July 2009 FIDE ratings: Topalov leads, Anand second

7/1/2009 – Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov has gained one point from ten games to retain his top ranking in the FIDE list, 25 point ahead of reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand. In third place we find Magnus Carlsen, the 18-year-old GM from Norway. The biggest fall – once again – was by Vassily Ivanchuk, who shed 43 points. Top rankings and statistics.

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FIDE July 2009 Rating List

GM Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria has held the top slot, gaining one point from ten games. World Champion Viswanathan Anand gained five points to finish just 12 points shy of the 2800 mark. Anand is 25 point behind the leader. Norwegian wonder-GM Magnus Carlsen is 16 point behind Anand, while Armenian GM Levon Aronian has advanced to place four in the world. Steadly climbing is Russian GM Dmitry Jakovenko in place five, just ahead of perennials Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko. The big winners and losers are given at the end of this table.

FIDE July 1st 2009 – Top 100 Players

Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
 1 Topalov, Veselin  g  BUL  2813  10  1975
 2 Anand, Viswanathan  g  IND  2788  2  1969
 3 Carlsen, Magnus  g  NOR  2772  12  1990
 4 Aronian, Levon  g  ARM  2768  13  1982
 5 Jakovenko, Dmitry  g  RUS  2760  15  1983
 6 Kramnik, Vladimir  g  RUS  2759  0  1975
 7 Leko, Peter  g  HUN  2756  13  1979
 8 Radjabov, Teimour  g  AZE  2756  0  1987
 9 Gelfand, Boris  g  ISR  2755  27  1968
 10 Morozevich, Alexander  g  RUS  2751  0  1977
 11 Gashimov, Vugar  g  AZE  2740  9  1986
 12 Svidler, Peter  g  RUS  2739  36  1976
 13 Wang, Yue  g  CHN  2736  10  1987
 14 Grischuk, Alexander  g  RUS  2733  20  1983
 15 Shirov, Alexei  g  ESP  2732  38  1972
 16 Ponomariov, Ruslan  g  UKR  2727  3  1983
 17 Bacrot, Etienne  g  FRA  2721  32  1983
 18 Kamsky, Gata  g  USA  2717  22  1974
 19 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  g  AZE  2717  17  1985
 20 Karjakin, Sergey  g  UKR  2717  13  1990
 21 Eljanov, Pavel  g  UKR  2716  44  1983
 22 Movsesian, Sergei  g  SVK  2716  31  1978
 23 Dominguez Perez, Leinier  g  CUB  2716  10  1983
 24 Alekseev, Evgeny  g  RUS  2714  20  1985
 25 Akopian, Vladimir  g  ARM  2712  13  1971
 26 Nakamura, Hikaru  g  USA  2710  35  1987
 27 Motylev, Alexander  g  RUS  2710  16  1979
 28 Malakhov, Vladimir  g  RUS  2707  7  1980
 29 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime  g  FRA  2703  31  1990
 30 Ivanchuk, Vassily  g  UKR  2703  30  1969
 31 Rublevsky, Sergei  g  RUS  2703  16  1974
 32 Bu, Xiangzhi  g  CHN  2702  11  1985
 33 Ni, Hua  g  CHN  2701  17  1983
 34 Onischuk, Alexander  g  USA  2699  34  1975
 35 Adams, Michael  g  ENG  2699  7  1971
 36 Naiditsch, Arkadij  g  GER  2697  41  1985
 37 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij  g  UKR  2696  29  1978
 38 Vallejo Pons, Francisco  g  ESP  2693  7  1982
 39 Wang, Hao  g  CHN  2690  38  1989
 40 Bologan, Viktor  g  MDA  2689  12  1971
 41 Tomashevsky, Evgeny  g  RUS  2689  6  1987
 42 Navara, David  g  CZE  2687  19  1985
 43 Polgar, Judit  g  HUN  2687  1  1976
 44 Short, Nigel D  g  ENG  2684  14  1965
 45 Jobava, Baadur  g  GEO  2684  2  1983
 46 Almasi, Zoltan  g  HUN  2684  1  1976
 47 Moiseenko, Alexander  g  UKR  2682  9  1980
 48 Timofeev, Artyom  g  RUS  2681  7  1985
 49 Vitiugov, Nikita  g  RUS  2681  6  1987
 50 Nielsen, Peter Heine  g  DEN  2680  17  1973
 51 Harikrishna, P.  g  IND  2679  24  1986
 52 Volokitin, Andrei  g  UKR  2678  14  1986
 53 Cheparinov, Ivan  g  BUL  2678  0  1986
 54 Sutovsky, Emil  g  ISR  2675  27  1977
 55 Inarkiev, Ernesto  g  RUS  2675  15  1985
 56 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter  g  ROU  2675  10  1976
 57 Tiviakov, Sergei  g  NED  2674  34  1973
 58 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam  g  UZB  2672  29  1979
 59 Caruana, Fabiano  g  ITA  2670  25  1992
 60 Grachev, Boris  g  RUS  2669  19  1986
 61 Sasikiran, Krishnan  g  IND  2669  18  1981
 62 Kurnosov, Igor  g  RUS  2669  13  1985
 63 Fressinet, Laurent  g  FRA  2667  28  1981
 64 Sargissian, Gabriel  g  ARM  2667  18  1983
 65 Fridman, Daniel  g  GER  2665  23  1976
 66 Guseinov, Gadir  g  AZE  2664  9  1986
 67 Najer, Evgeniy  g  RUS  2663  26  1977
 68 Beliavsky, Alexander G  g  SLO  2662  23  1953
 69 Dreev, Alexey  g  RUS  2660  15  1969
 70 Milov, Vadim  g  SUI  2659  2  1972
 71 Roiz, Michael  g  ISR  2658  31  1983
 72 Meier, Georg  g  GER  2658  21  1987
 73 Socko, Bartosz  g  POL  2656  30  1978
 74 Fedorchuk, Sergey A.  g  UKR  2655  41  1981
 75 Landa, Konstantin  g  RUS  2655  33  1972
 76 Van Wely, Loek  g  NED  2655  33  1972
 77 Sokolov, Ivan  g  BIH  2655  32  1968
 78 Efimenko, Zahar  g  UKR  2654  30  1985
 79 Tregubov, Pavel V.  g  RUS  2652  30  1971
 80 Areshchenko, Alexander  g  UKR  2651  40  1986
 81 Tkachiev, Vladislav  g  FRA  2650  17  1973
 82 Smirin, Ilia  g  ISR  2650  15  1968
 83 Savchenko, Boris  g  RUS  2650  12  1986
 84 Pashikian, Arman  g  ARM  2650  2  1987
 85 Shulman, Yuri  g  USA  2648  34  1975
 86 Andreikin, Dmitry  g  RUS  2648  20  1990
 87 Lastin, Alexander  g  RUS  2648  16  1976
 88 Postny, Evgeny  g  ISR  2647  33  1981
 89 Granda Zuniga, Julio E  g  PER  2647  26  1967
 90 Berkes, Ferenc  g  HUN  2647  20  1985
 91 Riazantsev, Alexander  g  RUS  2647  16  1985
 92 So, Wesley  g  PHI  2646  22  1993
 93 Seirawan, Yasser  g  USA  2646  4  1960
 94 Georgiev, Kiril  g  BUL  2645  18  1965
 95 Kobalia, Mikhail  g  RUS  2645  0  1978
 96 Mamedov, Rauf  g  AZE  2645  0  1988
 97 Predojevic, Borki  g  BIH  2644  30  1987
 98 Karpov, Anatoly  g  RUS  2644  0  1951
 99 Amonatov, Farrukh  g  TJK  2641  24  1978
 100 Avrukh, Boris  g  ISR  2641  13  1978

