5/16/2020 – Online chess has become very popular in the last couple of years and more and more people participate and try to win games and achieve a higher rating. Rating matters so much that it can turn into an obsession. Ratings appear to represent the value of the person. We take a closer look at how the ego can become the curse of the rating system and how we feel about it.

2/27/2019 – Which are the commonest words in the English language, which are the most common girls' and boys' names? Today it is possible to calculate these things fairly easily, but it becomes really useful if you are able to present the results in a comprehensible way. Like with dynamic graphs and bubbling. This was done very nicely for historical chess strength in 2016 by Abacaba, a site that makes videos about data and math. Now a YouTube channel called TheRanker has published a 10-minute video visualisation tracking official FIDE ratings from 2000 to the present. It is informative, interesting and even relaxing to watch.

9/1/2017 – What a month it has been! Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was one of the most prominent names of the month, winning the Sinquefield Cup, and taking the no. 2 spot, and of course there was the return of Garry Kasparov, who joined the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz, and with it, his first rapid and blitz rating. Then there was Indian prodigy IM Praggnanandhaa who became the youngest ever with 2500, but the one result that overshadowed them all was Hou Yifan's historic win at Biel. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/27/2017 – How do you rate players from different periods? An AI researcher has undertaken to do it based not on the results of the games, but on the quality of the moves played. Jean-Marc Alliot used a strong chess engine running on a 640 processor cluster to analyse over two million positions that occurred in 26,000 games of World Champions since Steinitz. From this he produced a table of probable results between players of different eras. Example: Carlsen would have beaten Smyslov 57:43.

11/1/2016 – It was a busy month for the players, though less so than after Baku. This month the results for the Russian Championship, the Isle of Man, and the Tal Memorial were all computed. This brought Caruana to the no.2 spot at 2823, while Nepomniachtchi is at no.12 after his surprising win at the Tal Memorial. In the Women's list, Hou Yifan drop a few more points and 'only' 55 Elo ahead of the rest. Among the surprising results is Vladislav Artemiev who had two great blitz results and is now no.3 with 2850. Report, stats, and more.

10/1/2016 – What a month! There was no shortage of results with the Baku Olympiad taking place with players ranging from World Champion Magnus Carlsen to the lowliest amateur. It was a time to shine, and some players did just that to blinding extremes, such as Georgian Baadur Jobava's result good for 33 Elo, or Ukraine's Andrei Volokitin whose performance was almost beyond 3000! Vladimir Kramnik's gold medal result took him to a personal best of 2817 Elo and world no.2 once again. Here are the results, stats and more!

9/1/2016 – American chess fans had a lot to cheer about this last month with significant results all over the board. At the very top was Wesley So's sole win at the elite Sinquefield Cup in front of an all-star field, but his was not the only one. Sam Shankland followed up a strong result in Edmonton with a superb victory at the Biel Open, facing every top player in the field. Finally, one cannot forget young Jeffery Xiong who took the World Junior title by storm. These, and many more results are in the September ratings list report.

7/31/2016 – What can one say except 'Wow'? 25-year-old Frenchman Maxime Vachier Lagrave continues his run after a win at Dortmund and crushing win over Svidler to reach 2819 FIDE and rocket into the world no.2 spot. He will bring great momentum into the approaching Sinquefield Cup. Be sure to read about 15-year-old Iranian phenom Parham Maghsoodloo who gained 75 Elo and is now the top rated in his country. Report, stats, and more.

5/31/2016 – While one must take one's hat off to Vladimir Kramnik, back to 2812 and world no. 2, the most amazing result of the month was by Ernesto Inarkiev who racked up 43 Elo after a near 2900 performance over 17 games, including a smashing 9.0/11 win of the European Championship. A special note also of 15-year-old Polina Shuvalova, who had a breakthrough this year.

5/21/2016 – Contrary to some fields where controlled steady progress is the norm, chess is dominated more often than not by timely bursts forward preceded by periods of seeming stagnation. It can be tricky knowing when it is one or the other. Here is the tale of just such a leap forward, as well as tips and recommendations to help you make your big leap.

5/14/2016 – In his first article studying the ratings disparities of juniors compared to adults, Ganesh Viswanath had studied the causal factors that might be responsible. In this second article, he posits, "I find that on average juniors are statistically underrated by up to 50 Elo rating points against adult players, and this bias increases with the age difference." Here is his statistical study.

