Ratings analytics: Top 10 in the retrospect 2001-2020 Part 1
Kaspars Migla is the creator and founder of a chess website chessratings.top. In his column, he analyzes FIDE standard rating changes, career-highs, rating distribution by country, continent, region, and other rating-related statistics. In the first part of his historical research, he looks at the Top 10 for both Open and Women ratings over the 19-year period. Almost 20 years ago, on January 1, 2001, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) published the first downloadable rating list. From this moment on any person has had an opportunity to delve into deep analysis of chess ratings by sorting out and breaking down this data. Up to 2009 rating lists were published every four months; from January 2010 to June 2012 – quarterly; from July 2012 rating lists have been updated monthly. 146 downloadable lists published so far provide a fertile ground for various types of statistical analysis. In this edition, Chessratings.top looks at chess elite – the Top 10 active players with classical time control (both open and women). Here is the Top 10 Open January 01, 2001: 1. Garry Kasparov (RUS) 2849, Age 382. Viswanathan Anand (IND) 2790, Age 323. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS, 2772, Age 264. Michael Adams (ENG) 2746, Age 305. Alexander Morozevich (RUS) 2745, Age 246. Peter Leko (HUN) 2745, Age 227. Alexei Shirov (ESP) 2718, Age 298. Veselin Topalov (BUL) 2718, Age 269. Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) 2717, Age 3210. Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2712, Age 33 The average age (how old a player became in a particular year) was 29,2 years, whereas an average rating – 2751. Only 12 players had rating 2700+ back then, i.e. the TOP 10 plus Evgeny Bareev (RUS, 2709) and Loek Van Wely (NED, 2700). Photo: Lennart Ootes Although active professional life in chess lasts longer compared to other sports, none of the players from this top appeared on the same list on April 1, 2020. Top 10 Open April 1, 2020 1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2863, Age 302. Fabiano Caruana (USA) 2835, Age 283. Liren Ding (CHN) 2791, Age 284. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2784, Age 305. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2778, Age 306. Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2777, Age 377. Levon Aronian (ARM) 2773, Age 388. Wesley So (USA) 2770, Age 279. Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2765, Age 3310. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2764, Age 3510. Anish Giri (NED) 2764, Age 26 Photo: Maria Emelianova At present, the average rating is 2788 which is 37 points higher than 20 years ago. The percentage difference is small (only 1,3%) especially considering the inflation of ratings. Moreover, three people from the 2001 list would be in the current top with Kasparov comfortably sitting on the second position. Despite the persistent feeling of young stars breaking into the chess elite, the average age in the current top 10 is 31.1 years – almost two years higher than in 2001. Why is that? You will find out a little bit later. Top 10 Women January 1, 2001 1. Judit Polgar (HUN) 2676, Age 252. Jun Xie (CHN) 2557, Age 313. Alisa Galliamova (RUS) 2554, Age 294. Chen Zhu (CHN) 2538, Age 255. Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO) 2525, Age 406. Pin Wang (CHN) 2506, Age 277. Yuhua Xu (CHN) 2500, Age 258. Nana Ioseliani (GEO) 2499, Age 399. Pia Cramling (SWE) 2492, Age 3810. Kanying Qin (CHN) 2489, Age 27 Average age – 30.6 years. Average rating – 2533. Photo: Chessvibes We see the same picture on the women’s side – no player from the Top 10 of January 2001 made her way into the current Top 10. Top 10 Women April 1, 2020 1. Yifan Hou (CHN) 2658, Age 262. Humpy Koneru (IND) 2586, Age 333. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) 2582, Age 224. Wenjun Ju (CHN) 2560, Age 295. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) 2546, Age 316. Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 2544, Age 287. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) 2535, Age 308. