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FIDE Ratings Update — August 2016
The FIDE Ratings update for the month of August 2016 is out.
There are a lot of changes in the top 10, including MVL‘s jump from number 4 to number 2 after a 21 ELO rating points boost from 2798 to 2819. Let’s find out if he can keep his momentum in the upcoming Sinquefield Cup.
Ding Liren lost 23 ELO points after his loss in his mini match against Alexander Grischuk, among others, and thus slid down from number 8 to number 13.
Anish Giri and Sergey Karjakin lost ground as well after their dismal performances in Bilbao, and thus enabling Wesley So to gain control of the 7th spot.
You’ll find below the top 20 list:
FIDE Ratings Top 20 - August 2016
| Rk | Name | Ti. | Fed | Rtg | Gms | B-Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | g | NOR | 2857 | 10 | 1990 |
| 2 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | g | FRA | 2819 | 11 | 1990 |
| 3 | Kramnik, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2808 | 7 | 1975 |
| 4 | Caruana, Fabiano | g | USA | 2807 | 7 | 1992 |
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | g | ARM | 2792 | 0 | 1982 |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | g | USA | 2791 | 10 | 1987 |
| 7 | So, Wesley | g | USA | 2771 | 10 | 1993 |
| 8 | Anand, Viswanathan | g | IND | 2770 | 0 | 1969 |
| 9 | Giri, Anish | g | NED | 2769 | 10 | 1994 |
| 10 | Karjakin, Sergey | g | RUS | 2769 | 10 | 1990 |
| 11 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | g | AZE | 2764 | 0 | 1985 |
| 12 | Topalov, Veselin | g | BUL | 2761 | 0 | 1975 |
| 13 | Ding, Liren | g | CHN | 2755 | 16 | 1992 |
| 14 | Grischuk, Alexander | g | RUS | 2754 | 4 | 1983 |
| 15 | Li, Chao b | g | CHN | 2753 | 9 | 1989 |
| 16 | Harikrishna, P. | g | IND | 2752 | 13 | 1986 |
| 17 | Rapport, Richard | g | HUN | 2752 | 0 | 1996 |
| 18 | Svidler, Peter | g | RUS | 2751 | 4 | 1976 |
| 19 | Gelfand, Boris | g | ISR | 2743 | 6 | 1968 |
| 20 | Navara, David | g | CZE | 2742 | 7 | 1985 |
The Preview of the Sinquefield Cup 2016
The Grand Chess Tour 2016 continues with the third leg, the Sinquefield Cup, in Saint Louis in Missouri. Watch the preview video below:
Kramnik Out, Svidler In, in Sinquefield Cup 2016
The third leg of Grand Chess Tour 2016, the Singquefield Cup in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the United States, was scheduled to have Vladimir Kramnik among its list of strong participants. But apparently, he withdrew for health reasons. Chess.com:
Kramnik, who was going to make his debut in St. Louis, told Chess.com: “I have had back problems for quite some time already. Since it is getting worse, I just want to use this month to cure it.”
Signs of aging, eh? Nevertheless, Sinquefield Cup will make do without the World No. 3 (according to the live ratings) and carry on with Peter Svidler in his stead.
Thus, the lineup for the Sinquefield Cup 2016 follows:
Sinquefield Cup 2016 Participants
| Sd. | Name | Country | July Rtg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabiano Caruana | United States | 2810 |
| 2 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | France | 2798 |
| 3 | Levon Aronian | Armenia | 2792 |
| 4 | Hikaru Nakamura | United States | 2787 |
| 5 | Anish Giri | Netherlands | 2785 |
| 6 | Ding Liren | China | 2778 |
| 7 | Wesley So | United States | 2770 |
| 8 | Viswanathan Anand | India | 2770 |
| 9 | Veselin Topalov | Bulgaria | 2761 |
| 10 | Peter Svidler | Russia | 2759 |
Alexander Grischuk Beats Ding Liren in a Mini Match
From 19th to 22nd July the Chinese number one Ding Liren, with a rating of 2778 currently number eight in the world, and Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, with a rating of 2747 currently number 18 in the world, played a four-game match in Wenzhou, China. Grischuk won the first game from a worse position and Ding Liren did not manage to equalise the score in the following three games. Grischuk won the match 2.5-1.5.
