Universal Rating System - URS

The seven completed rounds of the Candidates tournament were included for the April URS™ rating list in what was otherwise a very quiet month for the top players. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi were the main beneficiaries following their strong showing in the rounds that were completed. They have risen to number 3 and number 7 respectively as a result. GM Ding Liren had a rare poor outing however and has dropped to 4th position leaving GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura as the only two players rated above 2800 by the URS™.

The top 5 on the ladies list remained unchanged despite woman’s world champion GM Ju Wenjun dropping more than 40 places on the overall list. She remains in second place behind GM Hou Yifan who is now just outside the top 200 on the overall list. Alireza Firouzja continues to top the list of top junior players and there are now 4 juniors under the age of 20 who are ranked inside the top 100 by the URS™. The latest addition to this list is the young Russian star, GM Andrey Esipenko who entered the top 100 for the first time this month after recording another series of excellent results in local tournaments held in Russia.

This April list is likely to remain fairly stable for the next few months as most over the board tournaments have unfortunately been cancelled for the foreseeable future. It is our sincere hope that the global crisis will pass as soon as possible and that tournament chess around the world will resume again as soon as it is safe for this to happen. The ratings for April are published and can be found as usual at http://universalrating.com/ratings.php

GM Teimour Radjabov has surged up the URS™ ranking list and finds himself at a career high ranking of number 10 following his victory in the 2019 FIDE World Cup. This win also saw him qualify alongside GM Ding Liren for the 2019 candidates tournament. GM Aleksander Grischuk and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also benefited from deep runs at the event and have further improved their rankings within the top 10.

The Fischer Random World Championship ended on November 2nd in Norway and the results from the semi-finals and finals which were played over the board will be incorporated within the URS™ rating list next month. The new Fischer Random World Champion, GM Wesley So will no doubt be the main beneficiary from this event.

The vast majority of the top players will be playing actively in November with two GCT tournaments scheduled to be held in Bucharest and Kolkata. The FIDE Grand Prix event in Hamburg will also be important for the 16 top players who will start in this field.

The November URS™ ratings are published and can be accessed at http://universalrating.com/ratings.php

August was a very busy month and saw the results from the GCT events in Paris (Blitz), St Louis (Rapid & Blitz) and the Sinquefield Cup all taken into account. This has caused a number of noteworthy movements at amongst the elite players with GM Ding Liren assuming the number 2 ranking position after his 2nd place finish in the St Louis Rapid & Blitz as well as his breakthrough victory at the 2019 Sinquefield Cup.

The month was also very positive for another elite Chinese player as GM Yu Yangi has risen to 9th overall after recording excellent 2nd place finishes in both the St Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Belt & Road Open tournament in China. Other top players to record positive movements were GM Levon Aronian, GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Sergey Karjakin while GM’s Grischuk, Giri, Mamedyarov and Artemiev all slipped down the list by a few important places this month.

The ladies and junior lists were less busy this month and still see GM Hou Yifan, GM Wei Yi and IM Zhansaya Abdumalik at the top of their respective lists.

The September URS™ ratings are now published and can be accessed at http://universalrating.com/ratings.

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has assumed the number 2 spot on the URS rating list for August on the back of his score of 6.5/9 in the rapid portion of the Paris R&B tournament. He has hence relegated GM Hikaru Nakamura to third place for the first time since the first URS rating list were first published in March 2018. Hikaru has had a difficult 2-month period which has seen his rating impacted by his 12th place finish in Croatia as well as a first round exit in the Riga Grand Prix and a 7th place finish in Paris. The swop may be temporary as the blitz results from Paris are only due to be rated next month but the September rating list will also be impacted by the key results that are expected from the St Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup.

Two wildcards entrants in the Paris R&B event have also benefited from their strong performances and both GM Alexander Grischuk and GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda have seen their rankings advance as a result of their strong showings. GM Anish Giri on the other hand has fallen back slightly and now lies in 15th place overall.

A number of the top juniors continue to make strides forward and this month has seen GM Jeffery Xiong (USA) finally enter the top 100. Jeffery becomes the 4th player under the age of 20 to be ranked inside the top 100 and he currently stands behind GM Wei Yi (22nd), GM Alireza Firouzja (42nd) and GM Parham Maghsoodloo (52nd).

The August URS™ ratings are now published and can be accessed at http://universalrating.com/ratings.php