FIDE March ratings – Aronian closes gap to Carlsen

FIDE March 2012 – Top 100 Players

The big story is of course Levon Aronian closing the gap to the dominating Magnus Carlsen by winning the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee in January. Azeri GM Teimour Radjabov gained eleven points in the same event and stays in fifth place. Thirteen points below him we see US GM Hikaru Nakamura, who gained twelve points, while US/Italian GM Fabiano Caruana added a whopping 31 points to his rating to move from 17th place in the world to 7th.

Top climbers

Of course Aronian, Nakamura and Caruana have made the most significant gains near the top of the FIDE ratings lis, but we should look further down at Nigel Short, who gained 20 points and missed the 2700-slot by a hair. Most of the points were gained in the Gibraltar tournament which he won.

Top descenders

Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov, who once had the FIDE world championship title, is now 12th in the world, after shedding eighteen points in the last two months. Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, who will challenge World Champion Vishy Anand in May, has lost twelve points and is now 22nd in the world rankings.

FIDE Top 100 Women March 2012

Of course the big news is that Chinese GM Hou Yifan, who turned 18 earlier this week, has gained 34 points to reach the second highest rating of any female in history. She only has Hungarian GM Judit Polgar ahead of her, on the current list and in the chess history books.

FIDE Top 20 Juniors March 2012

In the junior section GM Fabiano Caruana retained the lead and has increased his 22 point lead from the last list to now stand a full fifty points ahead of his nearest rival, Anish Giri of Holland.

FIDE Top 20 Girls March 2012

In the girl's list Hou Yifan is 149 points ahead of her nearest rival, IM Mariya Muzychuk (sister of Anna), who in turn is 78 points ahead of the number three girl, IM Anastasia Bodnaruk.

 Lists and data by courtesy of  FIDE