The big winners at the top are (first two columns are their rankings):

Jul09 Jan09  Player
 Nat.
 rating
gain 
 4   6  Aronian, Levon  ARM
2768
   +14
 9   15  Gelfand, Boris  ISR
2755
   +22
 12   18  Svidler, Peter  RUS
2739
   +13
 21   36  Eljanov, Pavel  UKR
2716
   +23
 25   34  Akopian, Vladimir  ARM
2712
   +16
 27   52  Motylev, Alexander  RUS
2710
   +33
 29   47  Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime  FRA
2703
   +19
 34   45  Onischuk, Alexander  USA
2699
   +15
 37   50  Miroshnichenko, Evgenij  UKR
2696
   +16
 42   74  Navara, David  CZE
2687
   +33
 50   61  Nielsen, Peter Heine  DEN
2680
   +12
 54   64  Sutovsky, Emil  ISR
2675
   +15
 59   78  Caruana, Fabiano  ITA
2670
   +21
 60   75  Grachev, Boris  RUS
2669
   +17
 62   67  Kurnosov, Igor  RUS
2669
   +11
 65   83  Fridman, Daniel  GER
2665
   +19
 68   91  Beliavsky, Alexander G  SLO
2662
   +22
 71   100  Roiz, Michael  ISR
2658
   +23
 72   88  Meier, Georg  GER
2658
   +17
 73   95  Socko, Bartosz  POL
2656
   +19
 91   98  Riazantsev, Alexander  RUS
2647
   +12

The biggest fall, for the second time in a row, was by Vassily Ivanchuk, who dropped 43 points (he decended by 33 in the previous list). But of course his brilliant win in the recent Bazna tournament will once again push him up the rankings to a place more appropriate to his abilities.

