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Official FIDE January 2002 Rating List

Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there.

Kasparov and Kramnik remain as one and two having no rated games in this period (they did play four games in Moscow against each other that could have been rated). Anand's rating continues to fall towards the rest of the field. Michael Adams returns to World number four above Alexander Morozevich at five. Veselin Topalov is at six. The FIDE World Championships finalists are at seven and eight. Ponomariov reaches the top 10 for the first time and is now the top Ukrainian player rated 2727 up from 2684. He is 10 points clear of Vassily Ivanchuk whose rating has fallen to 2717. Shirov is back in the top ten at 2715 halting a slide over the last few rating lists. Peter Leko falls from World number 5 to 10. Other players of interest: Kiril Georgiev falls from 18 to 33, back in at 55 is Michal Krasenkow after a terrible fall in rating in April, Macieja returns to the top 100 at 72, Baklan gets back into the top 100 at 74, Zdenko Kozul in at 77 NS Shabalov in at 79. There are first time entries into the top 100 for Hannes Stefansson and Ioannis Papaioannou. Glek is in the top 100 at 86, Epishin gets back into the top 100 after his huge loss of 100 points between the January and July 2000 rating list. The wonderkind Teimour Radjabov finally arrives in the top 100. He started the year at 2483 and is now rated 2599, he can only continue to rise. Lajos Portisch has returned to the top 100 after a few years absense. Yuri Shulman in at 100. Magaram Magomedov back in the list after playing for the first time in over a year. Aleksander Delchev falls from 2634 to 2591 and out of the top 100. Also out of the top 100 are Ehlvest (down from 2626 to 2589), Gilberto Milos, Zbynek Hracek, Boris Avrukh, Thomas Luther, Vadim Milov, Alexei Federov, Lenier Dominguez and John Nunn.

The full list gives Alexandru Crisan at 2588 and a GM. This clearly means that the decision of the FIDE Congress has been ignored. I understand Crisan may be taking legal action against FIDE and a number of Romanians. Whilst he may be correct in believing that the level of evidence he supplied to gain his ratings and titles was no worse than many other players. It seems to me the evidence for his titles is pathetically weak. Crisan won two very strange tournaments in 2001 whose results looked dubious and unverified. At least we have games from those events, for a decade none of his games have been available including for the period when he jumped into the top 50. The one event with well known players he competed in was the Milan Vidmar Memorial. From the evidence of the games there it seems clear that he is now a very weak player of no better than FM standard. Its hard to believe he could have ever been a top 50 player. For instance in one game he lost a trivial ending that many amateurs would have been ashamed to lose. Crisan had a full and to me fair hearing at the FIDE Congress. However it seems that as in so many sports these days that FIDE are not free to impose sanctions even in the most severe cases without worrying about court action.

In cricket self confessed match fixer Hanse Cronje felt he should be allowed near the sport again and took legal action, fortunately his ban was upheld but if people feel they can go to court with chances of success in cases as clear as this then anything is possible when things are less clear.

Possibly this is why FIDE has fought shy of almost ever investigating match and game fixing. It goes on in chess sometimes even within the rules. It is the right of a player and even a team to mutually pre-agree a draw (how many people feel cheated in Olympiads when it becomes clear that a match has been agreed drawn beforehand? Well thats simply allowed in chess [Actually strictly speaking it isn't allowed and the match should be scored 0-0 for both sides but this never happens]. Its a good job there isn't much betting isn't it?) Far more serious is the throwing of results either to secure the best possible combined finish for the paired players in the final round of a Swiss or of offers to throw games to allow a player to get a norm for money. In the past GMs used to fight tooth and nail to prevent a player getting his final norm as a matter of honour. Then there are the ficticious events. Just pay an arbiter and a few players to say an event took place and you have a norm or a rating with no effort at all. There needs to be better evidence all round in my opinion. Perhaps this is the reason for the FIDE knockout format? Have they concluded that collusion cannot be policed?

I'm not saying that fixing is wide spread but does happen a number of times a year yet it appears hardly ever to be investigated. Nor am I saying its necessily the current FIDE administrations fault either, I can't recall any action being taken ever. But if FIDE are saying that they can't enforce their rulings on matters that are almost always circumstancial because of fear of legal action then I wonder where that leaves chess. In the case of cricket I know that match fixing has had a poisonous effect on people's view of the integrity of the game. Many athletes have avoided drugs bans through the courts. Its perhaps sports biggest issue. Perhaps its time chess addressed this problem rather than doping. I can't be alone however in thinking that these are the issues that should be addressed.

