Russia and USA:Who is stronger?
As some of you might know the US and Russia have both had very strong teams and often compete for the world chess championship. Today I will try to find out who is stronger. I will with the top 5 Russians and Americans find out their score. I will take the top 5 players ratings, and find the average rating, and their score, from chess.com for the past 5 years.
Russia: Rating: United States of America Rating:
| #3 Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2793 | #5 Wesley So | 2774 |
| #15 Sergey Karjakin | 2747 | #6 Hikaru Nakamura | 2768 |
| #17 Alexander Grischuk | 2745 | #8 Fabiano Caruana | 2763 |
| #21 Dmitry Andreikin | 2729 | #10 Levon Aronian | 2755 |
| #25 Nikita Vitigouv | 2722 | #12 Leinier D. Perez | 2747 |
Average Rating: 2774.2 Average Rating: 2761.4
This table alone, makes it seem like the US would win, because their average rating is higher. But it that true?
Match 5:
Russian player wins for Ru draws wins for Us Us player
| Nikita Vitigouv | 0 | 0 | 1 | Lenier Domeguez Perez |
Lenier Domeguez Perez and Vitigouv have played only one game in the past 5 years against each other, and 2 in their entire lives. The other game was in 2012 and ended in a draw.
Match 4:
Russian player wins for Ru draws wins for Us USA player
| Dmitry Andreikin | 1 | 3 | 3 | Levon Aronian |
They have played 13 games in all, with 7 in the past 5 years. In the games prior to the past 5 years, Aronian won more.
Match 3:
Russian player wins for Ru draws wins for Us USA player
| Alexander Grischuk | 9 | 10 | 7 | Fabiano Caruana |
Grischuk and Caruana have played more, a total of 80 games, with 26 of them during the past 5 years. This is the first time, where Russia has more wins.
Match 2:
Russian player wins for Ru draws wins for Us USA player
| Sergey Karjakin | 3 | 16 | 3 | Hikaru Nakamura |
Nakamura, and Karjakin have not played since 2019 in the Sinquefield Cup, because of Karjakin's ban, and Nakamura streaming during covid. They have played 99 times against each other though. They played a Speed Chess Championship match in 2017, which was won by Nakamura 16.5-13.5, accounting for 30 of their games.
Match 1:
Russian player wins for Ru draws wins for Us USA player
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3 | 23 | 5 | Wesley So |
They have played 40 times in their entire life against each other, with 31 of those in the past 5 years. None were played in 2018. I think that this diagram is especially interesting, because many people believe that So is a very strong contender for the WCC.
And the winner is:
The United States of America!
wins for Ru draws wins for US
| Russia | 16 | 52 | 19 | USA |
The US won by a mere 3 points, out of 87 games. However, in the past, Russia has been much better, and is also better in the women's section. The US is undoubtedly, the best in the junior section. Before I finish, I would like to say that I just analyzed data and did not have my perspective swayed by the fact that I am American, or in light of the situation in Ukraine. Thank you for reading this, and goodbye for now.