Jul09 Jan09  Player  Nat.
 rating
  loss 
 14   10  Grischuk, Alexander  RUS
2733
   -15
 15   13  Shirov, Alexei  ESP
2732
   -13
 22   11  Movsesian, Sergei  SVK
2716
   -31
 30   12  Ivanchuk, Vassily  UKR
2703
   -43
 33   21  Ni, Hua  CHN
2701
   -23
 57   32  Tiviakov, Sergei  NED
2674
   -23
 58   35  Kasimdzhanov, Rustam  UZB
2672
   -23
 77   58  Sokolov, Ivan  BIH
2655
   -14
 78   49  Efimenko, Zahar  UKR
2654
   -28

FIDE Top 100 Women July 2009

Of course Judit Polgar still leads, but the margin to the second-highest rated femal player in history, Koneru Humpy, has dwindled to 64 points. Chinese super-talent Hou Yifan is third, well ahead of the rest of the field.

Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
 1 Polgar, Judit  g  HUN  2687  1  1976
 2 Koneru, Humpy  g  IND  2623  11  1987
 3 Hou, Yifan  g  CHN  2584  21  1994
 4 Zhao, Xue  g  CHN  2544  18  1985
 5 Muzychuk, Anna  m  SLO  2542  14  1990
 6 Kosintseva, Tatiana  m  RUS  2539  7  1986
 7 Dzagnidze, Nana  g  GEO  2536  9  1987
 8 Stefanova, Antoaneta  g  BUL  2535  8  1979
 9 Sebag, Marie  g  FRA  2531  14  1986
 10 Cramling, Pia  g  SWE  2525  5  1963
 11 Kosteniuk, Alexandra  g  RUS  2516  0  1984
 12 Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan  g  SCO  2506  12  1968
 13 Chiburdanidze, Maia  g  GEO  2506  0  1961
 14 Danielian, Elina  m  ARM  2502  2  1978
 15 Pogonina, Natalija  wg  RUS  2501  6  1985
 16 Hoang Thanh Trang  g  HUN  2501  5  1980
 17 Ruan, Lufei  wg  CHN  2486  11  1987
 18 Xu, Yuhua  g  CHN  2485  7  1976
 19 Kosintseva, Nadezhda  m  RUS  2482  6  1985
 20 Lahno, Kateryna  g  UKR  2481  7  1989
 21 Ushenina, Anna  m  UKR  2477  7  1985
 22 Paehtz, Elisabeth  m  GER  2474  20  1985
 23 Zhu, Chen  g  QAT  2473  11  1976
 24 Cmilyte, Viktorija  m  LTU  2470  39  1983
 25 Javakhishvili, Lela  m  GEO  2470  9  1984
 26 Mkrtchian, Lilit  m  ARM  2467  9  1982
 27 Zatonskih, Anna  m  USA  2466  16  1978
 28 Dembo, Yelena  m  GRE  2466  0  1983
 29 Qin, Kanying  wg  CHN  2466  0  1974
 30 Zhukova, Natalia  wg  UKR  2465  7  1979
 31 Krush, Irina  m  USA  2458  13  1983
 32 Shen, Yang  wg  CHN  2453  22  1989
 33 Hunt, Harriet V  m  ENG  2452  2  1978
 34 Tairova, Elena  m  RUS  2450  19  1991
 35 Skripchenko, Almira  m  FRA  2450  14  1976
 36 Socko, Monika  g  POL  2449  9  1978
 37 Rajlich, Iweta  m  POL  2448  8  1981
 38 Korbut, Ekaterina  m  RUS  2448  0  1985
 39 Romanko, Marina  m  RUS  2447  19  1986
 40 Ovod, Evgenija  m  RUS  2447  6  1982
 41 Harika, Dronavalli  m  IND  2445  31  1991
 42 Ju, Wenjun    CHN  2443  33  1991
 43 Muzychuk, Mariya  m  UKR  2441  18  1992
 44 Melia, Salome  m  GEO  2441  9  1987
 45 Gunina, Valentina  wf  RUS  2437  34  1989
 46 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina  m  RUS  2437  18  1974
 47 Tan, Zhongyi    CHN  2435  22  1991
 48 Atalik, Ekaterina  m  TUR  2434  0  1982
