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Bits of old FIDE ratings lists 1970-1997

1970 FIDE rating list. Top 7 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2720
  2-3 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2670
      Korchnoi, Viktor..................   URS  2670
  4-5 Geller, Efim......................   URS  2660
      Keres, Paul.......................   URS  2660
  6-7 Larsen, Bent......................   DEN  2650
      Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2650
 
  January 1971 FIDE rating list. Top 9 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2740
    2 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2690
  3-4 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2660
      Larsen, Bent......................   DEN  2660
    5 Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2640
  6-9 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2630
      Botvinnik. Mikhail................   URS  2630
      Geller, Efim......................   URS  2630
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2630
 
  July 1971 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2760
    2 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2690
    3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2670
    4 Larsen, Bent......................   DEN  2660
  5-6 Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2640
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2640
 
  July 1972 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2785
    2 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2660
  3-4 Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2645
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2645
  5-6 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2640
      Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2640
 
  July 1973 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2780
  2-3 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2660 
      Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2660
    4 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2655
  5-6 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2650
      Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2650
 
  May 1974 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2780
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2700 
    3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2670
    4 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2650
    5 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2645
    6 Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2640
 
  January 1975 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Fischer Robert James..............   USA  2780
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2705
    3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2655
  4-6 Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2645
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2645
      Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2645
 
  January 1976 FIDE rating list. Top 7 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2695
    2 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2670
  3-4 Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2635
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2635
    5 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2630
  6-7 Larsen, Bent......................   DEN  2625
      Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2625
 
  January 1977 FIDE rating list. Top 8 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2690
  2-3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2645
      Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2645
    4 Mecking, Enrique..................   BRA  2635  
    5 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2625
  6-8 Hort, Vlastimil...................   CZE  2620    
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2620
      Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2620
 
  January 1978 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2725
    2 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2665
  3-5 Mecking, Enrique..................   BRA  2630  
      Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2630
      Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2630
    6 Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2625
 
  January 1979 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2705
    2 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2695
  3-4 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2640
      Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2640
  5-6 Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2625
      Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2625
 
  January 1980 FIDE rating list. Top 8 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2725
    2 Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2705
    3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2695
    4 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2655
    5 Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2635
  6-8 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2615
      Petrosian, Tigran.................   URS  2615
      Mecking, Enrique..................   BRA  2615
 
  July 1981 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2690
  2-3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2650
      Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2650
  4-5 Huebner, Robert...................   FRG  2635
      Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2635
    6 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2625
 
  January 1982 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2700
    2 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2655
    3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2645
    4 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2640
    5 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2630
    6 Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2625
 
  July 1982 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2700
    2 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2675
    3 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2635
    4 Huebner, Robert...................   FRG  2630
    5 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2625
    6 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2620
 
  January 1983 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2710
    2 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2690
    3 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir..............   YUG  2645
    4 Andersson, Ulf....................   SWE  2635
  5-6 Huebner, Robert...................   FRG  2625
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2625
 
  July 1983 FIDE rating list. Top 8 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2710
    2 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2690
    3 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir..............   YUG  2645
    4 Andersson, Ulf....................   SWE  2640
  5-8 Huebner, Robert...................   FRG  2620
      Vaganian, Rafael..................   URS  2620
      Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2620
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2620
 
  January 1984 FIDE rating list. Top 11 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2710
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2700
  3-4 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2635 
      Ljubojevic, Ljubomir..............   YUG  2635
  5-6 Andersson, Ulf....................   SWE  2630
      Vaganian, Rafael..................   URS  2630
    7 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2625
  8-9 Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2620
      Huebner, Robert...................   FRG  2620
10-11 Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2615
      Hort, Vlastimil...................   URS  2615
 
  July 1984 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2715
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2705
    3 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2650
    4 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2640
    5 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   URS  2635
    6 Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2625
 
  January 1985 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2715
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2705
    3 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2650
    4 Vaganian, Rafael..................   URS  2640
  5-6 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2635 
      Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2635
    7 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2630
    8 Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2625
 9-10 Nunn, John........................   ENG  2615
      Ribli Zoltan......................   HUN  2615
 
  July 1985 FIDE rating list. Top 7 players
  
    1 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2720
    2 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2700
  3-4 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2640
      Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2640
    5 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2630 (?)
  6-7 Portisch, Lajos...................   HUN  2635 (?)
      Vaganian, Rafael..................   URS  2635 (?)
 