5/2/2016 – Since the Norway Chess event won by Carlsen failed to make the May 2016 ratings list, the tale of the list was unquestionably Fabiano Caruana's epic victory at the US Championship. He managed to not only out do his two Top 10 rivals Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So, but broke back into the 2800 club and regained the no. 2 spot. More...

4/10/2016 – An interesting phenomenon of the ELO rating system is that when examining game outcomes for a group of lower rated players, higher rated players tend to underperform relative to the theoretical ELO probability, and lower-rated players overperform. What are the causal factors explaining the inability of the ELO system to predict results? A study by Ganesh Viswanath.

4/8/2016 – There is always a certain fascination with comparisons between strengths of chess players. Who was the greatest of them all? Was Rubinstein in his day the equal of Korchnoi in his? Rod Edwards, Professor of Mathematics, has developed a rating theory based on a network of interactions between chess players over time. His results are remarkable, and a presentation made by youthful California programmer Cary Huang is truly mesmerizing.

3/31/2016 – The star of the newest ratings list is without question Sergey Karjakin, who gained 19 Elo after winning the Candidates Tournament with a point ahead. However, one should not discount the incredible result by Ding Liren who gained 140 Blitz Elo and is now world no.3. Also of note is the drop in 2700 players, now matching the number from 2010. Feast on the numbers!

2/29/2016 – France has been a top chess nation for some time now, with numerous players in the 2700 stratosphere, but Maxime Vachier Lagrave has set a new mark by climbing to the world no. 5 spot, the first player since Spassky, who emigrated there, or Alekhine himself. Naturally, one cannot overlook Magnus Carlsen's superb fifth win at Wijk aan Zee, reasserting his domination.

1/31/2016 – Although there was little action at the very top, since events like Tata Steel will only be rated in the next list, some payers managed special results of their own. Among them were Norwegian Jon Hammer and Israeli Maxim Rodshtein, who broke 2700 for their first time. Also of note was American Jeffery Xiong who is now the top US Junior. Lists, stats, and tables.

1/1/2016 – The headline might seem a tad obvious, but it should be noted that he is not only no. 1 in classical chess, he once more holds the no. 1 positions in rapid and blitz as well. Vladimir Kramnik regains the world no. 2 spot, and rejoins the 2800 club. However, a note should be made of Iranian FM Alireza Firouzja, who is 2455 and only 12 years old.

12/1/2015 – To say that Magnus Carlsen's year has been a flop would be an understatement. After a poor result in the European Team Championship, he has dropped to his lowest rating since 2011. On the flip side, Mariya Muzychuk, who has been envigorated by her win at the World Women Championship, has risen non-stop, and is now the world no. 3. Here are the numbers in all their glory.

10/31/2015 – There was no shortage of results this month, from classical chess in which 34 out of the Top 100 saw swings of at least 10 Elo, to the Rapid and Blitz ratings thanks to the recent World Championships. In classical chess, one of the most visible details was not just Eljanov's gain of 36 Elo and Kramnik's climb back to world no. 4, but that three of the top four players are at least 40 years old.

10/4/2015 – The latest ratings brought American Hikaru Nakamura to world no.2 making him the first American since Bobby Fischer to achieve it. It also marked the comeback of the great Armenian Levon Aronian, who interrupted his slump with a fantastic win at the Sinquefield Cup. Bear in mind the World Cup results are not included yet. In the meantime enjoy the numbers, stats, and results.

8/31/2015 – It was certainly a month for remarkable results, and the foremost will be untitled John M. Burke, born in 2001, who rises to 2601, breaking Wei Yi's record as youngest 2600 player ever, and is now the no.2 US Junior. Ding Liren continues to rise, and is now world no.7, the highest ranked Chinese ever, though none can beat Battsooj Amina, who went from beginner to master in four months.

8/1/2015 – After huge successes in his match against Gelfand, and in the Chinese League, Ding Liren became the second Chinese player ever to break into the Top Ten. This was bad for Levon Aronian who is now demoted to world no. 11. August also signaled a welcome return to form for Fabiano Caruana who is once more in the 2800 club. Still, don't miss the results of the amazing John Burke!

7/1/2015 – The talk can only be about those three players, in spite of Carlsen’s disastrous campaign in Norway, begging a comment. After sneaking past 2800, Nakamura stormed to 2814, a magnificent result, yet only good for world no.4! Incredibly, the 'old guard' shows they are not ready to retire as Anand comes at world no.2 with 2816, tied with Topalov, whose 2816 is a personal best at age 40!