There were unofficial lists in 1964, 1969, 1970 and January 1971, as the Elo rating system was first introduced.^[where?]

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.^[1]

In January 2010 former World Champion Boris Spassky criticized the current emphasis on ratings rather than World Champions.^[3] 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, Vladimir Kramnik, and Ding Liren (the current Champion) are the only undisputed World Champions to never become ranked world number one during their tenure as champions as of September 2023.^[update] (Kramnik has been ranked number one, but never while he was champion.)

Top players (list) edit

The following is a list of the players ranked number one on the FIDE rating system from the first official list in July 1971 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question. A rating denoted with bold text followed by an asterisk (*) is a career high rating.

Timeline of world number ones edit

Player statistics edit

Seven players have held the world number one ranking over a period of 52 years and 10 months, encompassing 245 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. Spassky, Kramnik, and Ding are the only world champions in the period in question to never have been world number one while being champion. (Of these, Kramnik has been world number one, but only when he was not champion; Spassky and Ding were never world number one.)

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 14 times, successively 11 times over a period of 8 years, once for 6 months, and once for a year while Kasparov was excluded. Kasparov was world number one on the official list 52 times over a period of 22 years, and 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 16 times successively over 8 years, then twice successively for one year, and 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 was 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 was 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). As of September 2023,^[update] Carlsen has been world number one a record 147 times, including a record 141 consecutive times since July 2011.

List of world female number ones edit

The following is a list of the players ranked number one female on the FIDE rating system from the first official list in July 1971 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question. A rating denoted with bold text followed by an asterisk (*) is a career high rating.

Timeline edit

Women statistics edit

FIDE publishes lists of highest-rated junior chess players; a "junior" is defined as being a player who is aged under 20 at the start of the year. The following is a list of the players ranked number one junior in the FIDE rating system from July 1999 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question.

FIDE publishes lists of highest-rated girl chess players; a "girl" is defined as being a player who is aged under 20 at the start of the year, and female. The following is a list of the players ranked number one girl in the FIDE rating system from January 2000 to the present day, along with their ratings during the periods in question.

Since January 2012, FIDE has also calculated ratings for Rapid and Blitz chess, and has published top player rating lists for these time controls since May 2014.^{[11] [12]}

Rapid chess edit

Top players edit

Top women edit

Top juniors edit

Top girls edit

Blitz chess edit

Top players (blitz) edit

Top women (blitz) edit

Top juniors (blitz) edit

Top girls (blitz) edit

• Comparison of top chess players throughout history
• Chess rating systems
• List of chess players by peak FIDE rating

• All Time Rankings, includes "Top 10 lists from 1970 to 1997"
• FIDE historical ratings (1970–2000)
• World Top Chess players (from FIDE, includes archive of FIDE Top Lists from July 2000 to the present)