Abdusattorov Bounces Back In January 2026 FIDE Ratings

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov has marched into 2026 with 19 extra rating points after a tremendous performance in the 2025 London Chess Classic in December. Abdusattorov recovered the 18 points he lost at the 2025 FIDE World Cup with interest, courtesy of six straight wins over 2600+ players.

In other news, GM Yagiz Erdogmus has moved into the number-two position on the top junior list after GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu became ineligible, GM Nihal Sarin consolidated his spot in the 2700-club with a 15-point gain, while GM Bibisara Assaubayeva clinched the last women's Candidates spot during the 2025 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 100: January 1, 2026

There was less movement than usual at the top of the classical lists in December due to many of the world's best electing to play in the 2025 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships or the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. This meant that the 2025 London Chess Classic became the event that bred the most movement among 2700+ players.

Unsurprisingly, Abdusattorov's 2932 performance rating in the elite group earned him more points than any other player in the top 100. Since Abdusattorov still had a mathematical chance of winning the 2025 FIDE Circuit, and consequently, qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Praggnanandhaa joined the open event as a countermeasure.

In the end, Praggnanandhaa came equal first in the open and traded three rating points to guarantee Candidates qualification. The 20-year-old later posted a heartfelt video to Twitter thanking his supporters.

Happy to have won the FIDE Circuit 2025, securing a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Thanks to coaches, family, and everyone who's supported me.
Will keep working hard and giving my best. pic.twitter.com/UpG0Iv2SFd

— Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) December 9, 2025

The other standout performer in December was Nihal, whose 2836 rating performance in the 4th President's Cup in Uzbekistan earned him 15 points. A trio of wins over GMs Bardiya Daneshvar, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, and Abdimalik Abdisalimov in the final rounds ballooned his gains and catapulted him up to 25th in the world.

Congratulations Nihal Sarin on winning the coveted 4th President Cup Masters 2025 Chess tournament at Tashkent. Yet another podium finish by 🇮🇳 and 🇺🇿.@NihalSarin @aicfchess@MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @YASMinistry @IndiaSports pic.twitter.com/NzwScEl0Cs

— India in Uzbekistan (@amb_tashkent) December 13, 2025

Nihal is now the fifth highest-rated Indian player and has the resume to push for a spot in the national team, especially since the fourth-ranked GM Viswanathan Anand has not represented India in an Olympiad since 2018.

The only other top 100 players with double-digit gains in December were GMs Jorden van Foreest, Alexey Sarana, and David Anton Guijarro, the former of whom reached 2700 for the first time since November 2023.

In the wake of a GM Ian Nepomniachtchi slump, 2026 has marked the first time that Russia has had no representation in the top 20 players since rating lists began to be published in 1971.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 25 Juniors | January 1, 2026

GMs Pranav Anand, Ihor Samunenkov, Bharath Subramaniyam, and Mukhiddin Madaminov were the biggest movers among the top juniors, with each picking up at least 15 points. For the Ukrainian 16-year-old Samunenkov, a steady incline from 1800 to 2599 since 2017 shows how difficult the path to masterdom is, as well as the tenacity required to reach the top. 

In his final game of the month, Samunenkov equalized easily against Croatian GM Sasa Martinovic but played into a perpetual instead of pushing for the extra point required for 2600.

Despite not playing any classical games in December, Erdogmus moved up to second spot and is within range of becoming the youngest player ever to cross the 2700 mark. Further advancing his reputation, Erdogmus gained a total of 96 rating points in the 2025 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships and would have been in contention for the podium in the rapid if not for back-to-back losses to GMs Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in rounds eight and nine.

GM Volodar Murzin also had a successful month and gained rating for the first time since September. Wins over two 2650+ players, GMs Murali Karthikeyan and Ivan Saric, were a firm reminder that Murzin is deserving of his top-three spot on the top junior leaderboard.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 100 Women | December 1, 2025

With only one change in the top 15 of the top 100 women's leaderboard, the biggest story in women's chess in December was Assaubayeva's securing of the final 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament by virtue of clinching the FIDE Women's Events series en route to a third women's world blitz title.

Kazakh chess grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva has won the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Blitz Chess Championship in Doha, securing another world title and qualifying for the Women’s Candidates. Her victory highlights her rising dominance in fast-paced international chess. #Kazakhstan pic.twitter.com/aGQxAwunEd

— The Caspian Post (@thecaspianpost) December 30, 2025

The chief women's improvers were IM Meruert Kamalidenova (+20), IM Mariam Mkrtchyan (+15), IM Olga Badelka (+15), and IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (+12). Meanwhile, IM Miaoyi Lu remains the youngest player in the women's top 100 at the age of 15 and GM Pia Cramling, who is 62, is the oldest.

Prodigy Watch: Erdogmus, Oro Race Against Time For Records

When it comes to prodigies, all eyes right now are on Erdogmus and the Argentinian IM Faustino Oro, the latter of whom has been creeping closer to the top junior list despite being only 12. Oro banked another 13 rating points in December and has a live rating of 2516 as well as two GM norms. Should he secure a third norm by March 16, he will dethrone GM Abhimanyu Mishra as the youngest player to attain chess' most prestigious title.

12-year-old 🇦🇷 Faustino Oro is now one GM norm in the next 3 months away from becoming the youngest grandmaster in history! https://t.co/Tn2Qb4dvRB

— chess24 (@chess24com) December 17, 2025

The Prodigy Watch by Chess By The Numbers founder Tai Pruce-Zimmerman tracks the progress of young chess superstars, with his "prodigy rank," a measure of how a player's current rating at their current age compares historically. If there are 11 players in chess history who have been rated higher at or before the player's age, then the player would have a prodigy rank of 12. You can read more about Prodigy Watch here, while here's this month's update:

Prodigy Watch Top 15: January 1, 2026

It was a rather quiet month for the prodigies on our list. In the top 25, three players set new personal record ratings, but with relatively small gains and no improvements to their prodigy ranks. Oro rose to 2516 (up 7 rating points), IM Roman Shogdzhiev rose to 2416 (+5), and FM Sergey Sklokin hit 2414 (+7).
Slightly more meaningful jumps were achieved by FM Supratit Banerjee (now 2353, with a prodigy rank of 29) and MM Ihor Samunenkov (now 2599, number-35) who each made double-digit jumps in both rating and prodigy rank.
Two younger players whose birthdays we don't know did make notable gains to re-join their respective lists. Nine-year-old CM Samuel Xu gained 69 rating points with a very nice performance at the 109th Edward Lasker Memorial (despite losing his game against IM Levy Rozman) and jumped back into the top 100. Meanwhile ten year old Divi Bijesh gained 92 rating points across two events, broke 2000 for the first time in her young career, and cracked the top 50 of the girls' list. In both cases, their true prodigy ranks may be quite a bit higher than we currently show, if they are younger than our conservative assumptions.

Prodigy Watch Top 10 Girls: January 1, 2026

All data courtesy of FIDE.