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) 2524, Age 339. Dronavalli Harika (IND) 2515, Age 2910. Zhongyi Tan (CHN) 2510, Age 29 Average age – 29.0 years, average rating – 2556. Photo: Frans Peeters Comparing to the year 2001, the average rating increased by 23 points or 0.9%. Since this gain is smaller than in the open category, whole 5 players from the “old” list would have qualified for the new one. Eight players out of the Top 10 Open of 2001 are still active. All of them with just one exception are in the current Top 100, whereas Anand and Topalov are not far away from the Top 10. On the women’s side, only two players from the Top 10 of 2001 are still active. Here are these eight players mentioned above: 16. Viswanathan Anand (IND) 275319. Veselin Topalov (BUL) 273537. Michael Adams (ENG) 270158. Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) 267862. Boris Gelfand (ISR) 267677. Peter Leko (HUN) 266383. Alexander Morozevich (RUS) 2659104. Alexei Shirov (ESP) 2647 Since the oldest in this group is Boris Gelfand (born in 1968), maybe even ten years down the road all of them will be among active players. Only two World Champions Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik are missing. Kasparov played his last tournament game back in 2005, whereas Kramnik retired from professional chess at the beginning of the last year. Photo: Niki Riga Here are two still active players from the Top 10 Women 2001: 22. Pia Cramling (SWE) 246433. Alisa Galliamova (RUS) 2438 It is just another evidence of a shorter and less intense period of activity in women’s chess. However, Pia Cramling (born in 1963) has been doing a great job undermining this doctrine. Last year the GM from Sweden became the most active player in the Top 100 Women playing 133 games! Photo: David Llada Let’s have a look at the players who made their way into the Top 10 Open after January 1, 2001 – particularly at the age they first did it, the countries they represented back then and the rating they had at that moment. The player from the current Top 10 Open and Women are marked with an asterisk. Open: 1. Evgeny Bareev (RUS) 2709, Age 35, 20012. Loek Van Wely (NED) 2714, Age 29, 20013. Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) 2727, Age 19, 20024. Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2712, Age 20, 2003*5. Peter Svidler
Rosters revealed for the FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup
The Chinese team, winner of a historic double gold in the last Chess Olympiad, will be the top-seed at the FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup, which will take place May 5-10. The field for the event includes six players who have held the title of World Chess Champion, plus twelve others who have been Candidates to the throne at some point. China, with an average rating of 2717, is followed in the initial ranking by Europe (2687), Russia (2662), USA (2641), India (2605), and the “Rest of the World” team (2597). The Chinese team is headed by Ding Liren and Wang Hao, the world’s numbers three and twelve respectively. They are two of the eight players who are currently a part of the Candidates tournament – the final stage which decides who will be the finalist in the World Championship Match. But the main news is the return of Hou Yifan to the Chinese national team. The four-time World Champion is a former prodigy and the youngest female player ever to achieve the Grandmaster title. Two years ago Hou won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University and put her career on hold, but she is still the highest-ranked female player in ranking. Hou Yifan’s temporary return to the board might imply that the reigning Women’s World Champion, Ju Wenjun, is sent to the bench. CHINA Captain: Ye Jiangchuan Std. Rpd. Ding Liren 2791 2836 Wang Hao 2763 2750 Wei Yi 2732 2752 Hou Yifan 2658 2621 Yu Yangyi 2709 2738 Ju Wenjun 2560 2610 2.702,17 2.717,83 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, from France, will be leading a super-strong European team that also includes Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, and Anna Muzychuk, with Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Nana Dzagnidze as reserve players. But even the best players of the moment are slightly overshadowed when the team captain is a living legend like Garry Kasparov. The multiple-time world champion, who ruled the world of chess for two decades, put an end to his career in 2005 and has barely taken part in any competitive chess activity ever since. His presence in this event, even if only as a team captain, has been a pleasant surprise to chess fans all over the world. EUROPE Captain: Garry Kasparov Std. Rpd. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2778 2860 Levon Aronian 2773 2778 Anish Giri 2764 2731 Anna Muzychuk 2535 2533 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2753 2774 Nana Dzagnidze 2524 2447 2.687,83 2.687,17 Russia no longer dominates the chess world as it once did, but even with the absence of some important players – like Alexander Grischuk and Kateryna Largo – the Russian team cannot be ruled out as a possible winner. Ian Nepomniachtchi has proven to be in great shape recently, and he will be defending the first board, along with Vladislav Artemiev, Sergey Karjakin, and Aleksandra Goryachkina. With Dmitry Andreikin and Olga Girya as reserve players, Russian is still a formidable rival, with great team spirit. RUSSIA Captain: Alexander Motylev Std. Rpd. Ian Nepomniachtchi 2784 2778 Vladislav Artemiev 2716 2769 Sergey Karjakin 2752 2709 Aleksandra Goryachkina 2582 2502 Dmitry Andreikin 2726 2740 Olga Girya 2469 2471 2.671,50 2.661,50 The USA, winners of the 2016 Olympiad, brings to the competition all their top guns, starting with the world’s number two Fabiano Caruana. With him, Hikaru Nakamura, who is considered one of the biggest specialists in fast time controls, and the Fischer Random World Champion Wesley So. The team is completed by two experienced female players – Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih, plus the Cuban-born Leinier Dominguez, who has represented the US Chess Federation since 2018. USA Captain: John Donaldson Std. Rpd. Fabiano Caruana 2835 2773 Hikaru Nakamura 2736 2829 Wesley So 2770 2741 Irina Krush 2429 2392 Leinier Dominguez Perez 2758 2786 Anna Zatonskih 2420 2327 2.658,00 2.641,33 India will be led one more time by the legendary Viswanathan Anand who, despite having reached the age of 50 in November, is still one among the top 15 players in the world – and remains as dangerous as ever when it comes to rapid play. It is a bit paradoxical that the average age of this team is the highest in the event when India is producing more young chess prodigies than any other country in the world. But the young Indian cubs are not ready yet to make it into the national team: the generational changeover will have to wait a bit more. INDIA Adviser to the team:Vladimir Kramnik Std. Rpd. Viswanathan Anand 2753 2751 Vidit Gujrathi 2726 2636 Pentala Harikrishna 2719 2690 Humpy Koneru 2586 2483 Adhiban Baskaran 2659 2624 Harika Dronavalli 2515 2450 2.659,67 2.605,67 The “Rest of the World Team” is, as it would be expected, the most colorful one, including players from Azerbaijan, Iran, Egypt, Peru, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. On top of the list, the winner of the 2019 FIDE World Cup, Teimour Radjabov. With him, one of the main attractions of the event, the 16-year-old prodigy from Iran, Alireza Firouzja. The teenager is developing a rivalry with the World Champion Magnus Carlsen that is becoming more and more serious by the day, and probably all eyes will be on him, as he will be taking on some of the very top players in the world during this event. The team also features the best African player of all times, Bassem Amin, one of the biggest talents from South America, Jorge Cori, a former Women’s World Champion, Mariya Muzychuk, and the Kazakhstani star Dinara Saduakassova. The FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich, will be acting as a captain for this team. REST OF THE WORLD Captain: Arkady Dvorkovich Std. Rpd. Teimour Radjabov 2765 2758 Alireza Firouzja 2728 2703 Bassem Amin 2686 2608 Mariya Muzychuk 2544 2506 Jorge Cori 2652 2599 Dinara Saduakassova 2500 2412 2.645,83 2.597,67 The tournament will be broadcast live across multiple outlets including FIDE’s and Chess.com’s own channels across Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, Twitter, and other international streaming platforms. With an estimated audience of several million worldwide, commentary by chess experts will be conducted in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, and Polish. More information in our initial press release about the event. FIDEwww.fide.comDavid Lladapress@fide.com+34 623 021 120 CHESS.comwww.chess.comNick Bartonnick@chess.com