 49 Moser, Eva  m  AUT  2431  26  1982
 50 Khukhashvili, Sopiko  m  GEO  2430  9  1985
 51 Bojkovic, Natasa  m  SRB  2429  6  1971
 52 Gaponenko, Inna  m  UKR  2428  18  1976
 53 Repkova, Eva  m  SVK  2428  5  1975
 54 Lomineishvili, Maia  m  GEO  2427  9  1977
 55 Huang, Qian  wg  CHN  2424  22  1986
 56 Foisor, Cristina-Adela  m  ROU  2424  15  1967
 57 Li, Ruofan  wg  SIN  2423  0  1978
 58 Vasilevich, Tatjana  m  UKR  2420  24  1977
 59 Khurtsidze, Nino  m  GEO  2418  8  1975
 60 Peng, Zhaoqin  g  NED  2418  7  1968
 61 Matnadze, Ana  m  GEO  2413  27  1983
 62 Stockova, Zuzana  m  SVK  2413  9  1977
 63 Munguntuul, Batkhuyag  wg  MGL  2412  36  1987
 64 Zdebskaja, Natalia  wg  UKR  2412  32  1986
 65 Tania, Sachdev  m  IND  2410  31  1986
 66 Maric, Alisa  m  SRB  2407  0  1970
 67 Kovanova, Baira  wg  RUS  2406  15  1987
 68 Khotenashvili, Bela  wg  GEO  2402  9  1988
 69 Jackova, Jana  m  CZE  2396  16  1982
 70 Fierro Baquero, Martha L.  m  ECU  2394  14  1977
 71 Houska, Jovanka  m  ENG  2392  5  1980
 72 Peptan, Corina-Isabela  m  ROU  2392  0  1978
 73 Zhang, Xiaowen  wm  CHN  2391  33  1989
 74 Matveeva, Svetlana  m  RUS  2391  16  1969
 75 Goletiani, Rusudan  wg  USA  2391  0  1980
 76 Cori T., Deysi  wm  PER  2390  50  1993
 77 Zaiatz, Elena  m  RUS  2390  15  1969
 78 Milliet, Sophie  m  FRA  2388  11  1983
 79 Alexandrova, Olga  m  ESP  2388  9  1978
 80 Bodnaruk, Anastasia  wg  RUS  2388  6  1992
 81 Turova, Irina  m  RUS  2387  24  1979
 82 Zawadzka, Jolanta  wg  POL  2387  9  1987
 83 Karavade, Eesha  wg  IND  2386  28  1987
 84 Madl, Ildiko  m  HUN  2386  27  1969
 85 Borsuk, Angela  m  ISR  2385  0  1967
 86 Shadrina, Tatiana  wg  RUS  2384  14  1974
 87 Savina, Anastasia    RUS  2382  42  1992
 88 Majdan, Joanna  wg  POL  2382  0  1988
 89 Pokorna, Regina  wg  SVK  2381  27  1982
 90 Wang, Yu A.  m  CHN  2380  22  1982
 91 Michna, Marta  wg  GER  2379  18  1978
 92 Demina, Julia  wg  RUS  2378  12  1969
 93 Sergeyeva, Mariya  wg  KAZ  2377  0  1983
 94 Vajda, Szidonia  m  HUN  2375  13  1979
 95 Stepovaia, Tatiana  wg  RUS  2370  9  1965
 96 Iljushina, Olga  wm  RUS  2366  16  1981
 97 Tsereteli, Tamar  wg  GEO  2365  0  1985
 98 Purtseladze, Maka  m  GEO  2362  8  1988
 99 Lanchava, Tea  m  NED  2360  4  1974
 100 Djingarova, Emilia  wg  BUL  2359  25  1978

FIDE Top 20 Juniors July 2009

Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen leads clearly, followed by his Ukrainian "twin" Sergey Karjakin and the very interesting young GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who is now firmly entrenched as France's second strongest player (behind Etienne Bacrot). We also have a keen eye on Fabiano Caruana, who has climbed 21 points from the last list. Note that Hou Yifan, the strongest girl in the world, is no longer amongst the top 20 of the Juniors' list.

Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
 1 Carlsen, Magnus  g  NOR  2772  12  1990
 2 Karjakin, Sergey  g  UKR  2717  13  1990
 3 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime  g  FRA  2703  31  1990
 4 Wang, Hao  g  CHN  2690  38  1989
 5 Caruana, Fabiano  g  ITA  2670  25  1992
 6 Andreikin, Dmitry  g  RUS  2648  20  1990
 7 So, Wesley  g  PHI  2646  22  1993
 8 Kuzubov, Yuriy  g  UKR  2635  19  1990
 9 Li, Chao b  g  CHN  2634  22  1989
 10 Nepomniachtchi, Ian  g  RUS  2632  15  1990
 11 Rodshtein, Maxim  g  ISR  2623  11  1989
 12 Zhigalko, Sergei  g  BLR  2621  9  1989
 13 Howell, David W L  g  ENG  2614  5  1990
 14 Khairullin, Ildar  g  RUS  2602  17  1990
 15 Le, Quang Liem  g  VIE  2602  11  1991
 16 Edouard, Romain  g  FRA  2597  26  1990
 17 Safarli, Eltaj  g  AZE  2597  9  1992
 18 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son  g  VIE  2592  20  1990
 19 Negi, Parimarjan  g  IND  2590  31  1993
 20 Sjugirov, Sanan  g  RUS  2590  19  1993

FIDE Top 20 Girls July 2009

GM Hou Yifan of China, 15, still leads, more than 40 points ahead of IM Anna Muzychuk, and 100 ahead of GM Kateryna Lahno, who recently married GM Robert Fontaine.

Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
 1 Hou, Yifan  g  CHN  2584  21  1994
 2 Muzychuk, Anna  m  SLO  2542  14  1990
 3 Lahno, Kateryna  g  UKR  2481  7  1989
 4 Shen, Yang  wg  CHN  2453  22  1989
 5 Tairova, Elena  m  RUS  2450  19  1991
 6 Harika, Dronavalli  m  IND  2445  31  1991
 7 Ju, Wenjun    CHN  2443  33  1991
 8 Muzychuk, Mariya  m  UKR  2441  18  1992
 9 Gunina, Valentina  wf  RUS  2437  34  1989
 10 Tan, Zhongyi    CHN  2435  22  1991
 11 Zhang, Xiaowen  wm  CHN  2391  33  1989
 12 Cori T., Deysi  wm  PER  2390  50  1993
 13 Bodnaruk, Anastasia  wg  RUS  2388  6  1992
 14 Savina, Anastasia    RUS  2382  42  1992
 15 Kashlinskaya, Alina  wg  RUS  2346  24  1993
 16 Ding, Yixin  wf  CHN  2343  33  1991
 17 Vojinovic, Jovana  wm  MNE  2341  9  1992
 18 Severiukhina, Zoja  wm  RUS  2340  19  1990
 19 Guramishvili, Sopiko  wg  GEO  2339  26  1991
 20 Gomes, Mary Ann  wg  IND  2332  0  1989

Lists and data by courtesy of FIDE

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The strongest chess boom in Iran, ever

2/3/2019 – Prior to 2018, there were few world-class chess tournaments dominated by Iranian players — just the odd youth championship. Now Iran is climbing the list of the top countries in the world — currently at number 25, with the average rating of the top ten players rising by the month. The country's 15 GMs, 23 IMs, and 125 total titled players obscures the fact that among the top ten, only two were born before 1995. SHAHROKH MOJTABAEI takes a look at the recent history. | Pictured: Coach Ivan Sokolov with Masoud Mosadeghpour, Alireza Firouzja, Parham Maghsoodloo, Pouya Idani, Seyed Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei | Photo: Iranian Chess Federation
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See also

Tata Steel Chess - Round 13 Round-up

1/27/2019 – The 81st Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place from January 12th to 27th in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands (and two "on tour" locations). The "Masters" has an average Elo of 2753. The "Challengers" weighs in at 2582. Both are 14-player round-robin tournaments. Round-up show live at 20:00 UTC (21:00 CET, 3:00 PM EST) Live commentary by IMs Sopiko Guramishvili and GM Robert Hess from 12:30 UTC (13:30 CET, 7:30 am EST) | Photo: <a href="http://TataSteelChess.com">TataSteelChess.com</a>
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Video

The Botvinnik System in the English opening

The setup for White recommended by Valeri Lilov is solid and easy to play – the thematic moves are almost always the same ones: Nge2, 0-0, Bg5 (or Be3), Nd5, Qd2. Later, according to Black’s setup, things continue with f4 or even Rac1, b4 and play on the queenside. Starting with the classic Botvinnik-Spassky, Leiden 1970, the author describes this universally employable setup in 7 videos (+ intro and conclusion).

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