Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ministry of India questioned Anand's nationality: Is he an Indian or Spanish?

Vishwanathan Anand is a chess personality where personal controversy rarely plays a major part in his career. The Union Human Resources Development Ministry of India delayed the plans of conferring an honorary doctorate to current world champ and possibly the greatest sportsman India has ever produced as the HRD questioned his nationality. Anand lives permanently with his wife in Spain. Excerpt from article Anand unfazed by controversy surrounding his citizenship at Sify.com:

Reacting to the controversy, Vishwanathan's wife Aruna said they were not disappointed but irritated at the developments.

"I don't think we are disappointed, it is just that it is irritating to answer these questions. Anand has always had an Indian passport and is still an Indian passport holder. So restating the obvious is a bit irritating.

"I was asked to send a copy of Anand's passport which I did. That is the only piece of information I have. I don't know what transpired between them. Every time you look at him win, you see an Indian flag right behind him that proves that he had an Indian passport and I don't understand from where this is coming and why it has been made an issue.

"Receiving a doctorate degree while being in Hyderabad would have been nice but I think that moment has passed," she said.

Alexandra Kosteniuk joins live game commentators team for Chessdom

The women grandmaster who defeated both Anand and Carlsen at the 2009 World Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow has joined the Chessdom.com live game commentator and will start her duty this coming Linares chess 2010 on February. Kosteniuk was quoted as saying, "Both to promote chess and to cooperate with your top website, I will gladly join the Chessdom commentators team, " shared Kosteniuk. "I will now participate in Gibraltar Chess Festival and other events and come back to join during Linares 2010." The video below is between the king and queen of chess at the present, Vishwanathan Anand and Alexandra Kosteniuk. The win of Kosteniuk against Anand in this game is far more convincing than her win against Carlsen so you don't want to miss this one out. Although impressive with her result against two of the best chess player in the world, Anand and Carlsen, Kosteniuk eventually finished the championship in 22nd place with 12.5 points to Carlsen 31.0 (the eventual winner of the championship), and Anand 28.0 to finished second behind Carlsen

Anand picks Carlsen to be his second

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. If you've been playing Farmville lately at Facebook, you know what we mean. Current world champ Viswanathan Anand picks Norwegian prodigy and future world champion himself, Magnus Carlsen to be by his side as one of his seconds in his upcoming 2010 World Championship match with challenger Vaselin Topalov of Bulgaria. Here's a report from chessdom which first brought to our attention and over here at telegraphindia.com where the source of the interview with Anand first published.

Of course, Carlsen, being an employee to his future boss will be paid a considerable sum but by actually teaming up and working with one of the greatest chess player to ever played the game and hence the experience and learning he would need to guide him through his own ambition of becoming a world champion in the not so distant future is priceless. In fact, with Anand's current status with Carlsen, Anand is also poised to become one of Carlsen's future second when his time finally comes to challenge for the throne. It maybe more of a personal benefit than mutual friendship I should say, not your usual Kramnik-Leko tandem, but anyway it's a serious team Anand is building up there.

Karpov - Anand Rapid match: But we want Kasparov - Anand rematch!

Many have already predicted a Kasparov domination of Karpov in their upcoming return match this coming September 21-24 in Valencia, Spain owing to Karpov's poor performance lately despite Kasparov's long absence from playing serious chess. But this news from chessdom about Karpov's own rapid match with Anand, the chess world may witness a true "annihilation" in the game of chess never witness in many years. You have Anand, the world's top rapid players for many years facing Karpov who is experiencing some of the worst moments of his long illustrious career, I should say Karpov would be lucky enough to pull off a single victory against Anand.

If this kind of event is possible these days, why not bring on the possible rematch between Kasparov and Anand themselves? It would be bigger than the Kasparov-Karpov. Perhaps even bigger than the Anand - Topalov world championship match. In fact, Anand has been calling on Kasparov for years so why not make it happen?

