6/2/2026 – There has been some movement at the top of the world rankings. Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana both lost rating points at the Candidates Tournament. As Nakamura's losses were more significant, both players dropped below the 2800 mark. In May, however, Caruana gained four rating points and caught up with Nakamura. As a result, Caruana is now listed in second place, with Nakamura in third. Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, is currently competing in Norway, where one of his goals is to avoid losing rating points. He remains the clear world number one. Players ranked fourth through seventh are Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer and Anish Giri. Hou Yifan remains the world's top-ranked female player, while World Champion Gukesh is the highest-rated player in the U20 category. Anna Shukhman is the new number one among the girls.
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Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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And yet, things do change. For quite some time, the top of the rating list seemed set in stone: 1. Magnus Carlsen, 2. Hikaru Nakamura, 3. Fabiano Caruana. But Caruana took advantage of Nakamura's recent slide and has now caught up with him. Both players stand on 2792 rating points, though Caruana is now listed second and Nakamura third.
There could be even more movement near the top in the coming months. First place is likely to remain Carlsen's for a while, even if he drops further rating points while playing on home soil in Norway. But Nakamura, whose future participation in classical chess remains uncertain, and Caruana are now only 15 points ahead of the two young Uzbek stars Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who are tied on 2777. Just another ten points behind is Vincent Keymer on 2767. He is followed by Anish Giri, enjoying what feels like his nth spring.
India's highest-ranked player is Arjun Erigaisi in eighth place, followed by former World Champion Viswanathan Anand in 13th. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju are ranked 16th and 19th respectively.
There has been little change in the women's world rankings. The first shift in positions compared to the previous month appears only at number 11, where India's Divya Deshmukh has moved up.
World Champion Gukesh remains the highest-rated junior player in the world. Fifteen-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus is ranked second and continues to close the gap to the world champion. India's Pranav and Volodar Murzin (FIDE) held on to their positions, while Pranesh M climbed to fifth place.
Anna Shukhman is the new number one in the girls' rankings. She has moved ahead of Kazakhstan's Alua Nurman, who had taken over the top spot last month. Lu Miaoyi, who was ranked third in the previous list, slipped behind Afruza Khamdamova and Shubhi Gupta.
Stefan LiebigStefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
IM Andrew Martin shows why this 19th-century opening weapon still is a fantastic choice for club players. The Evans produces exciting chess and teaches the art of attack.
The major part of the material on which the Petroff Defence Powerbook 2026 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 357 000 games. This imposing number is supplemented by another 17 000 from Mega and from correspondence chess.
Petroff Defence Powerbase 2026 is a database which contains 6475 high class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 682 annotated.
Videos: Felix Blohberger presents the surprise weapon 4…a6 in the Four Knights Game. Mihail Marin analyses the English Opening with 1.c4 e5 2.g3 g6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Bg2 Nc6. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 37 analyses by Berg, Radjabov and others.
Renowned for its solidity and strategic soundness, it has been a cornerstone of the repertoires of elite grandmasters including Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who relied on it successfully in the Candidates Tournament.
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