List of FIDE chess world number ones
A total of seven chess players have been the chess world number one on the official FIDE rating list since it was first published in July 1971.[1]
The first world number one, in July 1971, was Bobby Fischer. In January 1976 Anatoly Karpov became the highest-rated player on the FIDE list, FIDE having dropped Fischer (whose rating was higher than Karpov's) from the list due to inactivity. In January 1984, the third world number one was Garry Kasparov. Anatoly Karpov briefly held the world number one ranking in July 1985, and the fourth world number one, Vladimir Kramnik, briefly held the ranking in January 1996. Other than these two brief periods, Kasparov dominated for some 22 years from 1984 until his retirement from professional chess on 10 March 2005. In January 1990, he surpassed Fischer's peak of 2785 and became the first player ever to achieve a 2800 rating. In July 1999, he reached his peak rating, 2851. This was the highest FIDE rating in history until January 2013, when it was surpassed by Magnus Carlsen.
On Kasparov's retirement, the world number one ranking passed to Veselin Topalov, since Kasparov was removed from the rating list in April 2006 due to inactivity. In April 2007, Viswanathan Anand became the sixth player to top the rankings.[2] Kramnik briefly returned to the number one ranking in January 2008, but was again joint number one by rating, being placed first in the list due to having played more games in the rating period in question. For most of the period April 2007 to November 2009, the top ranking was held by either Anand or Topalov. The seventh and current world number one is Magnus Carlsen, who first achieved this ranking in the January 2010 list, and has been world number one since July 2011 after having lost and reclaimed the position from Anand during 2010 and 2011.
List of world number ones
The following is a list of the players ranked number one on the FIDE rating system since the first official list in July 1971, along with their ratings during the periods in question.
1971 to 2009
| Month | Name | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 July |  Bobby Fischer | 2760 |
| 1972 July | Bobby Fischer | 2785 |
| 1973 July | Bobby Fischer | 2780 |
| 1974 May | Bobby Fischer | 2780 |
| 1975 January | Bobby Fischer | 2780 |
| 1976 January | .svg.png){kind=small} Anatoly Karpov | 2695 |
| 1977 January | Anatoly Karpov | 2690 |
| 1978 January | Anatoly Karpov | 2725 |
| 1978 July | supplementary list | |
| 1979 January | Anatoly Karpov | 2705 |
| 1979 July | supplementary list | |
| 1980 January | Anatoly Karpov | 2725 |
| 1980 July | supplementary list | |
| 1981 January |  Anatoly Karpov | 2690 |
| 1981 July | Anatoly Karpov | 2690 |
| 1982 January | Anatoly Karpov | 2700 |
| 1982 July | Anatoly Karpov | 2700 |
| 1983 January | Anatoly Karpov | 2710 |
| 1983 July | Anatoly Karpov | 2710 |
| 1984 January | Garry Kasparov | 2710 |
| 1984 July | Garry Kasparov | 2715 |
| 1985 January | Garry Kasparov | 2715 |
| 1985 July | Anatoly Karpov | 2720 |
| 1986 January | Garry Kasparov | 2720 |
| 1986 July | Garry Kasparov | 2740 |
| 1987 January | Garry Kasparov | 2735 |
| 1987 July | Garry Kasparov | 2740 |
| 1988 January | Garry Kasparov | 2750 |
| 1988 July | Garry Kasparov | 2760 |
| 1989 January | Garry Kasparov | 2775 |
| 1989 July | Garry Kasparov | 2775 |
| 1990 January | Garry Kasparov | 2800 |
| 1990 July | Garry Kasparov | 2800 |
| 1991 January | Garry Kasparov | 2800 |
| 1991 July | Garry Kasparov | 2770 |
| 1992 January | .svg.png){kind=small} Garry Kasparov | 2780 |
| 1992 July | Garry Kasparov | 2790 |