Official website

My interest in chess deepened in the Philippines -Anand

This interview of World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand was dated December 26, 2008 and was originally posted at Dennis Monokroussos blog, The Chess Mind. The interview was very informative that truly deserved our attention especially for Filipino chess fans. Some of the interview consist of Anand's stint in the Philippines, it's impact to his chess career; also about GM Eugene Torre, the 1980 Baguio City Karpov-Korchnoi championship match and a lot more about chess in the Philippines in general. This is a must read!

Q. To go back to the Philippines, is it fair to say that was a critical year because at that time the Philippines had better chess infrastracture?

Anand: I think that is correct. The Philippines had just organized a world championship match between Karpov and Korchnoi...I also remember joining a chess club there...my interest in chess deepened in the Philippines and by the time time I got back I was pretty much hooked...we went to Baguio. It is a lovely hillside resort. While we were there, my parents took me to this place, see this is where the Karpov-Korchnoi match took place...The Philippines was a very strong Asian chess country. Now it's less so but they still field a decent team. Clearly no one has come along the stature of Eugene Torre...

and then Vishy said this,

If now, a very strong Filipino player emerged, there is already a base on which to build on...somebody they can follow they go for that. You need a constant feed of good players, to fire people's imagination.

Full interview from http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/anand_interview_transcript.pdf
Also at chessbase.com

Anand launches chess academy: But is it really that worthy?

"Chess helps academic performance, computers help academic performance and also chess. We need to use technology for chess and life...Use technology for improving academic performance and chess. Bihar will produce a lot of mind champions. Start playing for fun. Learn the rules. Find a friend and play. It will also produce a lot of chess champions. I hope to see it," Anand said from the Time of India interview.

Personally, what I want to see from world chess champions is the gradual promotion of other intellectual means or academies other than chess. Chess champions can change the world like artists and writers! I mean if we really intend to improve life in general, then why not just by going right straight on it? World chess champions are possesses with some of the most brilliant mind in the world and this exceptional qualities of chess champions are, one way or the other, could put to use and help improve the qualities of life in the world. Whatever it is, I think we can have them to think and analyze in anyway they choose. I remember a scene from Spiderman: "Great power comes great responsibility". And Anand has a great power! For instance, I think that Kasparov political involvement is but for selfish and personal ambition (as the majority of politicians are) but at least some part of him believes that he has a great responsibility for Russia and believes that his brilliant mind could actually help his country on what he thought is "heading to disaster".

Yes, it may start from chess academies but going right straight seems more logical if we really intend to improve life other than waiting to produce another brilliant chess players to emerge out of the academy. Even if the said academy works, it has some drawbacks. Remember that not all world chess champions thinks about humanity or ones country very much. Now we're talking about Bobby Fischer or Mikhail Tal but that's another story.

More crowning praises for Anand yet in another Indian point of view

"... Anand's magical journey...he is the best in any format of chess...he outplayed Viorel Bologan in Dortmund with a stunning rook sacrifice, even computers had not been able to spot the master move!...he's sublime skills...many beautiful games, notable among which is the way he beat Karpov with an exquisite bishop sacrifice at Las Palmas in 1996...uncorked novelty after novelty and revelled in complicated positions...Anand’s judgment of hair-rising complications...Anand took Kramnik to complicated positions and outwitted him..."

yet to get enough of these? you can read the rest from expressbuzz.com

Anyway, all hail the undisputed World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand.

Kasparov-Anand rematch?

1995 World Championship: will their path cross again on the board?

"It will be great if he (Kasparov) changes his mind and comes out of the retirement. I will definitely give it a shot. It will be very exciting to play him again." says the reigning World Chess Champion Vishy Anand in an interview conducted by an Indian online newspaper, DNA (Daily News and Analysis)

If Kasparov accept Anand's challenge and the "dream match" of chess push through I bet that is going to be one of the richest, if not the richest chess events in history and can be easily surpassed the 1992 Fischer- Spassky championship match in terms of commercial success that was reported to be US$5,000,000 with two-thirds to go to the winner (Fischer). I presume that there were no less than US$2.5 million guaranteed pay check for both Kasparov and Anand if the rematch do happen. No wonder Anand likes the idea when asked about the possible meeting with Kasparov, his former tormentor.

