The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) is the organization that governs international chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 competition. At two-month intervals, FIDE
publishes ratings of the best international chess players, as well
as a ranking of the top 100 active players. The Elo rating system

Elo rating system

The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....

 is used.

Rankings

The top 15 positions in the rankings for November 2011 are as follows:

Rank	Player	Rating
1	Magnus Carlsen Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...	2826
2	Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan Anand V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....	2811
3	Levon Aronian Levon Aronian Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...	2802
4	Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...	2800
5	Teimour Radjabov Teimour Radjabov Radjabov's knight sacrifice, 21. ... Ngxe5, was praised by several strong players for its bravery, including English grandmaster Nigel Short. Said Short of the move, "Radjabov plays very imaginatively... he just won't give up, he is extremely tenacious and will always find a way to muddy the...	2781
6	Vassily Ivanchuk	2775
7	Veselin Topalov Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....	2768
8	Sergey Karjakin Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was a chess prodigy and holds the record for both the youngest International Master, eleven years and eleven months, and grandmaster in history, at the age of twelve years and seven months...	2763
9	Alexander Morozevich Alexander Morozevich Alexander Morozevich is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list....	2762
10	Hikaru Nakamura Hikaru Nakamura Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess Grandmaster . He has been ranked among the top six players in the world by FIDE....	2758
11	Vugar Gashimov Vugar Gashimov Vugar Gashimov , born July 24, 1986 in Baku, is one of the leading chess players from Azerbaijan. He is a noted player of Bullet chess and three times Azerbaijani national chess champion .He won at Athens 2005 ....	2756
12	Peter Svidler Peter Svidler Peter Veniaminovich Svidler is a Russian chess grandmaster.He is six-time Russian champion ....	2755
13	Alexander Grischuk Alexander Grischuk Alexander Igorevich Grischuk is a Russian chess grandmaster and Russian Champion in 2009.-Chess career:In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, Grischuk he made it to the semifinals, losing to Alexei Shirov....	2752
14	Boris Gelfand Boris Gelfand Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...	2744
15	Evgeny Tomashevsky Evgeny Tomashevsky Evgeny Tomashevsky is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In 2001 he won the U18 Russian championship in Rybinsk with 9/10 and in 2004 he became second in the U18 World Youth Chess Championship. In 2007 he became second in the Aeroflot Open....	2740

Women

Women may play in the same events as men in chess and are rated together with the men. As of November 2011, the highest rated woman player is Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...

, ranked 35th, although
Polgar has previously ranked as high as eighth.

Rank	Player	Rating
1	Judit Polgár Judit Polgár Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...	2710
2	Humpy Koneru	2600
3	Hou Yifan Hou Yifan Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess prodigy. She is the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's...	2578
4	Anna Muzychuk Anna Muzychuk Anna Olegivna Muzychuk is a chess player with a FIDE rating of 2528 . She earned the title of Woman Grandmaster in 2004 and the title of International Master in 2007. In 2004 she became a member of the Slovenian chess federation, where she is the strongest female chess player...	2562
5	Kateryna Lahno	2549
6	Nadezhda Kosintseva Nadezhda Kosintseva Nadezhda Anatolyevna Kosintseva is a Russian chess player. She holds the title of Grandmaster....	2546
7	Wenjun Ju	2543
8	Xue Zhao	2541
9	Antoaneta Stefanova Antoaneta Stefanova Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster, and a former Women's World Chess Champion. She became the twelfth holder of that title in 2004 in a 64-player knockout tournament held in Elista, Kalmykia under the auspices of FIDE....	2531
10	Tatiana Kosintseva Tatiana Kosintseva Tatiana Anatolyevna Kosintseva is a Russian chess player who has achieved the FIDE title of Grandmaster...	2526
11	Nana Dzagnidze Nana Dzagnidze Nana Dzagnidze is a chess player from Georgia, who achieved the title of International Grandmaster in 2008.-Youth success:As a junior player, she showed early promise by winning the World Girls Under-12 Championship in 1999...	2516
12	Valentina Gunina Valentina Gunina Valentina Gunina is a Russian chess player with the titles International Master and Woman Grandmaster . In 2006 and 2008 she won Qualifying Russian Women Chess Championship and 2011 Superfinal Russian Women Chess Championship....	2514
13	Harika Dronavalli	2513
14	Marie Sebag Marie Sebag Marie Sebag is a French chess player, who won the French Chess Championship for women in 2000 and 2002.-Tournament results:...	2512
15	Anna Zatonskih Anna Zatonskih Anna Zatonskih is a chess player from the United States. She is a Woman Grandmaster, as well as an International Master. She is a chess professional, who coaches players and competes in tournaments. Zatonskih is the 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011 U.S. Women's Chess Champion.Zatonskih learned chess at...	2506

