Judit Polgár (2677) (2671)
2000 Hungary Judit Polgár (2658) (2656)
2001 Hungary Judit Polgár (2676) (2678) (2686)
2002 Hungary Judit Polgár (2677) (2681) (2685)
2003 Hungary Judit Polgár (2700) (2715) (2718) (2722)
2004 Hungary Judit Polgár (2728)
2005 United States Susan Polgar (2577*) Hungary Judit Polgár (2732) Hungary Judit Polgár (2735*)
2006 Hungary Judit Polgár (2711) (2710)
2007 Hungary Judit Polgár (2727) (2707) (2708)
2008 Hungary Judit Polgár (2707) (2709) (2711)
2009 Hungary Judit Polgár (2693) (2687) (2680)
2010 Hungary Judit Polgár (2682) (2686)
2011 Hungary Judit Polgár (2686) (2699) (2701) (2710)
2012 Hungary Judit Polgár (2710) (2709) (2698) (2705)
2013 Hungary Judit Polgár (2696) (2689) (2693)
2014 Hungary Judit Polgár (2693) (2685) (2676) (2675)
2015 Hungary Judit Polgár (2675) China Hou Yifan (2686*) (2676) Hungary Judit
Polgar (2675)
China Hou Yifan (2671) (2683)
2016 China Hou Yifan (2673) (2667) (2663) (2658) (2649) (2635) (2651)
2017 China Hou Yifan (2651) (2649) (2652) (2666) (2652) (2670) (2678) (2680)
2018 China Hou Yifan (2680) (2654) (2657) (2658) (2662)
2019 China Hou Yifan (2662) (2659) (2664)
2020 China Hou Yifan (2664) (2658)
2021 China Hou Yifan (2658)
2022 China Hou Yifan (2658) (2650) (2638)
2023 China Hou Yifan (2638) (2628) (2632)
2024 China Hou Yifan (2632) (Future)
Year January February March April May June July August September October November December

Timeline[edit]

Women statistics[edit]

Time at FIDE number one and youngest age at FIDE number one
Player Months at No. 1 Peak rating Age at first time No. 1 Date at first time No. 1 Rating at first time No. 1
Hungary Judit Polgar 312 2735 12 years, 162 days January 1, 1989 2555
China Hou Yifan 109 2686 21 years, 2 days March 1, 2015 2686
Soviet Union Nona Gaprindashvili 102 2495 30 years, 59 days July 1, 1971 2390
Soviet Union Maia Chiburdanidze 78 2560 18 years, 349 days January 1, 1980 2400
Hungary United States Susan Polgar 21 2577 15 years, 73 days July 1, 1984 2405
Sweden Pia Cramling 12 2550 19 years, 253 days January 1, 1983 2355

List of junior world number ones[edit]

FIDE publishes lists of highest-rated junior chess players; a "junior" is defined as being a player who is aged under 20 at the start of the year. The following is a list of the players ranked number one junior in the FIDE rating system from July 1999 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question.