Photo courtesy of chesscenter.com

Quote of the Day...or not

Still can't get over Kramnik

Former world chess champion turns political activist, Garry Kasparov still can't get over to his string of losses he suffered to his former prodigy and second, Vladimir Kramnik as he made another disparaging remarks against him on his game three loss to the very same person Kasparov defeated in a championship match in 1995, Viswanathan Anand.

"Great choice by Vishy! [With 8..a6] he dragged Kramnik into this nightmare instead of allowing him to play slowly. It was good preparation and also good psychology to kick some sand in Kramnik's face and show him he wasn't afraid. I didn't see the whole thing, but when I came back from a meeting and saw the position after 22..Rg7 I thought Kramnik had had it. At first glance it looks like the game was well played by both players. Just looking at it I'm not sure why Kramnik couldn't play 33.Kb3. Maybe he can give up his queen and still draw with the a-pawn." On-the-fly comments from Garry Kasparov, recorded by Mig Greengard.

With all due respect to Mr. Kasparov, I simply don't get it. As far as I know, one should never mock a defeated player coming of a tough game and more importantly if he's battling on one of the biggest match of his life? Of course that was somewhat understandable on Kasparov part. Kasparov toy with Anand and Kramnik never had so many problems with Kasparov over the board. It's quite easy sometimes to be in friendly terms with players we usually dominates than those who completely dominates us. Kasparov is one of those people I guess. He never once said a good words to Kramnik following his 2000 WCC destruction to him where he was unable to pull off a single game. As WGM Susan Polgar put it: WIN WITH GRACE LOSE WITH DIGNITY!




-Photo from wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Anand is the sentimental favorite for most Filipino chess fan

A "Bombay"? no, he is a fine Brahmin.

Okay I have to admit that since the day I became truly obsessed of playing chess, there is no other contemporary chess player that really caught my imagination or spent many hours studying the master's games other than Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik's style of chess is more finely crafted than anyone I know of, not even Anand or Karpov (in my own personal observation) can match the way Kramnik transformed the dull looking sixty four squared chess board of opposite color and its thirty two stagnant pieces into something that is structurally beautiful like the Temple of Partheon or Mozart's 41'st "Jupiter" symphony. Simply put, Kramnik is my chess hero. And with all that said, it is quite ironic if I declare that I'm partially rooting for Anand against Kramnik in their championship match. And for what reason? I'm not hesitant to admit that I always prided myself (so as many Filipino chess fan's do, I believe) every time I heard on how Anand talks about getting started in chess as a young boy in his early days in the Philippines especially on how a popular chess television show help him to hone his tactical skills. In his first DVD in the series, My Career Anand fondly recalls:

“My sister found a chess club nearby when I was 7...A few years later my father got posted in Manila, in the Philippines, in 1979 right after the Karpov-Korchnoi match in Baguio. There was a 1 hour television show on chess everyday. My mother would record the game with pen and paper and then play it over with me when I got home from school. And we would also solve the puzzles. Eventually I solved so many of the puzzles that they invited me down to the television station. Each time you solved the puzzle they gave you a free book. Eventually they told me to come there and take all the books I want, but please don't enter the puzzle contest anymore!”

And if I'm not mistaken (please do correct me) that chess television show mentioned by Anand was hosted by no other than FIDE Honorary President Florencio Campomanes?

But anyway, Of Anand and Fischer who took residence in the Philippines for a couple of years, share the same good memories and both talks fondly of the days they spent in my country.

Thanks to Fred Lucas website for allowing me to post this beautiful picture here in ChessHeroes.

Anand not convinced that computers will destroy chess

"For every door the computers have closed they have opened a new one."

Chess technophobic why worried? Now go and insert your Fritz or Rybka DVD's and start training with your chess program. Your World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand reiterates his views that computer chess softwares is not a threat at all for the progress of chess but a big help on it's development.