No. Name                              t  NAT  ja00 ju00 oc00 ja01 ap01 ju01 oc01 ja02 Gms
  1 Kasparov, Gary..................  g  RUS  2851 2849 2849 2849 2835 2838 2838 2838 0
  2 Kramnik, Vladimir...............  g  RUS  2758 2770 2772 2772 2797 2802 2809 2809 0
  3 Anand, Viswanathan..............  g  IND  2769 2762 2774 2790 2794 2794 2770 2757 14
  4 Adams, Michael..................  g  ENG  2715 2755 2754 2746 2750 2744 2731 2742 25
  5 Morozevich, Alexander...........  g  RUS  2748 2756 2734 2745 2749 2749 2742 2742 6
  6 Topalov, Veselin................  g  BUL  2702 2707 2707 2718 2707 2711 2733 2739 8
  7 Ponomariov, Ruslan..............  g  UKR  2627 2630 2624 2677 2673 2684 2684 2727 38
  8 Ivanchuk, Vassily...............  g  UKR  2709 2719 2716 2717 2731 2731 2731 2717 39
  9 Shirov, Alexei..................  g  ESP  2751 2746 2746 2718 2722 2706 2706 2715 26
 10 Leko, Peter.....................  g  HUN  2725 2743 2748 2745 2730 2730 2739 2713 11
 11 Bareev, Evgeny..................  g  RUS  2709 2702 2694 2709 2709 2719 2719 2707 19
 12 Gelfand, Boris..................  g  ISR  2692 2681 2683 2712 2712 2704 2701 2703 18
 13 Smirin, Ilia....................  g  ISR  2666 2677 2674 2686 2691 2702 2698 2702 33
 14 Van Wely, Loek..................  g  NED  2646 2643 2643 2700 2670 2695 2714 2697 20
 15 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam............  g  UZB  2614 2690 2690 2693 2693 2704 2706 2695 13
 16 Karpov, Anatoly.................  g  RUS  2696 2699 2699 2679 2692 2692 2692 2693 14
 17 Svidler, Peter..................  g  RUS  2672 2689 2695 2695 2695 2695 2686 2688 29
 18 Khalifman, Alexander............  g  RUS  2656 2667 2658 2690 2690 2700 2702 2688 10
 19 Lautier, Joel...................  g  FRA  2632 2648 2648 2658 2658 2675 2653 2687 21
 20 Dreev, Alexey...................  g  RUS  2680 2676 2681 2685 2685 2690 2676 2683 21
 21 Akopian, Vladimir...............  g  ARM  2660 2660 2671 2656 2654 2660 2660 2680 16
 22 Polgar, Judit (GM) w ...........  g  HUN  2658 2656 2656 2676 2678 2686 2686 2677 19
 23 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab..........  g  GEO  2673 2673 2678 2670 2670 2674 2674 2676 15
 24 Ye, Jiangchuan..................  g  CHN  2616 2670 2682 2671 2671 2677 2681 2676 8
 25 Grischuk, Alexander.............  g  RUS  2581 2606 2601 2663 2667 2669 2666 2671 16
 26 Short, Nigel D..................  g  ENG  2683 2677 2687 2676 2676 2664 2675 2663 20
 27 Vaganian, Rafael A..............  g  ARM  2618 2623 2627 2641 2641 2650 2650 2662 10
 28 Sokolov, Ivan...................  g  BIH  2637 2611 2611 2659 2659 2659 2658 2659 17
 29 Piket, Jeroen...................  g  NED  2633 2649 2640 2632 2628 2630 2649 2659 9
 30 Sutovsky, Emil..................  g  ISR  2597 2609 2609 2605 2604 2651 2664 2656 20
 31 Zhang, Zhong....................  g  CHN  2611 2636 2607 2607 2632 2667 2657 2656 18
 32 Zvjaginsev, Vadim...............  g  RUS  2641 2634 2635 2631 2627 2638 2640 2656 13
 33 Georgiev, Kiril.................  g  BUL  2677 2661 2674 2676 2676 2695 2686 2655 25
 34 Onischuk, Alexander.............  g  UKR  2637 2627 2647 2658 2658 2667 2660 2655 20
 35 Rublevsky, Sergei...............  g  RUS  2662 2670 2653 2657 2657 2639 2634 2655 14
 36 Xu, Jun.........................  g  CHN  2578 2668 2665 2655 2655 2646 2654 2654 16
 37 Nikolic, Predrag................  g  BIH  2659 2657 2657 2652 2652 2652 2652 2653 15
 38 Bologan, Viktor.................  g  MDA  2589 2641 2651 2684 2676 2655 2668 2651 9
 39 Beliavsky, Alexander G..........  g  SLO  2640 2654 2629 2638 2638 2659 2668 2649 29
 40 Sakaev, Konstantin..............  g  RUS  2629 2627 2620 2639 2637 2630 2639 2649 25
 41 Bacrot, Etienne.................  g  FRA  2594 2613 2613 2618 2627 2653 2653 2649 13
 42 Malakhov, Vladimir..............  g  RUS  2593 2605 2605 2613 2623 2637 2637 2647 6
 43 Aleksandrov, Aleksej............  g  BLR  2606 2591 2597 2610 2610 2646 2645 2645 10
 44 Lutz, Christopher...............  g  GER  2587 2595 2595 2609 2614 2643 2643 2644 25
 45 Almasi, Zoltan..................  g  HUN  2676 2668 2668 2640 2640 2630 2630 2644 9
 46 Seirawan, Yasser................  g  USA  2647 2647 2647 2640 2640 2644 2644 2644 0
 47 Nielsen, Peter Heine............  g  DEN  2564 2578 ---- 2585 2585 2593 2620 2642 20
 48 Gurevich, Mikhail...............  g  BEL  2694 2667 2673 2694 2688 2633 2605 2641 24
 49 Motylev, Alexander..............  g  RUS  2552 2574 2583 2570 2601 2627 2641 2639 18
 50 Kharlov, Andrei.................  g  RUS  2616 2627 2627 2639 2639 2656 2656 2638 11
 51 Dautov, Rustem..................  g  GER  2602 2606 2603 2631 2631 2630 2630 2636 10
 52 Lputian, Smbat G................  g  ARM  2605 2598 2610 2607 2607 2608 2618 2634 27
 53 Tkachiev, Vladislav.............  g  FRA  2670 2657 2659 2672 2672 2642 2632 2634 6
 54 Korchnoi, Viktor................  g  SUI  2659 2620 2632 2639 2643 2617 2639 2633 33
 55 Krasenkow, Michal...............  g  POL  2661 2702 2702 2658 2655 2573 2592 2632 48
 56 Sadler, Matthew.................  g  ENG  2630 2628 2628 2633 2633 2631 2631 2631 0
 57 Goldin, Alexander...............  g  USA  2566 2575 2588 2595 2599 2594 2612 2630 24
 58 Lastin, Alexander...............  g  RUS  2510 2560 2633 2631 2627 2628 2628 2630 11
 59 Shipov, Sergei..................  g  RUS  2640 2640 2640 2640 2640 2625 2625 2630 4
 60 Vallejo Pons, Francisco.........  g  ESP  2528 2554 ---- 2545 2559 2630 2630 2629 13
 61 Huebner, Robert Dr..............  g  GER  2620 2615 2606 2616 2616 2612 2612 2628 24
 62 Tregubov, Pavel V...............  g  RUS  2615 2620 2610 2628 2628 2617 2611 2626 12
 63 Filippov, Valerij...............  g  RUS  2584 2593 2601 2619 2632 2617 2617 2625 18
 64 Movsesian, Sergei...............  g  CZE  2668 2666 2666 2661 2661 2627 2631 2624 16
 65 Pigusov, Evgeny.................  g  RUS  2610 2578 ---- 2572 2584 2613 2613 2623 13
 66 Kobalija, Mihail................  g  RUS  2593 2594 ---- 2581 2590 2595 2603 2620 13
 67 Landa, Konstantin...............  g  RUS  2598 2610 2610 2610 2610 2619 2619 2619 0
 68 Jussupow, Artur.................  g  GER  2628 2610 2610 2645 2645 2633 2633 2618 23
 69 Tiviakov, Sergei................  g  NED  2567 2608 2606 2597 2603 2618 2599 2614 22
