FIDE August ratings – on a monthly basis

FIDE August 2012 – Top 20 Players

Magnus Carlsen has stayed on place one, of course, with no change from the previous list. This is because Biel ended on August 3rd and could not be included. So Magnus remains at 2837 on the list, while his live rating is, in reality, 2843, just eight points shy of Garry Kasparov's alltime record of 2851. The other remarkable event in this list is that Sergey Karjakin has overtaken World Champion Vishwanathan Anand and is now in place five, relegating Anand to sixth in the world. In the live ratings Hikaru Nakamura has pushed him down to rank seven, having gained five rating points to finish at 2783.

There are a few other changes, but not many, considering that the new list considers games from the last 31-day period. Note that the list gives, in brackets, the change in ratings compared to the previous month, and the change in the number of games played, compared to the previous month.

• Top 100 rankings men

Top climbers and descenders

We are listing all players from the top 100 who gained or lost ten or more points. Surprisingly there is a fair number, in spite of the short interval. Gaining 20 rating points or losing 25 in just one month is no mean task.

The biggest losses were suffered by the following players:

FIDE Top 20 Women

The news is that Slovenian GM Anna Muzychuk (she is originally from Ukraine) has overtaken Women's World Champion Hou Yifan and is in second place – behind the perennial and unreachable Judit Polgar. The Chinese GM has slipped below 2600, and it is clear to experts that she is playing too much. International tournaments in nice places are funn, Yifan, but you must devote more time to study!

• Top 100 rankings women

FIDE Top 20 Juniors

Anish Giri and Ding Liren are the big winners, but they are nowhere near super-junior Fabiano Caruana. The US/Italian GM is, just like Hou Yifan, playing in an inordinate number of events, but he manages to keep his rating and prove that his endurance is still up to the task.

• Top 100 rankings juniors

FIDE Top 20 Girls

In spite of losing 18 points in the last month the astonishing Hou Yifan leads the list by well over 100 point, with Mariya, sister of Anna Muzschuk, in a secure second place.

• Top 100 rankings girls

Lists and data by courtesy of  FIDE