| 1993 January | Garry Kasparov | 2805 |
| 1993 July | Garry Kasparov | 2815 |
| 1994 January |  Garry Kasparov | 2815 |
| 1994 July | Garry Kasparov | 2815 |
| 1995 January | Garry Kasparov | 2805 |
| 1995 July | Garry Kasparov | 2795 |
| 1996 January | Vladimir Kramnik | 2775 |
| 1996 July | Garry Kasparov | 2785 |
| 1997 January | Garry Kasparov | 2795 |
| 1997 July | Garry Kasparov | 2820 |
| 1998 January | Garry Kasparov | 2825 |
| 1998 July | Garry Kasparov | 2815 |
| 1999 January | Garry Kasparov | 2812 |
| 1999 July | Garry Kasparov | 2851 |
| 2000 January | Garry Kasparov | 2851 |
| 2000 July | Garry Kasparov | 2849 |
| 2000 October | Garry Kasparov | 2849 |
| 2001 January | Garry Kasparov | 2849 |
| 2001 April | Garry Kasparov | 2827 |
| 2001 July | Garry Kasparov | 2838 |
| 2001 October | Garry Kasparov | 2838 |
| 2002 January | Garry Kasparov | 2838 |
| 2002 April | Garry Kasparov | 2838 |
| 2002 July | Garry Kasparov | 2838 |
| 2002 October | Garry Kasparov | 2836 |
| 2003 January | Garry Kasparov | 2847 |
| 2003 April | Garry Kasparov | 2830 |
| 2003 July | Garry Kasparov | 2830 |
| 2003 October | Garry Kasparov | 2830 |
| 2004 January | Garry Kasparov | 2831 |
| 2004 April | Garry Kasparov | 2817 |
| 2004 July | Garry Kasparov | 2817 |
| 2004 October | Garry Kasparov | 2813 |
| 2005 January | Garry Kasparov | 2804 |
| 2005 April | Garry Kasparov | 2812 |
| 2005 July | Garry Kasparov | 2812 |
| 2005 October | Garry Kasparov | 2812 |
| 2006 January | Garry Kasparov | 2812 |
| 2006 April |  Veselin Topalov | 2804 |
| 2006 July | Veselin Topalov | 2813 |
| 2006 October | Veselin Topalov | 2813 |
| 2007 January | Veselin Topalov | 2783 |
| 2007 April |  Viswanathan Anand | 2786 |
| 2007 July | Viswanathan Anand | 2792 |
| 2007 October | Viswanathan Anand | 2801 |
| 2008 January | Vladimir Kramnik | 2799 |
| 2008 April | Viswanathan Anand | 2803 |
| 2008 July | Viswanathan Anand | 2798 |
| 2008 October | Veselin Topalov | 2791 |
| 2009 January | Veselin Topalov | 2796 |
| 2009 April | Veselin Topalov | 2812 |
| 2009 July | Veselin Topalov | 2813 |
| 2009 September | Veselin Topalov | 2813 |
| 2009 November | Veselin Topalov | 2810 |
| 2010 January |  Magnus Carlsen | 2810 |
2010 to present
| Year | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Carlsen (2810) | Carlsen (2813) | Carlsen (2813) | Carlsen (2826) | Carlsen (2826) | Anand (2817) | ||||||
| 2011 | Carlsen (2814) | Anand (2817) | Anand (2817) | Carlsen (2821) | Carlsen (2823) | Carlsen (2826) | ||||||
| 2012 | Carlsen (2835) | Carlsen (2835) | Carlsen (2835) | Carlsen (2837) | Carlsen (2837) | Carlsen (2843) | Carlsen (2843) | Carlsen (2848) | Carlsen (2848) | |||
| 2013 | Carlsen (2861) | Carlsen (2872) | Carlsen (2872) | Carlsen (2872) | Carlsen (2868) | Carlsen (2864) | Carlsen (2862) | Carlsen (2862) | Carlsen (2862) | Carlsen (2870) | Carlsen (2870) | Carlsen (2872) |
| 2014 | Carlsen (2872) | Carlsen (2872) | Carlsen (2881) | Carlsen (2881) | Carlsen (2882) | Carlsen (2881) | Carlsen (2877) | Carlsen (2877) | Carlsen (2870) | Carlsen (2863) | Carlsen (2863) | Carlsen (2862) |
| 2015 | Carlsen (2862) | Carlsen (2865) | Carlsen (2863) | |||||||||
Publication details
There were unofficial lists in 1964, 1969, 1970 and January 1971, as the Elo rating system was first introduced.
From 1971 to 1980, there was one main rating list published each year (for a total of 10), initially published in July from 1971 to 1973, then once in May (1974), before switching to annual publication in January from 1975 to 1980 (in this period, some supplements and amendments were also published).