Juniors

The top 20 positions in the rankings for November 2011 are as follows:

Rank	Player	Rating
1	Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana is Grandmaster and chess prodigy with dual citizenship of Italy and the United States.On 15 July 2007 Caruana became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 20 days – the youngest Grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States.In the November 2011...	2727
2	Le Quang Liem Le Quang Liem Lê Quang Liêm is a leading Vietnamese chess player. He was the Under-14 World Youth Chess Champion in July 2005. He competed for Vietnam at the Chess Olympiads in 2006 and 2008....	2714
3	Anish Giri Anish Giri Anish Giri is a chess prodigy. He met his final grandmaster norm at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days when he beat Venezuelan GM Eduardo Iturrizaga in the C Group of the 2009 Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands....	2714
4	Liren Ding	2660
5	Wesley So Wesley So Wesley So is a Filipino chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days, making him the 8th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess. Before becoming a Grandmaster, So had become the youngest Filipino...	2659
6	Sebastien Feller Sebastien Feller Sebastien Feller is a French-born chess Grandmaster.- Chess career :Feller achieved both his International Master and Grandmaster titles in 2007 at age 17. He won the French Junior Championship 2007 and was vice-champion of the European U16 Championships 2007...	2658
7	Maxim Matlakov	2632
8	Eltaj Safarli Eltaj Safarli Eltaj Safarli is an Azerbaijani chess Grandmaster. He won the under 10 World Youth Chess Championship in Heraklion in 2002.-Team competitions:...	2630
9	Robert L Hess Robert Hess (chess player) Robert Lee Hess is an American chess Grandmaster. As of September 2011, his FIDE rating was 2625, fifth in the United States .-IM:...	2625
10	Yangyi Yu	2623
11	Sanan Sjugirov	2622
12	Ivan Salgado Lopez	2621
13	Anton Kovalyov	2619
14	Parimarjan Negi Parimarjan Negi Parimarjan Negi is a chess Grandmaster from India. In July 2005, he earned his third and final International Master norm at the Sort International open chess tournament in Sort, Spain...	2617
15	Yaroslav Zherebukh Yaroslav Zherebukh Yaroslav Zherebukh is a Ukrainian chess Grandmaster .In 2006, he was a member of the Ukrainian national youth team, which won the U-16 Chess Olympiad in Turkey. His major success has been the victory In February 2010 of the colossal Cappelle-la-Grande Open in France, above 82 Grandmasters and 61...	2594
16	Ray Robson Ray Robson Ray Robson is an American chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster. In October 2009, about two weeks before turning 15, he became the youngest grandmaster-elect in history who plays for the United States .Robson's norms were gained at the Arctic Chess...	2594
17	Alexander Ipatov	2586
18	Robert Hovhannisyan	2586
19	Dariusz Swiercz Dariusz Swiercz Dariusz Świercz is a Polish chess grandmaster. He is a chess prodigy, being one of the youngest grandmasters in history and the youngest Polish grandmaster of all time, achieving the title at the age of 14 years and seven months...	2584
20	Yifan Hou	2578

Source

• FIDE official website: top 100 active players.
• FIDE official website: top 100 women.
• FIDE official website: top 20 juniors.

External links

• Live Top List: unofficial ratings and rankings that are updated "live" as tournaments are played.