  January 1986 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2720
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2700
  3-5 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2645
      Vaganian, Rafael..................   URS  2645
      Yusupov, Arthur...................   URS  2645
    6 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2635
 
  July 1987 FIDE rating list. Top 8 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2740
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2705
    3 Yusupov, Arthur...................   URS  2660
    4 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2650
  5-8 Huebner, Robert...................   FRG  2620
      Sokolov, Andrei...................   URS  2620
      Spassky, Boris....................   URS  2620
      Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2620
 
  January 1987 FIDE rating list. Top 6 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2735
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2710
  3-4 Sokolov, Andrei...................   URS  2645
      Yusupov, Arthur...................   URS  2645
    5 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2625
    6 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir..............   YUG  2620
 
  July 1987 FIDE rating list. Top 7 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2740
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2700
  3-4 Yusupov, Arthur...................   URS  2635
      Sokolov, Andrei...................   URS  2635
  5-7 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2630
      Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2630
      Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2630
 
  January 1988 FIDE rating list. Top 11 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary...................    URS  2750
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2715
    3 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2675
    4 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2645
    5 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2640
  6-8 Tal, Mikhail......................   URS  2630
      Nikolic, Predrag..................   YUG  2630
      Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2630
 9-11 Yusupov, Arthur...................   URS  2625
      Speelman, Jonathan................   ENG  2625
      Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2625
 
  July 1988 FIDE rating list. Top 13 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2760
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2725
  3-4 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2665
      Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2665
    5 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2660 (2640?)
    6 Speelman, Jonathan................   ENG  2645
    7 Portisch Lajos....................   HUN  2635
  8-9 Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2630
      Ribli, Zoltan.....................   HUN  2630
10-13 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2625
      Andersson, Ulf....................   SWE  2625
      Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2625
      Nunn, John........................   ENG  2625 (2620?)
 
  January 1989 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2775
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2750
    3 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2650
  4-5 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2640
      Speelman, Jonathan................   ENG  2640
    6 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2635
    7 Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2630
    8 Ribli, Zoltan.....................   HUN  2625
 9-10 Andersson.........................   SWE  2620
      Nunn, John........................   ENG  2620
 
  July 1989 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2775
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2755
  3-4 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2660
      Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2660
    5 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2655
    6 Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2645
    7 Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2640
 8-10 Timman, Jan.......................   NED  2635
      Ljubojevic, Ljubomir..............   YUG  2635
      Andersson, Ulf....................   SWE  2635
 
  January 1990 FIDE rating list. Top 11 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2800 11
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2730 30
    3 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2680 23
    4 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2665 21
  5-6 Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2645 38
      Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2645 17
    7 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2640 32
    8 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2635 36
    9 Andersson, Ulf....................   SVE  2630 39
10-11 Kortchnoi, Viktor.................   SWZ  2625 37
      Ljubojevic, Ljubomir..............   JUG  2625 11

  July 1990 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2800 11
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2730 30
  3-4 Gelfand, Boris....................   URS  2680 31
      Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2680 21
    5 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2660 23
  6-7 Ehlvest, Jaan.....................   URS  2655 41
      Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2655 17
    8 Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2650 51
    9 Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2640 38
   10 Seirawan, Yasser..................   USA  2635 46
 
  January 1991 FIDE rating list. Top 13 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2800 0
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2725 14
    3 Gelfand, Boris....................   URS  2700 47
    4 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2695 48
  5-7 Bareev, Evgeny....................   URS  2650 50
      Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2650 24
      Ehlvest, Jaan.....................   URS  2650 13
  8-9 Yudasin, Leonid...................   URS  2645 44
      Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2645 7
10-13 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2640 44
      Andersson, Ulf....................   SWE  2640 42
      Khalifman, Alexander..............   GER  2640 37
      Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2640 29
 