 70 Sokolov, Andrei.................  g  FRA  2565 2564 ---- 2566 2568 2604 2602 2614 9
 71 Hansen, Curt....................  g  DEN  2618 2613 2620 2619 2619 2626 2613 2613 0
 72 Macieja, Bartlomiej.............  g  POL  2538 2536 2565 2578 2608 2588 2582 2612 16
 73 Peng, Xiaomin...................  g  CHN  2624 2657 2655 2648 2648 2629 2607 2611 8
 74 Baklan, Vladimir................  g  UKR  2571 2599 2611 2613 2613 2599 2590 2609 53
 75 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter.........  g  ROM  2611 2592 2592 2596 2596 2609 2609 2608 4
 76 Rustemov, Alexander.............  g  RUS  2553 2534 2553 2620 2625 2607 2611 2607 6
 77 Kozul, Zdenko...................  g  CRO  2597 2611 2616 2594 2595 2556 2569 2606 34
 78 Gyimesi, Zoltan.................  g  HUN  2518 2539 ---- 2564 2571 2602 2605 2606 20
 79 Shabalov, Alexander.............  g  USA  2592 2601 2599 2609 2595 2574 2585 2606 20
 80 Istratescu, Andrei..............  g  ROM  2556 2578 ---- 2582 2561 2598 2603 2605 45
 81 Graf, Alexander.................  g  GER  2600 2642 2645 2649 2649 2610 2610 2605 27
 82 Timman, Jan H...................  g  NED  2655 2639 2639 2629 2620 2597 2600 2605 10
 83 Stefansson, Hannes..............  g  ISL  2566 2557 ---- 2570 2570 2586 2575 2604 26
 84 Dorfman, Josif D................  g  FRA  2593 2600 2600 2602 2602 2602 2599 2602 9
 85 Papaioannou, Ioannis............  g  GRE  2575 2578 ---- 2591 2591 2591 2591 2601 17
 86 Glek, Igor V....................  g  GER  2554 2553 ---- 2551 2566 2574 2590 2601 14
 87 Gulko, Boris F..................  g  USA  2644 2643 2642 2622 2606 2602 2608 2601 8
 88 Hickl, Joerg....................  g  GER  2556 2573 ---- 2582 2582 2600 2600 2601 6
 89 Chuchelov, Vladimir.............  g  BEL  2518 2535 ---- 2539 2550 2607 2607 2600 9
 90 Najdoski, Toni..................  g  MKD  2548 2492 2559 2601 2600 2600 2600 2600 0
 91 Epishin, Vladimir...............  g  RUS  2667 2567 ---- 2578 2579 2583 2583 2599 40
 92 Najer, Evgeniy..................  g  RUS  2572 2597 2590 2616 2600 2599 2599 2599 24
 93 Radjabov, Teimour...............  g  AZE  2459 2476 ---- 2483 2533 2558 2567 2599 20
 94 Asrian, Karen...................  g  ARM  2572 2566 ---- 2582 2582 2604 2604 2599 15
 95 Eingorn, Vereslav S.............  g  UKR  2597 2586 ---- 2589 2589 2598 2601 2598 25
 96 Rozentalis, Eduardas............  g  LTU  2553 2570 2593 2630 2597 2588 2601 2598 24
 97 Andersson, Ulf..................  g  SWE  2625 2641 2641 2640 2640 2601 2601 2598 12
 98 Hodgson, Julian M...............  g  ENG  2625 2640 2633 2596 2595 2581 2589 2598 6
 99 Portisch, Lajos.................  g  HUN  2564 2573 ---- 2585 2585 2591 2591 2596 16
100 Shulman, Yuri...................  g  BLR  2552 2548 ---- 2543 2551 2568 2587 2596 15
101 Magomedov, Magaram..............  g  RUS  2594 2608 2608 2608 2608 2608 2596 2596 9
102 Kaidanov, Gregory S.............  g  USA  2599 2624 2619 2607 2601 2605 2605 2596 8
103 Speelman, Jonathan S............  g  ENG  2604 2623 2612 2604 2594 2603 2596 2596 8
104 Conquest, Stuart................  g  ENG  2563 2529 ---- 2546 2563 2565 2601 2596 7