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
1999 N/A Hungary Peter Leko (2701)[5]
2000 Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov (2627)[6] (2630) (2624)
2001 Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov (2677) (2673) (2684)
2002 Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov (2727) (2743)
2003 Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov (2734) (2718) Russia Alexander Grischuk (2732)
2004 Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov (2656) (2670) (2664) (2663)
2005 Ukraine Andrei Volokitin (2685) (2679) Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov (2682) (2704)
2006 Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov (2700) (2717) (2728) (2729)
2007 Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov (2729) (2747) (2746) (2742)
2008 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2733) (2765) (2775) (2786)
2009 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2776) (2770) (2772) (2801)
2010 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2810) (2813) (2826) (2802)
2011 Italy Fabiano Caruana (2721) (2716) (2714) Vietnam Lê Quang Liêm
(2711)
Netherlands Anish Giri
(2722)
Italy Fabiano Caruana
(2727)
2012 Italy Fabiano Caruana (2736) (2767) (2770) (2775) (2773) (2772) (2786) (2782)
2013 Netherlands Anish Giri (2726) (2722) (2729) (2727) (2734) (2737) (2749) (2732) (2734)
2014 Netherlands Anish Giri (2734) (2746) (2745) (2746) (2752) (2750) (2745) (2758) (2768) (2776) (2768)
2015 Hungary Richárd Rapport
(2716)
(2703) (2709) (2710) China Wei Yi (2724) (2725) (2734) (2737) (2730)
(2718) (2721)
2016 Hungary Richárd Rapport (2721) (2720) (2717) (2731) (2752) (2729) (2730) (2717)
2017 China Wei Yi (2706) (2725) (2727) (2732) (2728) (2738) (2753) (2748) (2740) (2739) (2743)
2018 China Wei Yi (2743) (2734) Poland Jan-Krzysztof Duda China Wei Yi
(2742)
Poland Jan-Krzysztof Duda
(2737) (2740) (2738)
2019 China Wei Yi (2733) (2728) (2736) (2741) (2737) (2727) (2721) (2724) (2725)
2020 Alireza Firouzja (FIDE) (2728) (2749)
(2723) (2726)
2021 Alireza Firouzja (FIDE) (2749) (2759) France Alireza Firouzja (2759) (2754) (2770) (2804)
2022 France Alireza Firouzja (2804) (2793) (2778) (2785)
2023 France Alireza Firouzja (2785) (2786) (2777) (2763)
2024 Germany Vincent Keymer
(2743)
India R Praggnanandhaa
(2747)
Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov
(2750)
(2765)
Year January February March April May June July August September October November December

List of girl world number ones[edit]

FIDE publishes lists of highest-rated girl chess players; a "girl" is defined as being a player who is aged under 20 at the start of the year, and female. The following is a list of the players ranked number one girl in the FIDE rating system from January 2000 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question.

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2000 Vietnam Hoang Thanh Trang (2448)[7] (2489) (2493)
2001 China Xu Yuanyuan (2437) Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė (2464) (2464) India Humpy Koneru (2484)
2002 India Humpy Koneru (2539) (2486) (2473) (2484)
2003 India Humpy Koneru (2496) (2496) (2468)[8] Ukraine Kateryna Lagno (2486) [note 1]
2004 India Humpy Koneru (2498) (2513) Russia Alexandra Kosteniuk (2511) (2508)
2005 India Humpy Koneru (2512) (2508) (2531) (2540)
2006 India Humpy Koneru (2537) (2548) (2545) (2545)
2007 India Humpy Koneru (2567) (2575) (2572) (2606)
2008 China Hou Yifan (2527) (2549) (2557) (2578)
2009 China Hou Yifan (2571) (2590) (2584) (2585) (2588)
2010 China Hou Yifan (2590) (2570) (2589) (2577) (2578) (2591)
2011 China Hou Yifan (2602) (2612) (2575) (2578)
2012 China Hou Yifan (2605) (2639) (2623) (2617) (2599) (2605) (2606)
2013 China Hou Yifan (2603) (2617) (2595) (2600) (2609) (2621) (2629)
2014 China Hou Yifan (2629) (2618) (2629) (2661) (2663) (2673)
2015 Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina
(2451) (2456) (2473) (2474) (2486) (2474) (2497) (2480) (2478) (2493)
2016 Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina China Lei Tingjie Russia Aleksandra
Goryachkina
(2482)
China Lei Tingjie
(2502) (2509) (2504) (2487)[note 2] (2480) (2473) (2468)
2017 China Lei Tingjie (2467) (2480) (2471) (2482) (2488) (2522) (2514) (2534) (2528)
2018 Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina
(2493) (2491) (2495) (2496) (2505) (2509) (2535) (2536) (2534) (2518)
2019 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2468) Russia Polina
Shuvalova
(2471)
Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik China Zhu Jiner Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik
(2463) (2464) (2458) (2457) (2471) (2507) (2472) (2465)
2020 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2471) (2461) (2478)
2021 Russia Polina Shuvalova (2476) (2484) (2489) (2507) (2510) (2509) (2515) (2516)
2022 China Zhu Jiner (2478) (2464) (2484) (2486)
2023 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2440) (2464) (2469) (2468) (2472)
2024 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2472) (2481)
Year January February March April May June July August September October November December

Rapid and blitz ratings[edit]

