Anish Giri is the new leader of the FIDE Circuit race following his excellent performance in the 2023 Tata Steel Masters. In a dramatic final round, the Dutchman leapfrogged Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who was leading most of the event and finished clear fist soaring to the top position in the race. 

Photo: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit

The top finishers in this competition, Nodirberk Abdusattorov and Magnus Carlsen round out the top three, while Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and Parham Maghsoodloo earned enough points to make it into the top 10. 

There were plenty of FIDE Circuit points at stake in the 2023 Tata Steel Challengers as well. The winner of the event, Alexander Donchenko, mounted to fifth place whereas Mustafa Yilmaz, Javokhir Sindarov and Amin Tabatabaei are also among the top tenners. 

Photo: Azerbaijan Chess Federation Facebook

Several tournaments counting toward the FIDE Circuit race ended in January. Although these competitions were not as big as Tata Steel events, their winners and top finishers picked up some points to get on the scoreboard. The national champions of India and Azerbaijan, Karthik Venkataraman and Vasif Durarbayli (pictured above), netted 6.43 and 6.83 points, respectively, while the winner of the IX Floripa Chess Open, Alan Pichot, gained 5.26 points. 

FIDE Circuit race top 10 as of January 31, 2023

You can find FIDE Circuit overall standings on ratings.fide.com/circuit.phtml 

At the end of 2022, FIDE Council approved a major reform of the qualification paths to the Candidates Tournament – the event that decides the challenger for the World Championship match.

One of the paths is the newly created FIDE Circuit (Path D). The player accumulating the most points during 2023 in eligible tournaments qualifies for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. The final score is calculated as the sum of the player’s five highest results.