"Today we analyse our games with the computer, in the 16th century people did it with a board. That is only a gradual difference. Preparation for a world championship was always an arms race, in previous times with books, then with seconds, today with computers. The computer is an excellent training partner. It helps me to improve my game." he even dismissed his earlier claims that: "Ten years ago I said that 2010 would be the end, chess would be exhausted. But it is not true, chess will not die so quickly. There are still many rooms in the building which we have not yet entered. Will it happen in 2015? I don't think so." And finally, he added that: "For every door the computers have closed they have opened a new one."

So the world champ assured us all. Anand also speaks about his forthcoming title match against Vladimir Kramnik, his training, and his meeting with Bobby Fischer in Iceland. You can read the rest of this must read interview from ChessBase.com The interview was conducted by SPIEGEL.

Photograph courtesy of chessbase.com

Anand is still the King of Mainz

A failed coup de etat for Magnus

World champion Vishy Anand made a huge statement: he is still the best chess player on the planet by humbling on what consider by many as his heir apparent, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, 3-1 at 13th GrenkeLeasing Rapid Final in Mainz, Germany. Magnus was completely outplayed in the first two games and was lucky enough to get a draw in the third game. The last game ended in a short draw, just 11 moves of the Queens Indian but it was more of an humble acceptance of the painful truth.

photograph courtesy of CCM8 website

LIVE Games: Chess Classic Mainz

The current world champion against the future world champion?

Sunday treat!

You can see all the LIVE games from Mainz HERE. Anand is about to face Carlsen in the final of Grenkeleasing Rapid Chess World Championship in Mainz. Morozevich and Polgar are already eliminated. The two appeared to be of no match to Vishy and Magnus this time. For the tournament official website, go HERE. Enjoy!

Photograph courtesy of CCM8 website.

Anand breaks his own simultaneous record at Mainz

winning 39 games and drew one.

The 40 players visibly try their best for three hours and a half to outwit the best player they might ever have played against and will ever play against, but to no avail. And this are experienced, top club players with average rating that could have reached of perhaps 2000+. And now they were asking this questions: why does it take the simul player only seconds to find better moves than his opponents? Why is his fairly automatic play, necessary to play on 40 boards at the same time, still superior to the creative efforts of the individual player?

photograph courtesy of chessbase.com

The King's Queen

It is said that behind every man's success, is a woman. But for Aruna Anand, playing a role of a wife to her husbands conquest was not in anyway can be compared to those Josephine's role to Napoleon--sacrificing his queen.


The woman behind the master

Shubha Shetty-Saha
Sunday, April 06, 2008 17:30 IST

Aruna Vishwanathan plays many roles in hubby and chess maestro Vishwanathan Anand’s life, apart from being a dutiful wife
She gave up a job in advertising to help her sportsman husband, chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, build his career. “Since chess is a very tough sport and takes up a lot of his mental energy, I just try to make things easier for him. I handle his correspondence and logistics. Since time is at a premium, I ensure he enjoys his free time and also relaxes,” says Aruna Vishwanathan.

Aruna says after her marriage it was a natural progression for her to take care of her husband’s work. “As he played more and more tournaments, the stakes kept getting higher. He needed to give his 100 percent to his game. It was practical that we share the work. So I travel with him too, as we both enjoy travelling,” she says.

As a sportsman’s spouse, you get affected by his victory and defeat, perhaps even more than him.

“When the going gets tough, you have to learn to let go and not put your feelings first. When Anand has had a tough tournament he always tells me, ‘It must have been really tough for you.’ I think it is these moments that bring two people together.” However, there is one thing that Aruna could do without, “The tension!” she says.

Even though she independently handles his work, she needs to consult him for everything. She says, “From the colour of the walls to more important matters, we discuss everything. Even when he is playing, I make a list of things we need to talk about when he is free.

Here is the full story.

