Anand crosses 2800 and leads the October 2007 FIDE ratings

Top 100 Players October 2007

The Indian Super-GM and newly-crowned World Champion Viswanathan Anand remains the rating leader, but has now crossed the 2800 mark with a rating of 2801. This is the second time that Anand has exceeded 2800 – in April 2006 he was rated 2803, a point behind Topalov. Apart from Garry Kasparov, who was for a long time permanently entrenched above the 2800 line (with an all-time peak of 2851 in July 1999), the only other player to exceed this magic number was Vladimir Kramnik, who hit 2802 in July 2001, peaked at 2811 in January 2002 and only dropped below 2800 in April 2003. That makes four players in all: Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and Anand.

Anand has gained nine points since the July 2007 ratings list. The big winner is of course Vassily Ivanchuk, who gained 25 points (in 20 games) – an almost impossible task at these rarefied Elo heights. At 38 Ivanchuk is nine months younger than Boris Gelfand, who is number 11 on the current list and tied for second in the world championship tournament in Mexico, and nine months older than Anand, who won the tournament. So when they approach forty world-class grandmasters seem to often reach their peak – which would confirm what Alekhine once said, that the best age for a chess player is 37.

Other notables in the October 2007 list are:

• Evgeny Alekseev, who gained 27 point to move from 24th to 15th;
• Dmitry Jakovenko, who lost 25 points to move from 10th to 19th;
• 17-year-old Sergey Karjakin, who gained 16 points to move from 35th to 24th;
• Sergey's main rival, 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen, who has remained at 17th place by gaining four points from 25 games.

We also note that Nigel Short has lost 34 points to move from 28th to 59th. Nigel is 42, so the three so successful players mentioned above need to watch out for what happens when you cross 40. The biggest drop came to Ni Hua, 24, who lost 40 points in 29 games and moved from 31st to 79th.

FIDE October 2007 Rating List

Top 50 Women October 2007

In the women's section Judit Polgar as usual leads, for the 29th time in a row. But Koneru Humpy his gaining on her, having gained 34 points to become the second female player in history to cross the 2600 mark. Pia Cramling's highest rating was 2535 in the April 2007 list. Zhu Chen reached a high of 2539 in July 2000, and Alexandra Kosteniuk hit 2540 in April 2006. The legendary former world champion Maia Chiburdanidze peaked at 2550 in October 2000.

We continue to keep our eye on China's wonder girl Hou Yifan, who is thirteen. Hou was number four in the world in the previous list, but has shed 21 points and dropped to place eight in the current list. Watch her bounce back soon and chase after Humpy's second place.

Top 20 Juniors October 2007

The first four remain the same as in the previous list, with Magnus Carlsen slowly closing the gap to Teimour Radjabov, who at 20 is three and a half years older than the Norwegian super-talent. Note that Koneru Humpy is the only female player in this top-twenty list.

Top 20 Girls October 2007

Naturally Humpy tops this one as well, for the 22nd time, and once againe it is Hou Yifan, who is panting at her heels. The third in the group is India's Harika Dronavalli, who has gained two points and is creeping up on the leading two.

Lists and data by courtesy of FIDE