  July 1991 FIDE rating list. Top 14 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2770 46
    2 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2735 18
    3 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2730 58
    4 Bareev, Evgeny....................   URS  2680 14
  5-6 Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2665 35
      Gelfand, Boris....................   URS  2665 34
    7 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2660 29
    8 Beliavsky, Alexander..............   URS  2655 38
    9 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2650 43
10-14 Khalifman, Alexander..............   GER  2630 49
      Gurevich, Mikhail.................   URS  2630 38
      Speelman, Jonathan................   ENG  2630 35
      Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2630 35
      Polugaevsky, Lev..................   URS  2630 15
 
  January 1992 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   URS  2780 14
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   URS  2725 37
    3 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   URS  2720 32
    4 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2685 22
    5 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2670 22
    6 Gelfand, Boris....................   URS  2665 19
 7-10 Shirov, Alexei....................   LAT  2655 61
      Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2655 43
      Yusupov, Artur....................   URS  2655 32
      Salov, Valery.....................   URS  2655 17
 
  July 1992 FIDE rating list. Top 11 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2790 31
    2 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2720 37
    3 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2715 41
    4 Shirov, Alexei....................   LAT  2710 57
    5 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2690 48
    6 Gelfand, Boris....................   RUS  2685 46
    7 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2680 38
    8 Bareev, Evgeny....................   RUS  2670 61
    9 Timman, Jan.......................   NLD  2665 37
10-11 Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2655 53
      Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2655 9
 
  January 1993 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2805 18
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2725 23
  3-4 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2710 37
      Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2710 31
    5 Gelfand, Boris....................   BLA  2690 19
    6 Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2685 27
  7-8 Shirov, Alexei....................   LAT  2670 38
      Bareev, Evgeny....................   RUS  2670 8
 9-10 Georgiev, Kiril...................   BUL  2660 65
      Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2660 9
 
  July 1993 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2815 13
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2760 61
    3 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2725 19
    4 Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2710 61
    5 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2705 13
  6-7 Shirov, Alexei....................   LAT  2685 54
      Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2685 23
  8-9 Topalov, Veselin..................   BUL  2670 47
      Gelfand, Boris....................   BLA  2670 35
   10 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2665 19
 
  January 1994 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2815 0
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2740 40
  3-4 Shirov, Alexei....................   LAT  2715 49
      Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2715 37
  5-6 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2710 33
      Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2710 32
    7 Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2695 36
 8-10 Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2685 31
      Bareev, Evgeny....................   RUS  2685 29
      Gelfand, Boris....................   BLR  2685 23
 
  July 1994 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2815 0
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2780 24
    3 Shirov, Alexei....................   LAT  2740 36
    4 Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2725 43
    5 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2720 22
    6 Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2710 21
  7-8 Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2695 39
      Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2695 14
    9 Gelfand, Boris....................   BLR  2680 20
   10 Bareev, Evgeny....................   RUS  2675 32
 
  January 1995 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2805 0
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2765 37
  3-5 Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2715 20
      Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2715 11
      Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2715 8
  6-7 Shirov, Alexei....................   ESP  2710 36
      Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2710 17
  8-9 Gelfand, Boris....................   BLR  2700 43
      Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2700 21
   10 Bareev, Evgeny....................   RUS  2675 35
 
  July 1995 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2795 26
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2775 37
    3 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2740 36
    4 Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2735 16
    5 Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2730 31
    6 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2725 10
    7 Shirov, Alexei....................   ESP  2695 61
  8-9 Gelfand, Boris....................   BLR  2685 29
      Salov, Valery.....................   RUS  2685 25
   10 Yusupov, Artur....................   GER  2680 53

  January 1996 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
  1-2 Kramnik, Vladimir................    RUS  2775 42
      Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2775 19
    3 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2770 12
  4-5 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2735 39
      Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2735 0
    6 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2725 0
  7-8 Topalov, Veselin..................   BUL  2700 40
      Gelfand, Boris....................   BLR  2700 24
    9 Shirov, Alexei....................   ESP  2690 38
   10 Polgar, Judit.....................   HUN  2675 29
 
