Measure Up, with Hans Arild Runde

July List Preview, Aerosvit Added, Carlsen 2nd Ivanchuk 3rd!

Not totally surprising, but not something we would take for granted, Chessvibes reports that FIDE has decided to include Aerosvit in the July rating list. This is probably done due to the high number of top players participating in Aerosvit, and I think there are many acceptable reasons for including such an event in the first rating list possible, despite the tournament ending a few days after the official deadline.

Like Chessvibes reported and we illustrated in our previous articles on the subject, this has the effect that the #2 position in the official FIDE July World Rankings will belong to a player 17 years and 6 months young! Magnus Carlsen in second place actually trails Vishy Anand by only 6 rating points, and obviously it's the first time in the history of the FIDE rating system that someone of such an age lacks merely a handful of points for claiming the enviable top spot. Carlsen has achieved this by his consistent 2800+ performances in all classical starts so far this year, a feat most world champions would be proud of!

But the second place was a close call, only a single point ahead of the really big gainer this rating period - Ivanchuk. After multiple strong events, with MTel topping it, Ivanchuk has increased his rating by a whopping 51 points in 36 games, almost like he did when he jumped to 2787 not long ago. This time around, we hope that the favourite of many a chess fan can make his stay in the absolute top a less temporary affair.

For further details and assumptions regarding this preview, please see my previous article.

FIDE July List Preview, Aerosvit Included

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