(911) FIDE Ratings -- January 2006 - March 2015 (TBN-March 23, 2015)

                                     No. 1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)

                        No. 2 Fabiano Caruana (Italy)

                       No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura (USA)


                         FIDE RATINGS 
               January 2006 -- March 2015

          FRIDAY the 13^th, 2006 –THE World Chess Federation or FIDE, has released the new ELO ratings and although Garry Kasparov has already retired, he will remain on the list for 3 more months. With a rating of 2812, the living legend is still numero uno.

         Reigning FIDE champ Veselin Topalov is in second after gaining 19 points. The world’s top 101 include the Philippines new Grandmaster Mark Paragua, who is in tie for the 98^th-101^st slots. The 29-year-old is now the highest rated Filipino GM in history with an ELO of 2618.

         Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre barged into the world championship candidate’s series in 1982 with a 2580 rating and was among the world’s top 20. But those were the days when only a few GMs had 2600 ratings.

          In the 1978 Sahovski Informator FIDE Ratings List (Chess Informant No. 20), those players are:  1. Robert James Fischer (USA) 2780; 2. Anatoly Karpov (USSR) 2695; 3. Viktor Korchnoi (USSR) 2670; 4. Tigran Petrosian (USSR) 2635; 5. Lev Polugaevsky (USSR) 2635; 6. Boris Spassky (USSR) 2630; 7. Bent Larsen (Denmark) 2625; 8. Lajos Portisch (Hungary) 2625; 9. Efim Geller (USSR) 2620; 10. Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia) 2620; 11. Henrique Mecking (Brazil) 2620; 12. Jan Smejkal (CSSR) 2615; 13. Mikhail Tal (USSR) 2615 and Vlastimil Hort (CSSR) 2610.

          With so many players nowadays, ELO ratings are considered “inflated” and are not an adequate basis for comparing the playing strength of the GM’s of today with those of the past.

          HERE, IN ANY CASE, IS THE LIST OF THE WORLD’S TOP 11 (January 2006)

1. Garry Kasparov, Russia, 2812 (born 1963)

2. Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria, 2801, (1975)

3. Viswanathan Anand, India, 2792, (1969)

4. Peter Svidler, Russia, 2765 (1976)

5. Levon Aronian, Armenia, 2752 (1982)

6. Vladimir Kramnik, Russia, 2741 (1975)

7. Peter Leko, Hungary, 2740 (1979)

8. Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine, 2729, (1969)

9. Boris Gelfand, Israel, 2723, (1968)

10. Ruslan Ponomariov, Ukraine, 2723, (1983)

11. Alexander Morozevich, Russia, 2721 (1977)

      In the March 2015 FIDE Ratings List, these are the new breed of young and old generation of GM’s:

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2863	7	1990
2	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2802	12	1992
3	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2798	15	1987
4	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2798	10	1975
5	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2794	11	1983
6	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2791	12	1969
7	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2790	14	1994
8	So, Wesley	g	USA	2788	0	1993
9	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2783	5	1975
10	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2770	14	1982
11	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2765	11	1990

          Only the no. 4, 6, 9, 10 from the 2006 list is still in the top 11. Gelfand and Ivanchuk dropped to no. 15 and 23 respectively because they haven’t played a single game in the month of February 2015.

          No. 8 Wesley So, who changed federation (from Philippines to USA) dropped from 6^th to 8^th for the same reason as Gelfand and Ivanchuk.

                The youngest player in the Top 100 at No. 44 is Yi Wei, China, 2706, (1999). The oldest 2 are Gelfand (1968) and Ivanchuk (1969).

Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 4382: 1. … Qe7+ 2. Ke5 Nc6+ 3. Ke4 f5 mate.

This week’s puzzle No. 4383: Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

             Tia Belau Newspaper

             Pages 9-10

             Volume 24

             Issue 24

             March 23, 2015 

     CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG FOUND MOUNTED TO   WRECKAGE OF SUNK WW2 ERA JAPANESE WARSHIP

Divers who went down to visit a sunk World War II era Japanese warship off the coast of Palau were surprised to find that someone had recently erected a large Chinese national flag.

According to Kyodo news, the flag was found on March 21 attached to the wreckage of the fleet oiler Iro of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship lies on the 40-meter deep seabed about 8 kilometers off Koror Island, Palau. The area is a popular spot for divers visiting the archipelago.

On March 31, 1944 the ship was attacked and sunk in Palau Harbor by United States Navy aircraft carrier fighters from the Fast Carrier Task Force during Operation Desecrate One.

The discovery comes at a rather sensitive time for the Japanese. Japan Times reports that early next month the Japanese Imperial Household will be visiting the site to commemorate those lost during the World War Two as part of a two-day visit to Palau.

Palau has recently become a popular destination for Chinese tourists, with some locals accusing the Chinese of being noisy and disrespectful when visiting the island.
                        (March 22, http://shanghailist.com/)