It seems like mini-matches are a thing right now. In May, Ding Liren played Wesley So in a 4-game mini-match as well. Then, more recently, there was the Biel Chess Festival 2016 and Gelfand vs Inarkiev Match 2016.
See the Grischuk vs. Liren match games below: [replay]
FIDE Ratings List July 2016
The FIDE Ratings List updated for July 2016 is here. Check out the top 20 in the table below.
FIDE Ratings Top 20--July 2016
| Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2855 | 0 |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2812 | 0 |
| 3 | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2810 | 9 |
| 4 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2798 | 10 |
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2792 | 0 |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2787 | 0 |
| 7 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2785 | 9 |
| 8 | Ding, Liren | CHN | 2778 | 3 |
| 9 | Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2773 | 9 |
| 10 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2770 | 0 |
| 11 | So, Wesley | USA | 2770 | 0 |
| 12 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2764 | 12 |
| 13 | Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2761 | 0 |
| 14 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2759 | 0 |
| 15 | Li, Chao b | CHN | 2758 | 0 |
| 16 | Harikrishna, P. | IND | 2755 | 9 |
| 17 | Rapport, Richard | HUN | 2752 | 13 |
| 18 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2747 | 0 |
| 19 | Navara, David | CZE | 2745 | 19 |
| 20 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2737 | 9 |
June 2016 FIDE Ratings List
No doubt, the reigning world champion is still on top with 2855, up 4 points from last month. But Vladimir Kramnik, from last month’s 2801, gained 11 more ELO points to take the second spot from Fabiano Caruana for this month’s official FIDE Ratings List June 2016.
Wesley So, although lost 5 points by virtue of his game 3 loss to Ding Liren, is still at No. 10, but now tied with Vishy Anand.
Here’s the current top 20 in the world:
| Rk | Name | Fed | Rtg | Gms | B-Year |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2855 | 9 | 1990 |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2812 | 14 | 1975 |
| 3 | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2804 | 0 | 1992 |
| 4 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2792 | 9 | 1982 |
| 5 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2789 | 10 | 1990 |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2787 | 0 | 1987 |
| 7 | Ding, Liren | CHN | 2783 | 4 | 1992 |
| 8 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2782 | 9 | 1994 |
| 9 | Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2774 | 3 | 1990 |
| 10 | So, Wesley | USA | 2770 | 4 | 1993 |
| 11 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2770 | 0 | 1969 |
| 12 | Harikrishna, P. | IND | 2764 | 9 | 1986 |
| 13 | Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2761 | 9 | 1975 |
| 14 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2759 | 7 | 1976 |
| 15 | Li, Chao b | CHN | 2758 | 9 | 1989 |
| 16 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2751 | 9 | 1983 |
| 17 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2747 | 8 | 1983 |
| 18 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2746 | 9 | 1985 |
| 19 | Navara, David | CZE | 2744 | 11 | 1985 |
| 20 | Andreikin, Dmitry | RUS | 2743 | 9 | 1990 |
Chessbase lists the complete top 100 and discusses about the top climbers and descenders in the list, among others.
Ding Liren Inches Up Two Spots in the Live Ratings
After defeating Wesley So in the 2016 China-USA Chess Grandmaster Summit, Chinese GM Ding Liren advanced to spots in the Live Ratings as of today, May 12th, 2016.
Apparently, that event was rated.
Final Result: The 2016 China-USA Chess Grandmaster Summit
It can be recalled that the first two games ended in draws.
In the third match, someone indeed drew blood.
Playing as white, GM Ding Liren of China defeated GM Wesley So of USA in a Queen’s Gambit Declined in Game 3 of the 2016 China-USA Chess Grandmaster Summit.
The match continued with the final game — Game 4 — which ended in the third draw.
Thus, the match stood at 2.5-1.5 in favor of the Chinese Ding Liren.