Since January 2012, FIDE has also calculated ratings for Rapid and Blitz chess, and has published top player rating lists for these time controls since May 2014.[11] [12]

Rapid chess[edit]

Top players[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A United States Hikaru Nakamura (2841)[11] Italy Fabiano Caruana (2858)
2015 Italy Fabiano Caruana (2856) Norway Carlsen (2855) United States Hikaru Nakamura (2850) Norway Magnus Carlsen (2873)
2016 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2878) (2894) (2906)
2017 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2896) (2919) (2909) (2908)
2018 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2880) (2903)
2019 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2869) (2895) France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Norway Carlsen
(2867) (2873) (2886)
2020 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2881)
2021 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2881) Norway Magnus Carlsen (2842)
2022 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2847) United States Hikaru Nakamura (2837) Norway Magnus Carlsen (2834)
2023 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2839) China Ding Liren (2830)
2024 China Ding Liren (2830) Norway Magnus Carlsen (2823)

Top women[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A Hungary Judit Polgár (2656)[11] (2646)
2015 Hungary Judit Polgár (2646) China Hou Yifan (2614) (2625)
2016 China Hou Yifan(2625) (2631) (2645)
2017 Ukraine Anna Muzychuk (2611) China Hou Yifan (2611) (2617) (2618)
2018 China Hou Yifan (2618) Ukraine Anna Muzychuk (2611) (2597) (2609)
2019 China Ju Wenjun (2618) (2613)
2020 China Hou Yifan (2621)
2021 China Hou Yifan (2621)
2022 China Ju Wenjun (2610) Russia Alexandra Kosteniuk (2542) Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE) (2542) China Ju Wenjun
(2600)
China Hou Yifan (2618)
2023 China Hou Yifan (2618) China Ju Wenjun (2592) (2581) (2575)
2024 China Ju Wenjun (2566)

Top juniors[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A Hungary Richárd Rapport (2707)[11] (2717) (2724)
2015 Hungary Richárd Rapport (2724) (2736)
2016 Hungary Richárd Rapport (2729)
2017 Russia Vladislav Artemiev (2706) (2719) (2708) (2712) (2687)
2018 Russia Vladislav Artemiev (2767) (2733) (2764) (2812)
2019 China Wei Yi (2698) (2713) United States Jeffery Xiong (2730)
2020 United States Jeffery Xiong (2730)
2021 Alireza Firouzja (FIDE) (2703) France Alireza Firouzja (2696) Russia Andrey Esipenko (2681) (2679)
2022 Russia Andrey Esipenko (2679) Andrey Esipenko (FIDE) France Alireza Firouzja
(2704) (2732) (2745)
2023 France Alireza Firouzja (2745) (2742) (2737)
2024 Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2733)

Top girls[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A China Hou Yifan (2600)[11]
2015 China Guo Qi (2426) Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina
(2429) (2453)
2016 China Lei Tingjie (2445) (2446) Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina
(2456) (2466)
2017 Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina (2462) (2487) (2460)
2018 Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina (2476) (2477)
2019 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2490) (2484)
2020 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2462)
2021 Russia Polina Shuvalova (2394) United States Carissa Yip (2393) Russia Polina Shuvalova (2400)
2022 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2396)
2023 United States Carissa Yip (2393) Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2359) (2432) (2439) (2436)
2024 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2425)

Blitz chess[edit]

Top players (blitz)[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A United States Hikaru Nakamura (2879)[11] Norway Magnus Carlsen (2948)
2015 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2948) (2933) (2914) United States Hikaru Nakamura (2884)
2016 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2890) (2915) China Ding Liren (2875)
2017 Norway Magnus Carlsen 2914) (2899) (2948) (2986)
2018 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2965) (2939)
2019 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2954) (2923) France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave United States Hikaru Nakamura
(2948) (2939) (2871) (2885)
2020 United States Hikaru Nakamura (2900)
2021 United States Hikaru Nakamura (2900) Norway Magnus Carlsen (2892)
2022 United States Hikaru Nakamura (2850) United States Levon Aronian (2850) United States Hikaru Nakamura (2909)
2023 France Alireza Firouzja (2904) (2896) Norway Magnus Carlsen (2887)
2024 Norway Magnus Carlsen (2886)

