The ups and downs in the standard list are tightly connected to the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad results, where the elite often faced players outside of the top 100. Magnus Carlsen lost 3 points despite his excellent 7.5/9 result in Chennai. However, the most significant drops in the top 10 belong to Fabiano Caruana (-18) and Levon Aronian (-16). The loss to Greek GM Nikolas Theodorou alone cost Aronian 7.6 points.

The main news on the women's list is the return of Humpy Koneru, who played her first tournament since February 2020. Despite losing 12 rating points in Chennai, she reappeared in the third position, pushing the rest of the top 10 down, except for Mariya Muzychuk, who kept her #7 spot.

Photo: Lennart Ootes

Biggest gains in Top 100 Open and Women

Savitha Shri B (pictured below) is a clear winner in this category following her excellent performance in the Czech Open 2022, where she picked up 61 points. Although this result pales compared to her +96 points earned by Savitha in the previous month, it is still very impressive.

Photo: Savitha Shri’s Instagram

The biggest news outside of the top 10 is the meteoric rise of three outstandingly talented teenagers – Arjun Erigaisi (pictured below), Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh D - who crossed a 2700 mark and broke into the top 30 Open. All three performed exceptionally well in Chennai but did not stop there. Abdusattorov and Gukesh D netted some extra points in the Turkish Chess League, while Erigaisi came out on top in very strong Abu Dhabi Masters, where he earned 22 points.

Photo: Lennart Ootes

Adding to this equation Nihal Sarin and the winner of German Masters Vincent Keymer, who are rapidly approaching the 2700 mark, we can expect a new sweeping wave of youngsters on the very elite level in the nearest future.

Speaking of the top performers at the 44th Chess Olympiad, we should also give full credit to female players: Oliwia Kiolbasa (pictured below), Sabrina Vega Gutierrez, and Vantika Agrawal did an excellent job in Chennai, singnificantly increased their rating and deservedly made it to the list of winners in this category.

Photo: Lennart Ootes

The rapid part of the 2022 GCT Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz finished just in time to bring exciting changes in the rapid ratings of the elite. Hikaru Nakamura lost 48 rapid points and dropped from #1 to #4 in the world's rankings, letting Magnus Carlsen reclaim the top spot. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana dropped as many as -16 and -19 rating points, respectively but remained in the top 10. The tournament winner, Firouzja, picked up 48 rapid points, climbing to #15. For the official effects of the blitz, we'll have to wait for the following rating list as the tournament ended too late to be included in this one.