Anand at 2803 Alone on Top in April 2008 FIDE Rating List

No one would doubt now on who's the best in chess at this time. With a rating of 2803 in the 1st April FIDE Rating list, current world champion Viswanathan Anand recaptured top slot alone and to remain the only active player above 2800. Though his below average performance at Amber, a "fun" tournaments that doesn't affect ones rating, his victory of Morelia Linares propelled him at the top of the list. His rival at the top spot for three months, Russian Vladimir Kramnik lost eleven points but still held the second place, 15 points behind Anand. But with an upcoming event in Dortmund, Kramnik is expected to get closer or even catch up with Anand before their championship match later this year.

And oh by the way, perhaps one of the most interesting story is the 32 points surge of the 17 year old wunderkid Magnus Carlsen who is now the worlds 5th best. Meanwhile, other top players in the list includes Morozevich who is now third after winning nine points; he passed Topalov who lost thirteen. Aronian climbed from ten to six; Radjabov from twelve to eight. Svidler, who was fifth, went down to the ninth place. Leko went from eight to ten and Karjakin climbed one spot without playing a rated game.

Here are the new top 100, the female top 50, the juniors top 20 and the girls top 20.

FIDE APRIL 2008 RATING LIST: TOP 100 PLAYERS

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2803	27	1969
2	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2788	13	1975
3	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2774	11	1977
4	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2767	27	1975
5	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2765	27	1990
6	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2763	27	1982
7	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2752	13	1985
8	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2751	27	1987
9	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2746	11	1976
10	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2741	27	1979
11	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2740	35	1969
12	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2740	14	1972
13	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2732	0	1990
14	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2729	13	1971
15	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2726	0	1974
16	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2723	13	1968
17	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2719	0	1983
18	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2716	11	1983
19	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2711	11	1983
20	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2711	0	1985
21	Bu, Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2708	16	1985
22	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2705	13	1983
23	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	2703	28	1983
24	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	2695	29	1978
25	Dominguez Perez, Lenier	g	CUB	2695	15	1983
26	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2695	13	1986
27	Rublevsky, Sergei	g	RUS	2695	0	1974
28	Sokolov, Ivan	g	NED	2690	1	1968
29	Milov, Vadim	g	SUI	2690	0	1972
30	Wang, Yue	g	CHN	2689	33	1987
31	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2689	5	1980
32	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2687	13	1983
33	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2686	17	1987
34	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2684	25	1989
35	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2684	20	1985
36	Volokitin, Andrei	g	UKR	2684	16	1986
37	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2684	7	1982
38	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	g	ROU	2684	0	1976
39	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2681	0	1979
40	Harikrishna, P.	g	IND	2679	30	1986
41	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2679	18	1986
42	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2679	5	1981
43	Bareev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2677	0	1966
44	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2676	15	1972
45	Nikolic, Predrag	g	BIH	2674	17	1960
46	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2674	9	1976
47	Zvjaginsev, Vadim	g	RUS	2674	9	1976
48	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	2673	17	1971
49	Navara, David	g	CZE	2672	9	1985
50	Fedorchuk, Sergey A.	g	UKR	2671	24	1981
51	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2666	18	1979
52	Bologan, Viktor	g	MDA	2665	19	1971
53	Georgiev, Kiril	g	BUL	2665	10	1965
54	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2664	29	1985
55	Onischuk, Alexander	g	USA	2664	0	1975
56	Efimenko, Zahar	g	UKR	2660	19	1985
57	Short, Nigel D	g	ENG	2660	13	1965
58	Roiz, Michael	g	ISR	2659	9	1983
59	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	2658	25	1983
60	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2658	11	1987
61	Dreev, Alexey	g	RUS	2657	20	1969
62	Lautier, Joel	g	FRA	2657	0	1973
63	Tkachiev, Vladislav	g	FRA	2657	0	1973
64	Fressinet, Laurent	g	FRA	2656	0	1981
65	Karpov, Anatoly	g	RUS	2655	0	1951
66	Korneev, Oleg	g	RUS	2651	44	1969
67	Predojevic, Borki	g	BIH	2651	27	1987
68	Moiseenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2650	27	1980
69	Areshchenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2650	19	1986
70	Postny, Evgeny	g	ISR	2649	16	1981
71	Sakaev, Konstantin	g	RUS	2649	11	1974
72	Ivanisevic, Ivan	g	SRB	2649	0	1977
73	Baklan, Vladimir	g	UKR	2647	0	1978
74	Afromeev, Vladimir	f	RUS	2646	0	1954
75	Socko, Bartosz	g	POL	2644	26	1978
76	Sargissian, Gabriel	g	ARM	2643	20	1983
77	Miroshnichenko, Evgenij	g	UKR	2642	18	1978
78	Beliavsky, Alexander G	g	SLO	2641	26	1953
79	Fridman, Daniel	g	GER	2640	10	1976
80	Zhang, Pengxiang	g	CHN	2640	0	1980
81	Delchev, Aleksander	g	BUL	2639	9	1971
82	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	2638	18	1985
83	Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	g	GEO	2635	0	1979
84	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2634	26	1973
85	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2634	22	1990
86	Shabalov, Alexander	g	USA	2633	22	1967
87	Landa, Konstantin	g	RUS	2633	19	1972
88	Volkov, Sergey	g	RUS	2633	18	1974
89	Avrukh, Boris	g	ISR	2632	9	1978
90	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2632	9	1990
91	Asrian, Karen	g	ARM	2630	29	1980
92	Sutovsky, Emil	g	ISR	2630	16	1977
93	Smirin, Ilia	g	ISR	2630	14	1968
94	Solak, Dragan	g	SRB	2630	9	1980
95	Seirawan, Yasser	g	USA	2630	1	1960
96	Tregubov, Pavel V.	g	RUS	2629	16	1971
97	Nielsen, Peter Heine	g	DEN	2629	5	1973
98	Sadvakasov, Darmen	g	KAZ	2629	3	1979
99	Khalifman, Alexander	g	RUS	2628	9	1966
100	Istratescu, Andrei	g	ROU	2628	7	1975

