With his victory at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, Nodirbek Abdusattorov is one of the big winners in the new FIDE ratings list for March 2026. The 22-year-old Uzbek star gained 20 rating points and climbed from 12^th to 5^th place, where he is now breathing down the neck of Vincent Keymer (4^th). Keymer’s rating remained unchanged compared to the previous month. Germany's number one started well in Wijk aan Zee, then faded somewhat, ultimately finishing with a performance that exactly confirmed his Elo rating. Magnus Carlsen, Hikary Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana remain the top three, likewise without any change.

Although the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee was played almost entirely in January, it had not yet been completed when the February list was published and has only now been included in the evaluation.

Only marginally behind Abdusattorov was his compatriot Javokhir Sindarov, who gained 19 Elo points and jumped from 20^th to 12^th place. Jorden van Foreest did even slightly better. The Dutchman picked up 24 points and moved up to 19^th place with a rating of 2729. Van Foreest has recorded a noticeable upturn in form, which he attributes to adopting a more professional approach.

Even this rating gain, however, was surpassed by Aydin Suleymanli, who collected 25 points at the Azerbaijani Championship and in the Challengers tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The Azerbaijani player moves up to 61^st place in the world ranking.

Somewhat surprisingly, the leading Indian players all suffered losses in Wijk aan Zee. World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju slipped back to 10^th place with a moderate loss. Arjun Erigaisi dropped 30 points and seven places, while Praggnanandhaa lost 17 points and five places.

Matthias Bluebaum is also among last month's successful professionals. The German GM who will play in the Candidates Tournament crossed the 2700 mark at one stage. In the end, Bluebaum can be pleased with an additional 14 points and now lurks just below 2700 in 32^nd place in the world ranking.

The temporary return of Sergey Karjakin to the rating list caused some irritation. Since his suspension in 2022 for glorifying the war, Karjakin had not appeared in the ranking at all, most recently due to inactivity. He had apparently played a private match against an eight-year-old rated just over 1500 and suddenly reappeared in the FIDE ranking with a rating of 2750, ranked 10^th in the world.

Karjakin's appearance prompted mixed reactions.

Shortly afterwards, however, Karjakin disappeared from the list again. It appears to have been an error.

Top 100

Top 100 Women

There have been no changes up to 8^th place in the women's world ranking, as the top players were not in action anywhere. Bibisara Assaubayeva has moved up to 9^th place, having gained 19 points at the Challengers tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The US representative Carissa Yip picked up as many as 20 points and is now 14^th in the world.

The other two women in the Challengers tournament in Wijk, by contrast, suffered losses: Eline Roebers dropped 12 points and Lu Miaoyi dropped 9 points.

Top 100 Juniors

The world's top junior remains World Champion Gukesh, despite his slight rating loss. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus recorded significant gains following his strong performance in the Masters in Wijk aan Zee, as did Andy Woodward in the Challengers. Woodward moved up to 7^th place among the world's leading juniors.

Top 100 Female Juniors

In the list of the top young female players, Anna Shukhman and Lu Miaoyi have swapped places. Although the Russian did not play any games, she benefited from the Chinese player's rating losses in Wijk aan Zee. They are followed by Afruza Khamdamova, Alice Lee and, as the highest-ranked European, Eline Roebers.

As elsewhere, the ranking of the young female players once again shows lively movement, with many large Elo swings in both directions. In the upper half of the top 100, the 13-year-old Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini made the biggest leap, gaining 87 points. She also climbed 20 places and now occupies 13^th position.

Ratings at FIDE...