CHESS: ARMENIA MAINTAINS LEADING POSITIONS IN FIDE RANKINGS
Suren Musayelyan

ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor
03.05.10

Aronyan maintains his 5th rank among the world’s best male chess
players.

Armenia’s top grandmaster Levon Aronyan has maintained his fifth
rank among the world’s best male chess players in the latest rating
released by the game’s international governing body FIDE.

The May 1 FIDE rating for the world’s top 100 players (released every
second month) shows no change in the top seven positions, with the
top trio including Norway’s 20-year-old Magnus Carlsen (rating 2813),
Veselin Topalov (2812) from Bulgaria and Vladimir Kramnik (2790) from
Russia. India’s Viswanathan Anand, who is now defending his FIDE world
crown against challenger Topalov, is in the fourth position with a
rating of 2789, six rating points ahead of the 27-year-old Armenian
chess ace. Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov follows Aronyan in the
sixth place with a rating of 2763.

The FIDE () top 100 male players list also includes
two other Armenian grandmasters, namely Vladimir Hakobyan (43) and
Gabriel Sargsyan (55). Sergey Movsesian representing Slovakia is 25th
on the list.

The FIDE top 100 female players list includes three Armenian
grandmasters. The highest rank among them is held by Lilit Lazarian
(26th; rating 2477), followed by Elina Danielyan (29) and Lilit Galoyan
(66). Hungary’s Judit Polgar tops the rankings with a rating of 2682.

In the list of 139 chess nations ranked by the average rating of their
top 10 players Armenia is 10th (average rank 2631; has 20 grandmasters
and 30 international masters; ‘total titled’ – 73).

The FIDE nations rating list is topped by Russia (2731), followed by
Ukraine (2688) and China (2648). Full rankings are available here:

Meanwh ile, Armenia’s top chessman Aronyan has indicated that he
will not take part in World Chess Championship qualifying matches if
Azerbaijan’s capital Baku is picked as their venue.

In a statement issued late last week, Aronyan reacted to comments
made by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who said in an interview
with the Russian Sport-Express newspaper (April 28, 2010) that he
did not rule out the participation of the Armenian player in the
Candidates tournament in the Azerbaijani capital.

Aronyan stressed that he has "never agreed and will never agree"
to play candidates’ matches in Baku. The Armenian Chess Federation
also announced that it had sent an official letter to Ilyumzhinov,
FIDE Presidential Board members, the Sport-Express newspaper and
other chess periodicals over the matter.

The 2011 World Championship challenger is to be decided in a Candidates
Tournament that will bring together eight participants (including
Aronyan as Winner of the FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009).

It was reportedly decided at the FIDE Congress last year that the
tournament scheduled for 2010/11 would be split into two parts to
allow the Armenian player to avoid playing in Azerbaijan.