FIDE APRIL 2008 RATING LIST: TOP 100 WOMEN

Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2709	13	1976
2	Koneru, Humpy	g	IND	2603	13	1987
3	Hou, Yifan	wg	CHN	2549	22	1994
4	Cramling, Pia	g	SWE	2539	38	1963
5	Stefanova, Antoaneta	g	BUL	2538	35	1979
6	Zhao, Xue	wg	CHN	2523	17	1985
7	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2523	0	1984
8	Sebag, Marie	m	FRA	2521	13	1986
9	Zhu, Chen	g	QAT	2521	10	1976
10	Socko, Monika	m	POL	2505	33	1978
11	Xu, Yuhua	g	CHN	2500	0	1976
12	Kosintseva, Tatiana	m	RUS	2497	11	1986
13	Ruan, Lufei	wg	CHN	2495	0	1987
14	Chiburdanidze, Maia	g	GEO	2489	0	1961
15	Muzychuk, Anna	m	SLO	2486	34	1990
16	Krush, Irina	m	USA	2479	34	1983
17	Danielian, Elina	m	ARM	2479	18	1978
18	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2479	18	1989
19	Hoang Thanh Trang	g	HUN	2477	10	1980
20	Ushenina, Anna	m	UKR	2474	39	1985
21	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2470	38	1985
22	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	RUS	2468	11	1985
23	Korbut, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2467	11	1985
24	Cmilyte, Viktorija	m	LTU	2466	21	1983
25	Javakhishvili, Lela	m	GEO	2466	18	1984
26	Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman	m	IND	2464	0	1979
27	Harika, Dronavalli	m	IND	2461	48	1991
28	Galliamova, Alisa	m	RUS	2460	0	1972
29	Zatonskih, Anna	m	USA	2458	0	1978
30	Peng, Zhaoqin	g	NED	2455	15	1968
31	Hunt, Harriet V	m	ENG	2454	7	1978
32	Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan	m	SCO	2452	19	1968
33	Zhukova, Natalia	wg	UKR	2450	9	1979
34	Paehtz, Elisabeth	m	GER	2449	25	1985
35	Dzagnidze, Nana	m	GEO	2443	32	1987
36	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2443	0	1976
37	Gaponenko, Inna	m	UKR	2442	18	1976
38	Shen, Yang	wg	CHN	2439	17	1989
39	Huang, Qian	wg	CHN	2438	14	1986
40	Ovod, Evgenija	m	RUS	2437	30	1982
41	Bojkovic, Natasa	m	SRB	2434	9	1971
42	Dembo, Yelena	m	GRE	2429	18	1983
43	Tania, Sachdev	m	IND	2423	35	1986
44	Li, Ruofan	wg	SIN	2423	25	1978
45	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2421	20	1974
46	Matveeva, Svetlana	m	RUS	2420	29	1969
47	Shadrina, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2418	11	1974
48	Peptan, Corina-Isabela	m	ROU	2415	9	1978
49	Wang, Pin	wg	CHN	2415	0	1974
50	Melia, Salome	wg	GEO	2413	30	1987
51	Khurtsidze, Nino	m	GEO	2413	21	1975
52	Mkrtchian, Lilit	m	ARM	2413	9	1982
53	Vajda, Szidonia	m	HUN	2413	2	1979