Top women (blitz)[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A Hungary Judit Polgár (2673)[11] Hungary Judit Polgár (2736)
2015 Hungary Judit Polgár (2736) China Hou Yifan (2704)
2016 Russia Valentina Gunina (2598) Russia Kateryna Lagno China Hou Yifan (2676)
(2594) (2641)
2017 Ukraine Anna Muzychuk (2663) China Hou Yifan (2659)
2018 Georgia (country) Nana Dzagnidze (2580) China Hou Yifan (2627)
2019 China Hou Yifan (2627) Russia Kateryna Lagno (2587) (2606)
2020 Russia Kateryna Lagno (2608)
2021 Russia Kateryna Lagno (2608) China Hou Yifan (2601)
2022 Russia Kateryna Lagno (2522)
2023 China Tan Zhongyi (2519) China Hou Yifan (2561)
2024 China Hou Yifan (2561)

Top juniors (blitz)[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A China Yu Yangyi (2771)[11] Netherlands Anish Giri (2757)
2015 Ukraine Olexandr Bortnyk Russia Vladimir Fedoseev (2798) China Lu Shanglei (2780)
(2761) (2762) (2764)
2016 Russia Daniil Dubov (2713) Russia Artemiev (2724) Ukraine Olexandr Bortnyk (2769) (2784) Russia Vladislav Artemiev
(2781) (2847)
2017 Russia Vladislav Artemiev (2777) (2785) (2746) China Wei Yi (2740) Russia Vladislav Artemiev
(2729) (2798)
2018 Russia Vladislav Artemiev (2834) (2824) (2849) (2825)
2019 Iran Alireza Firouzja (2724) Iran Parham Maghsoodloo (2719) (2729) (2735)
2020 Alireza Firouzja (FIDE) (2750) (2770)
2021 Alireza Firouzja (FIDE) (2770) France Alireza Firouzja (2810)
2022 France Alireza Firouzja (2791) (2795) (2904)
2023 France Alireza Firouzja (2904) (2896) (2863)
2024 India Nihal Sarin (2704)

Top girls (blitz)[edit]

Year January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014 N/A China Hou Yifan (2662)[11]
2015 China Guo Qi (2396) Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina China Wang Jue (2505)
(2363) (2377)
2016 China Zhai Mo (2398) China Lei Tingjie
(2415) (2434) (2446)
2017 China Lei Tingjie (2446) (2451) (2461)
2018 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2457) Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina
(2449) (2448) (2422)
2019 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2368) (2415)
2020 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2409) Russia Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2411) Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik (2409)
2021 India Vaishali Rameshbabu (2313) Russia Polina Shuvalova (2341) India Vaishali Rameshbabu (2313)
2022 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2404)
2023 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2440) (2461) (2478) (2476)
2024 Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva (2469)

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ FIDE erroneously states that Anna Muzychuk (rated 2325) was the highest-rated girl player in October 2003, despite their official list showing sixteen girl players more highly-rated than Muzychuk.[9]
  2. ^ FIDE did not release an official list of top girl players in May 2016, perhaps as a reference to the HTTP 404 computer error: such a list, if published, would have been numbered 404 on the FIDE website.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "History of Elo ratings 1971-2001". OlimpBase. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023.
  2. ^ FIDE January 2007 Rating List: Top 100, The Week In Chess
  3. ^ Spassky Kings Don't Rule
  4. ^ a b Kasparov was excluded from FIDE ratings during 1994:
  5. ^ FIDE Top 20 Juniors july 1999, web.archive.org (november 1999).
  6. ^ FIDE Top 20 Juniors january 2000, web.archive.org (march 2000).
  7. ^ FIDE Top 20 girls, january 2000, web.archive.org, january 2000.
  8. ^ "Top 20 Girls July 2003 FIDE Top players archive".
  9. ^ "Top 20 Girls October 2003 FIDE Top players archive".
  10. ^ "Top 100 Girls May 2016 FIDE Top players archive".
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nakamura is world no.1 in Rapid and Blitz, ChessBase, May 2014.
  12. ^ FIDE Chess Rankings and Statistics, ratings.fide.com

External links[edit]