January 2015 ratings: a few extraordinary results

FIDE January 2015 – Top 100 Players

As far as the elite are concerned,  A note must be made of Anish Giri, who culminates an excellent year with a gain of 50 Elo, from 2734 to 2784. He had hovered around 2720 to 2730 throughout 2013, but 2014 seems to have been a mini-breakthrough year for the young Dutch player as he elbowed his way into the Top 10.

After Kramnik's disappointing result in the Candidates, his results suffered, and it was clear something was amiss. His rating dropped to 2760 even, knocking him out of the Top 10 for the first time in over 15 years, but in Qatar he showed some of his old mojo, and he is now back where he belongs.

Yu Yangyi's fantastic run at Qatar was yet another milestone for the young player

The Chinese players are also gaining ground, and have nine players in the Top 100. Of special note is that five are comfortably in the 2700 group, and of course Yu Yangyi has shown a particular ability to handle international events, something not all the Chinese seem comfortable doing, with his fantastic last minute victory at the Qatar Masters when he beat Anish Giri and Vladimir Kramnik in succession to take first.

Top climbers and descenders

The names below are no surprise, though the 34 Elo fall from Arkadij Naiditsch was a painful one as he suffered the rudest reversal at the Qatar Masters, responsible for 29 of those Elo. On the upside, special mention should be made of Igor Lysyj, who enters the 2700 club for the first time in his career, by virtue of winning the extremely strong Russian Championship, ahead of giants such as Svidler, Karjakin, Morozevich, and more.

Igor Lysyj's victory at the 2014 Russian Championship came as a big surprise in face of
such competition, but was well deserved

FIDE Top Women

Although there were a few gains, such as Bela Khotenashvili's 22 Elo increase, and losses, such as Ju Wenjun's drop of the same, the rankings did not change much.

FIDE Top Juniors

There were a few changes, the most visible being at the top as the previous leaders were evicted from the list due to age restrictions. With players such as Anish Giri, Yu Yangyi, and Hou Yifan no longer featured, a new group take the top spots with 18-year-old Richard Rapport as the new no.1 at 2716 and 16-year-old Wei Yi in second.

Nevertheless, the most ostentatious change is considerably lower down the list in no.27 with 14-year-old Parviz Gasimov from Azerbaijan at 2517 Elo. The reason such a fuss is made is because in October 2014 he was listed at ... 1949 Elo. That's right, he has gained 568 Elo in three months. The first reaction, other than disbelief, is there must be foul play involved.

There have been extraordinary rises before, but this seems to really stretch the boundaries of credibility. But closer examination seems to indicate that if there are any oddities involved, it is not a result of hanky panky on his part, but FIDE ratings strangeness.

The first and foremost point that warrants mentioning is that not once has he ever had a tournament performance over 2400. Not even in the last list where he leaps from 2295 to 2517 in a single bound. This beckons the question to FIDE: how is that possible? How can you produce a rating well in excess of your performance?

The second is a technicality that stands out and suggests they made a mistake: a performance from August was never computed until January, and if it had been, his K-factor would have plummeted and altered the ratings calculations last month.

Still, his is not the only extraordinary tale to tell, the next is from Iran. Iran has produced several standout prodigies in chess, but in terms of youth, the girls have been the most evident. Not anymore.

In no.74 meet FM M.amin Tabatabaei, only 13 years old, yet rated 2444 after earning 240 Elo in the last year alone. This places him on track to become one of the youngest grandmasters in the world and also makes him the top rated player Under-14 in the world. However due to his extraordinary rise he has flown under many radars, and his parents have expressed concerns he may not reach these goals unless he finds opportunities to play in strong European events. It is not a question of financial assistance, but rather of invitations.

Incredibly, he is not Iran's only success, and though he is not on the lists yet, 11-year-old Alireza Firouzja, rated 2291, is currently the world's highest rated Under-12 player. It is a brave new world ahead of us.

FIDE Top Girls

For seven years, Hou Yifan dominated the Top Girls list, but age catches up to everyone and she is finally a decrepit 21 year-old, no longer qualified for this list. Needless to say, in spite of our tongue-in-cheek comment, she is the queen of chess at the moment, and 2015 promises to be her year.

Taking over the top spot is 16-year-old Aleksandra Goryachkina, who has more than her share of laurels. Of note also is Azeri Ulviyya Fatalyeva (2346), who has gained 229 Elo in the last three months, one in which she did not play.

Top 100 Rapid

The rapid list saw several shifts with results in London and Beijing among others. Fabiano Caruana held onto his top spot by just one point, while speed chess expert Alexander Grischuk claimed 18 Elo and is now breathing down the neck of the top two. However, even more remarkably, Hikaru Nakamura's success at London garnered him 44 Elo, placing him in fourth and just two behind Grischuk and eleven behind Carlsen.

Top 50 Women Rapid

There were a few changes in the Rapid ratings this month, and no major Elo changes of note, other than Alexandra Kosteniuk's loss of 46 Rapid Elo.

Top 100 Blitz

In blitz, there were also numerous swings, with Grischuk now occupying world no.3 in all the lists, standard, rapid and blitz. Navara gained 93 Elo and is currently world no.9 at 2798.

Still, the name that seems to be mentioned all the time: Olexandr Bortnyk. The 18-year-old had already been noted as a particular specialist of the modality, whose blitz rating was nearly 200 Elo higher than his standard rating. Although the quality of his play cannot be doubted, having won the World Youth Under-18 this year, his heart is clearly more in adrenaline driven games, and his talent for it is extraordinary. This month he took his blitz rating to an all-time high of 2761, placing him in world no.17 and just two Elo behind the likes of Kramnik, and Anand, yet he is only an IM rated 2533 in standard time controls. It boggles the mind.

Top 50 Women Blitz

All the top women played amply at the SportAccord Mind games in Beijing, and while there were numerous winners and losers, the one that stands out the most is Hou Yifan, who becomes the second female to ever break 2700, in any modality, as she moves up to 2704.

Source: FIDE