FIDE APRIL 2008 RATING LIST: TOP 20 JUNIORS

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2765	27	1990
2	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2732	0	1990
3	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2684	25	1989
4	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2634	22	1990
5	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2632	9	1990
6	Rodshtein, Maxim	g	ISR	2626	35	1989
7	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2620	42	1992
8	Mamedov, Rauf	g	AZE	2617	27	1988
9	Kuzubov, Yuriy	g	UKR	2603	18	1990
10	Popov, Ivan	g	RUS	2594	11	1990
11	Lenic, Luka	g	SLO	2584	18	1988
12	Baramidze, David	g	GER	2583	9	1988
13	Li, Chao b	g	CHN	2581	28	1989
14	Zhou, Jianchao	g	CHN	2580	23	1988
15	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	RUS	2580	18	1990
16	Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son	g	VIE	2579	25	1990
17	Le, Quang Liem	g	VIE	2568	24	1991
18	Zhigalko, Sergei	g	BLR	2568	22	1989
19	Geetha Narayanan Gopal	g	IND	2562	27	1989
20	Amin, Bassem	g	EGY	2558	10	1988

FIDE APRIL 2008 RATING LIST: TOP 20 GIRLS

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Hou, Yifan	wg	CHN	2549	22	1994
2	Muzychuk, Anna	m	SLO	2486	34	1990
3	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2479	18	1989
4	Harika, Dronavalli	m	IND	2461	48	1991
5	Shen, Yang	wg	CHN	2439	17	1989
6	Tairova, Elena	m	RUS	2412	29	1991
7	Muzychuk, Mariya	wg	UKR	2387	18	1992
8	Foisor, Sabina-Francesca	wg	ROU	2375	39	1989
9	Ju, Wenjun		CHN	2374	9	1991
10	Vasilkova, Svetlana	wm	RUS	2373	16	1988
11	Charochkina, Daria	wm	RUS	2361	44	1990
12	Girya, Olga	wf	RUS	2361	20	1991
13	Zhang, Xiaowen	wm	CHN	2361	18	1989
14	Tan, Zhongyi		CHN	2353	0	1991
15	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	wf	RUS	2347	36	1992
16	Paikidze, Nazi	wf	GEO	2347	25	1993
17	Stock, Lara	wm	CRO	2346	0	1992
18	Nebolsina, Vera	wg	RUS	2345	8	1989
19	Nemcova, Katerina	wm	CZE	2344	23	1990
20	Majdan, Joanna	wm	POL	2338	22	1988

For everyone who made it at the top of the world, cheers!

Anand no.1 in the world

Anand rating is currently 2799 , tie with Vladimir Kramnik as world's no.1 chess players. But Anand gains about 5 points to get back above 2800 while both Kramnik (2799-11) and Topalov (2780-13) lost points.

So it looks like Anand (2804) will be #1, followed by Kramnik (2788), Morozevich (2774), Topalov (2767), Carlsen (2765) and Aronian (2763). This were all just rough calculation but Anand seems more likely to break in once again at 2800+.