16 Super-GMs top the list

Until recently a Super-GM used to be player who had reached 2600 rating points or higher. I remember that one of the first chess articles I wrote, back in 1983, was about the concept of Super Grandmasters, of which there had at the time been 30 in the history of the game.

At the time of writing there had been thirteen (German: "dreizehn") Super-GMs, and for the first time since Fischer left the scene, there was an American amongst them, the young Yasser Seirawan.

Karpov was on top of the list in 1983, the only player higher than the magic 2700 mark. "But the rise of 20-year-old Garry Kasparov seems unstoppable," I wrote. "He has put no less than 45 points between himself and the rest of the field, and is just 20 points behind world champion Karpov.

Amongst the women for the first time a western player was at the top of the list, after the reigning world champion Maya Chiburdanidze dropped 30 rating points, while Pia Cramling of Sweden had gained 95 points. The German player Barbara Hund was the first in her country to gain a WGM title.

My, how times have changed. Now-a-days there are well over 100 players who have crossed the 2600 mark, so that the title of Super-GM has shifted to players over 2700 (there have been attempts to call them Mega-GMs, but we will stick to the Super-GM nomenclature).

In the latest FIDE list we find 16 Super-GMs, led by Garry Kasparov, who took over from Karpov shortly after the above article was written and has never relinquished the lead since then. Jens Placke of Germany drew our attention to the fact that today Kasparov is the oldest player amongst the top 22. Number 23 is Anatoly Karpov.

Kasparov's two crown princes Anand and Kramnik have maintained their positions, with Anand in number two slot for a change. Vishy mentioned that neither of the two have actually "overtaken" the other in recent years. When Kramnik became number two it was because of a big drop in Anand's rating; while Anand is now second because of poor results by Kramnik. In fact his rating is slightly lower than when he was third.

Looking at the list of the top 100 we see that there is a musical chairs for the number four spot. Svidler, Leko and Adams have had it, this time Morozevich has edged them out. We cannot be anything but delighted to see Judit Polgar at number eight. And we welcome the 21-year-old French player Etienne Bacrot to the Super-GM club, and Alexei Shirov back to the top-ten group.

List of the top 100 players

Top women players

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