  July 1996 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
 
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2785 18
    2 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2775 12
    3 Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2765 22
    4 Topalov, Veselin..................   BUL  2750 40
    5 Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2745 20
    6 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2735 31
    7 Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2730 22
    8 Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2695 25
 9-10 Adams, Michael....................   ENG  2685 65
      Shirov, Alexei....................   ESP  2685 41
 
  January 1997 FIDE rating list. Top 10 players
  
    1 Kasparov, Gary....................   RUS  2795 11
    2 Anand, Viswanathan................   IND  2765 9
    3 Karpov, Anatoly...................   RUS  2760 52
  4-5 Kramnik, Vladimir.................   RUS  2740 41
      Ivanchuk, Vassily.................   UKR  2740 32
    6 Topalov, Veselin..................   BUL  2725 44
    7 Kamsky, Gata......................   USA  2720 29
    8 Gelfand, Boris....................   BLR  2700 52
 9-10 Shirov, Alexei....................   ESP  2690 49
      Short, Nigel......................   ENG  2690 22

Comments

  • 3 months ago

    IoftheHungarianTiger

    Well, I don't really consider your list "incomplete."  If it skipped around randomly, then I'd figure it was nothing more than data gaps or lack of information.

    But this list which you've posted follows a pretty consistent pattern: 1970-1987 = Top Six (or equivalent) & 1988-1997 = Top Ten.  Again, although the lists may jump from Top 7 to Top 6 to Top 8, etc., any variation from the Top Six is simply because it is impossible to narrow it down to just six (players tied for 6-9th, players tied for 5-8th, etc.). 

    Of course, there are two exceptions: Jan 1984 and Jan 1985, which do in fact contain the Top 10 players.  But other than that, it's pretty consistent.

    Such meticulous care on the part of your original source to include specifically the Top Six and only the Top Six every year to 1988 (again, minus two exceptions), suggests to me that your list may in fact be complete.  It is a complete list of who FIDE considered a "Top Player" each year. 

    I suppose you could be correct ... perhaps your original source simply didn't have the data or made an arbitrary decision.  I just feel the consistency of your data suggests that it is in fact a complete list.  Not a complete Top Ten list, but a complete "Top Player" list.  If that is true (and perhaps it's not), then I'm simply wondering why FIDE's criteria changed ...

    But regardless of whether it's an Incomplete Top 10 list, or a complete Top Player list, it's way cool!  Thanks for sharing! Smile

  • 3 months ago

    goldendog

    The FIDE lists had all the active players and so these lists could have been top 10s, but the compiler either didn't have those resources or chose to truncate where he wished.

    If I could I'd be more complete.

    When I searched for a historic FIDE ratings list there just wasn't one to be found. I had saved, however, one fellow's efforts from about 15 years ago, and gladly included it here for us chess history fans.

    I suppose someone with a set of Informants could flesh the list out some.

  • 3 months ago

    IoftheHungarianTiger

    Very cool list!  I have a question, however.  It seems that from 1970 to the end of 1983, FIDE made a point of listing out the Top 6 players.  In every listing, only the top 6 are mentioned, or if there are more, it is because it couldn't be narrowed down to six (e.g. - certain players were tied for 6th, or tied 5th-8th, etc.)

    Then, in 1984, FIDE seems to have begun making a point of listing the Top 10 players.  Do you have any information on why they adopted this change?  Or, do you have any information on what was magical about the top 6 players before that? 

    I have an idea that maybe before 1984, the top six players were all considered legitimate/possible World Champion candidates, and after 1984 they decided it should be expanded the top 10, but that's just a purely speculative theory, and I don't know why they would suddenly decide that.  Does anyone have information on it?

  • 12 months ago

    Kupov3

    Neat reference! I didn't realise Tal was still a top 5-10 player in the 80's.

  • 14 months ago

    Crazychessplaya

    Doctor Nunn made the top ten! Good to see one my favorite authors up there.

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