3/1/2020 – With the 2020 Candidates looming, there were few tournaments held in February to attract the world's top grandmasters, with two notable exceptions in Prague and Saint Louis. Alireze Firouzja (pictured) was the winner at the Prague Masters and Humpy Koneru took the second annual Cairns Cup. Gibraltar was also rated in February and provides the only change to the top 10: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave notched up one spot back to number eight, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov slips to the tenth position after withdrawing prematurely due to illness. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr

5/1/2019 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen has gained 40 Elo points in the 27 games of his last three tournaments. But the Grenke Chess Classic unfortunately did not make the cut-off for FIDE's May ratings. Still, at 2861 he's put considerable distance between himself and #2 Fabiano Caruana. Hou Yifan and Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun retain a huge lead in the Women's World rankings as the upcoming Candidates tournament for the next challenger is set to start at the end of May. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis