Who is the number 1 chess player in January 2026?

Magnus Carlsen remains World No. 1 in the January 2026 FIDE rankings with a Standard rating of 2840.

How many Indian players are in the Top 10?

In the January 2026 list, India has 3 players in the Top 10: Arjun Erigaisi (#5), Praggnanandhaa R (#8), and Gukesh D (#9).

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FIDE World Chess Rankings – January 2026 Snapshot

The FIDE World Rankings list the top chess players on the planet based on their official Elo rating. This page provides a snapshot of the current top 100 Open and Women's lists, helping you track the hierarchy of the chess elite. Understand how ratings are calculated and who currently sits on the chess throne.

🔥 Rating insight: Obsessing over the Top 100 list won't get you there. The fastest way to climb the ranks is solid defense and counterattack. Stop giving away free points and start fighting back.

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Interactive: Click any table header (e.g., "Fed" or "Born") to sort the data.

Federation Snapshot (Illustrative)

Federation strength helps explain where elite chess talent is currently concentrated. This section gives a quick, visual snapshot based on the average rating of each federation’s top players.

1. USA

2735 Avg

2. India

2720 Avg

3. China

2690 Avg

4. Russia

2670 Avg

Top 100 Players (Open) – Jan 2026

Rank	Name	Fed	Rating	Born
1	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2840	1990
2	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	2810	1987
3	Caruana, Fabiano	USA	2795	1992
4	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2776	2004
5	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2775	2003
6	Giri, Anish	NED	2760	1994
7	Firouzja, Alireza	FRA	2759	2003
8	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2758	2005
9	Gukesh D	IND	2754	2006
10	Wei, Yi	CHN	2754	1999
11	So, Wesley	USA	2753	1993
12	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2751	2004
13	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	2743	1969
14	Rapport, Richard	HUN	2738	1996
15	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	USA	2738	1983
16	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2734	1990
17	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	POL	2731	1998
18	Le, Quang Liem	VIE	2731	1991
19	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2730	1985
20	Aronian, Levon	USA	2729	1982
21	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2726	2005
22	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2725	2003
23	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	RUS	2723	1990
24	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2717	1994
25	Nihal Sarin	IND	2716	2004
26	Liang, Awonder	USA	2713	2003
27	Andreikin, Dmitry	FID	2710	1990
28	Maghsoodloo, Parham	IRI	2708	2000
29	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2708	1994
30	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2705	1995
31	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2703	1999
32	Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	IND	2700	1999
33	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2700	2001
34	Esipenko, Andrey	RUS	2698	2002
35	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	2692	1987
36	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	UZB	2691	2002
37	Sevian, Samuel	USA	2688	2000
38	Wang, Hao	CHN	2687	1989
39	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2686	2000
40	Kovalenko, Igor	UKR	2682	1988
41	Svidler, Peter	FID	2682	1976
42	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2679	1986
43	Bluebaum, Matthias	GER	2679	1997
44	Leko, Peter	HUN	2676	1979
45	Dubov, Daniil	RUS	2672	1996
46	Howell, David W L	ENG	2668	1990
47	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	POL	2667	1987
48	Martinez Alcantara, Jose Eduardo	MEX	2667	1999
49	Donchenko, Alexander	GER	2665	1998
50	Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	2665	1985
51	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	UZB	2664	1979
52	Vitiugov, Nikita	ENG	2663	1987
53	Anton Guijarro, David	ESP	2662	1995
54	Grandelius, Nils	SWE	2660	1993
55	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2659	2002
56	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2658	2011
57	Oparin, Grigoriy	USA	2658	1997
58	Xiong, Jeffery	USA	2656	2000
59	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	CZE	2656	2001
60	Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian	NOR	2656	1998
61	Saric, Ivan	CRO	2655	1990
62	Gledura, Benjamin	HUN	2654	1999
63	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2653	1977
64	Inarkiev, Ernesto	RUS	2653	1985
65	Murzin, Volodar	FID	2652	2006
66	Deac, Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2652	2001
67	Shankland, Sam	USA	2651	1991
68	Robson, Ray	USA	2650	1994
69	Eljanov, Pavel	UKR	2649	1983
70	Svane, Frederik	GER	2649	2004
71	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2648	1999
72	Theodorou, Nikolas	GRE	2648	2000
73	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2645	1983
74	Maroroa Jones, Gawain C B	ENG	2645	1987
75	Gurel, Ediz	TUR	2645	2008
76	Mamedov, Rauf	AZE	2645	1988
77	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	UZB	2644	2002
78	Safarli, Eltaj	AZE	2644	1992
79	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	ESP	2644	1982
80	Lu, Shanglei	CHN	2643	1995
81	Artemiev, Vladislav	RUS	2641	1998
82	Pranav, V	IND	2641	2006
83	Alekseenko, Kirill	AUT	2639	1997
84	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2638	2002
85	Sadhwani, Raunak	IND	2638	2005
86	Tari, Aryan	NOR	2637	1999
87	Adams, Michael	ENG	2635	1971
88	Navara, David	CZE	2635	1985
89	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2635	1995
90	Salem, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2635	1993
91	L'Ami, Erwin	NED	2634	1985
92	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2633	1983
93	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2631	1983
94	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2630	1968
95	Kollars, Dmitrij	GER	2630	1999
96	Mishra, Abhimanyu	USA	2629	2009
97	Chigaev, Maksim	ESP	2628	1996
98	Pranesh M	IND	2628	2006
99	Bjerre, Jonas Buhl	DEN	2628	2004
100	Van Wely, Loek	NED	2628	1972

Top 100 Players (Women) – Jan 2026

Rank	Name	Fed	Rating	Born
1	Hou, Yifan	CHN	2613	1994
2	Zhu, Jiner	CHN	2579	2002
3	Lei, Tingjie	CHN	2569	1997
4	Ju, Wenjun	CHN	2565	1991
5	Koneru, Humpy	IND	2535	1987
6	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	FID	2534	1998
7	Tan, Zhongyi	CHN	2524	1991
8	Muzychuk, Anna	UKR	2522	1990
9	Lagno, Kateryna	RUS	2508	1989
10	Shuvalova, Polina	FID	2502	2001
11	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2497	2004
12	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2497	2005
13	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	SUI	2483	1984
14	Tsolakidou, Stavroula	GRE	2479	2000
15	Kashlinskaya, Alina	POL	2475	1993
16	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	IND	2470	2001
17	Dzagnidze, Nana	GEO	2469	1987
18	Yip, Carissa	USA	2466	2003
19	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2466	1991
20	Muzychuk, Mariya	UKR	2463	1992
21	Batsiashvili, Nino	GEO	2462	1987
22	Osmak, Yuliia	UKR	2454	1998
23	Garifullina, Leya	FID	2454	2004
24	Song, Yuxin	CHN	2454	2005
25	Javakhishvili, Lela	GEO	2437	1984
26	Zhao, Xue	CHN	2436	1985
27	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	AZE	2434	1996
28	Lu, Miaoyi	CHN	2431	2010
29	Shukhman, Anna	FID	2431	2009
30	Khotenashvili, Bella	GEO	2428	1988
31	Sebag, Marie	FRA	2425	1986
32	Injac, Teodora	SRB	2421	2000
33	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	ESP	2414	1997
34	Narva, Mai	EST	2413	1999
35	Badelka, Olga	AUT	2410	2002
36	Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra	POL	2410	2002
37	Wagner, Dinara	GER	2410	1999
38	Arabidze, Meri	GEO	2410	1994
39	Lee, Alice	USA	2408	2009
40	Ushenina, Anna	UKR	2406	1985
41	Khamdamova, Afruza	UZB	2403	2009
42	Paehtz, Elisabeth	GER	2403	1985
43	Danielian, Elina	ARM	2402	1978
44	Krush, Irina	USA	2402	1983
45	Roebers, Eline	NED	2398	2006
46	Buksa, Nataliya	UKR	2397	1996
47	Kiolbasa, Oliwia	POL	2397	2000
48	Ding, Yixin	CHN	2396	1991
49	Salimova, Nurgyul	BUL	2396	2003
50	Bulmaga, Irina	ROU	2395	1993
51	Gunina, Valentina	FID	2393	1989
52	Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	2391	1979
53	Mammadzada, Gunay	AZE	2390	2000
54	Girya, Olga	RUS	2389	1991
55	Abrahamyan, Tatev	USA	2389	1988
56	Cramling, Pia	SWE	2389	1963
57	Kamalidenova, Meruert	KAZ	2386	2005
58	Ambartsumova, Karina	RUS	2385	1989
59	Zhai, Mo	CHN	2385	1996
60	Shen, Yang	CHN	2383	1989
61	Daulyte-Cornette, Deimante	FRA	2382	1989
62	Wang, Pin	CHN	2378	1974
63	Sargsyan, Anna M.	USA	2377	2001
64	Gaal, Zsoka	HUN	2377	2007
65	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2375	2002
66	Efroimski, Marsel	ISR	2375	1995
67	Guo, Qi	CHN	2375	1995
68	Rajlich, Iweta	POL	2373	1981
69	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	ESP	2371	1987
70	Balabayeva, Xeniya	KAZ	2371	2005
71	Mkrtchyan, Mariam	ARM	2368	2004
72	Galliamova, Alisa	RUS	2368	1972
73	Bivol, Alina	FID	2367	1996
74	Huang, Qian	CHN	2366	1986
75	Mkrtchian, Lilit	ARM	2366	1982
76	Goltseva, Ekaterina	RUS	2364	2002
77	Beydullayeva, Govhar	AZE	2364	2003
78	Nurman, Alua	KAZ	2363	2007
79	Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim	UZB	2363	1999
80	Rakhmangulova, Anastasiya	UKR	2358	1994
81	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	RUS	2357	1992
82	Skripchenko, Almira	FRA	2357	1976
83	Savitha Shri B	IND	2356	2007
84	Socko, Monika	POL	2356	1978
85	Tang, Zoey	USA	2356	2008
86	Milliet, Sophie	FRA	2355	1983
87	Aulia, Medina Warda	INA	2355	1997
88	Padmini, Rout	IND	2354	1994
89	Xiao, Yiyi	CHN	2352	1996
90	Balajayeva, Khanim	AZE	2351	2001
91	Atalik, Ekaterina	TUR	2349	1982
92	Cori T., Deysi	PER	2349	1993
93	Kairbekova, Amina	KAZ	2348	2006
94	Pham, Le Thao Nguyen	VIE	2348	1987
95	Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene	MGL	2347	2005
96	Yan, Tianqi	CHN	2347	2002
97	Gara, Ticia	ISR	2347	1984
98	Ni, Shiqun	CHN	2345	1997
99	Gara, Anita	HUN	2344	1983
100	Shvayger, Yuliya	ISR	2343	1994

Quick Facts: FIDE Ratings & History

What rating is a Grandmaster? To become a Grandmaster (GM), a player typically needs a FIDE rating of 2500 at any point in their career, along with three "norms".

1. Who has the highest chess rating ever?

Magnus Carlsen holds the record: 2882 (May 2014).

2. How many players are rated over 2700?

In the January 2026 list, there are dozens of 2700+ players ("Super Grandmasters").

3. What is the K-Factor?

It determines rating volatility. Juniors have K=40 (fast changes), Pros have K=10 (stable).

💡 GM Insight: Chasing rating points is the fastest way to lose them. The players on this list didn't get there by obsessing over their number—they got there by mastering the fundamentals. Most players stay stuck at the same rating for years because they lack a system. Stop guessing and start building your foundation.

📘 The Blueprint to 1600 ELO

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