From 1981 to July 2000, two lists per year were published, in January and July (for a total of 39 lists). In July 2000, the publication schedule was increased to four times a year (January, April, July, October) operating from July 2000 to July 2009 (for a total of 36 lists). In July 2009, the publication schedule was increased again, to six times a year (January, March, May, July, September, November) operating from July 2009 to July 2012 (for a total of 18 lists). In July 2012 the publication schedule was increased again to the current monthly schedule.
Publication of the rating lists in the 1970s and 1980s was in Chess Informant and other chess publications. The number of games played by individuals during the rating period was added to the lists from July 1985 onwards. Player ID numbers were used from January 1990. From January 1999, the practice of rounding to the nearest five Elo points was discontinued, and ratings were then rounded to the nearest Elo point for publication. From July 2000 onwards, the ratings are available from the FIDE website.[3]
In January 2010 former World Champion Boris Spassky criticized the current emphasis on ratings rather than World Champions.[4] Although Spassky was World Champion during the inception of the FIDE rankings in 1971, he never became the number-one rated player in the world; since July 1971 he and Vladimir Kramnik are the only undisputed World Champions to never become ranked world number-one during their tenure as champions.
Player statistics
As of January 2014, seven players have held the world number one ranking over a period of 42 years and seven months, encompassing 121 rating lists. These seven players include six undisputed world chess champions, with Topalov being the only player to achieve the number one ranking without becoming undisputed world champion, though he was FIDE world champion from 2005 to 2006, and is still an active player. Kramnik and Spassky are the only world champions in the period in question to never have been world number one while being champion.
Fischer was top of the lists successively five times over a period of 4.5 years, though he is considered to have already become the number one player in the world before the official list started, as he topped the unofficial list in 1970. Karpov topped the list 12 times, successively 11 times over a period of 8 years, and once for 6 months. Kasparov has been world number one on the official list a record 54 times over a period of 22 years, and a record 31 times successively over nearly a decade from July 1996 to January 2006; he was number one 3 times successively over 1.5 years, then 20 times successively over 10 years, then finally 31 times over 9 years and 9 months. Kramnik was world number one 2 times (for 6 and 3 months), for a total of 9 months. Topalov has been world number one successively 4 and 6 times (a total of 10 times), for 12 months and 15 months respectively (for a total of 27 months). Anand has been world number one successively 2 and 3 times (a total of 5 times), for 6 months and 9 months respectively (for a total of 15 months).
| Player | Months at No. 1 | Peak rating | Age at first time No. 1 | Date at first time No. 1 | Rating at first time No. 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasparov, GarryGarry Kasparov | 255 | 2851 | 20 years, 263 days | January 1, 1984 | 2710 |
| Karpov, AnatolyAnatoly Karpov | 90 | 2780 | 24 years, 223 days | January 1, 1976 | 2695 |
| Carlsen, MagnusMagnus Carlsen | 57 | 2882 | 19 years, 32 days | January 1, 2010 | 2810 |
| Fischer, BobbyBobby Fischer | 54 | 2785 | 28 years, 114 days | July 1, 1971 | 2760 |
| Topalov, VeselinVeselin Topalov | 27 | 2813 | 31 years, 17 days | April 1, 2006 | 2804 |
| Anand, ViswanathanViswanathan Anand | 21 | 2817 | 37 years, 111 days | April 1, 2007 | 2786 |
| Kramnik, VladimirVladimir Kramnik | 9 | 2811 | 20 years, 190 days | January 1, 1996 | 2775 |
See also
- Comparison of top chess players throughout history
- Chess rating systems
- List of chess players by peak ELO rating
References and notes
- ↑ History of Elo ratings 1971-2001, OlimpBase
- ↑ FIDE January 2007 Rating List: Top 100, The Week In Chess
- ↑ History of Elo ratings 1971-2001, OlimpBase
- ↑ Spassky Kings Don't Rule
External links
- All Time Rankings, includes "Top 10 lists from 1970 to 1997"
- FIDE historical ratings (1970–2000)
- History of Elo ratings 1971–2001 (the 1970 and January 1971 lists are unofficial)
- World Top Chess players (from FIDE, includes archive of FIDE Top Lists from July 2000 to the present)