Russia still remains as the top chess nation in the world, followed by Ukraine. However, China has moved into 3rd place with 3 players over 2700 and one more right at 2700. The U.S. has dropped to #6.
| Country rank by average rating of top 10 players | ||||||
| Average | GMs | IMs | Total Titled | |||
| 1 | Russia | 2723 | 186 | 451 | 1857 | |
| 2 | Ukraine | 2691 | 69 | 179 | 396 | |
| 3 | China | 2645 | 22 | 13 | 85 | |
| 4 | Israel | 2643 | 34 | 42 | 137 | |
| 5 | Azerbaijan | 2638 | 17 | 12 | 55 | |
| 6 | United States of America | 2632 | 65 | 109 | 506 | |
| 7 | Hungary | 2627 | 41 | 105 | 374 | |
| 8 | India | 2625 | 18 | 58 | 159 | |
| 9 | Germany | 2624 | 73 | 197 | 1074 | |
| 10 | Armenia | 2624 | 23 | 23 | 65 | |
| # | Name – Russia |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Morozevich, Alexander | g | RUS | 2771 | 20 | 1977 |
| 2 | Jakovenko, Dmitry | g | RUS | 2760 | 40 | 1983 |
| 3 | Kramnik, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2759 | 20 | 1975 |
| 4 | Grischuk, Alexander | g | RUS | 2733 | 28 | 1983 |
| 5 | Svidler, Peter | g | RUS | 2723 | 27 | 1976 |
| 6 | Alekseev, Evgeny | g | RUS | 2718 | 33 | 1985 |
| 7 | Rublevsky, Sergei | g | RUS | 2702 | 0 | 1974 |
| 8 | Malakhov, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2692 | 18 | 1980 |
| 9 | Dreev, Alexey | g | RUS | 2688 | 24 | 1969 |
| 10 | Vitiugov, Nikita | g | RUS | 2687 | 28 | 1987 |
| # | Name – Ukraine |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | g | UKR | 2779 | 19 | 1969 |
| 2 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | g | UKR | 2726 | 9 | 1983 |
| 3 | Karjakin, Sergey | g | UKR | 2706 | 17 | 1990 |
| 4 | Eljanov, Pavel | g | UKR | 2693 | 29 | 1983 |
| 5 | Efimenko, Zahar | g | UKR | 2688 | 15 | 1985 |
| 6 | Moiseenko, Alexander | g | UKR | 2676 | 9 | 1980 |
| 7 | Areshchenko, Alexander | g | UKR | 2673 | 5 | 1986 |
| 8 | Volokitin, Andrei | g | UKR | 2671 | 21 | 1986 |
| 9 | Miroshnichenko, Evgenij | g | UKR | 2667 | 23 | 1978 |
| 10 | Fedorchuk, Sergey A. | g | UKR | 2633 | 22 | 1981 |
| # | Name – China |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Wang, Yue | g | CHN | 2739 | 28 | 1987 |
| 2 | Ni, Hua | g | CHN | 2709 | 15 | 1983 |
| 3 | Bu, Xiangzhi | g | CHN | 2702 | 9 | 1985 |
| 4 | Wang, Hao | g | CHN | 2691 | 7 | 1989 |
| 5 | Zhang, Pengxiang | g | CHN | 2644 | 7 | 1980 |
| 6 | Li, Chao b | g | CHN | 2628 | 8 | 1989 |
| 7 | Zhou, Jianchao | g | CHN | 2612 | 0 | 1988 |
| 8 | Peng, Xiaomin | g | CHN | 2590 | 0 | 1973 |
| 9 | Hou, Yifan | wg | CHN | 2571 | 15 | 1994 |
| 10 | Li, Shilong | g | CHN | 2559 | 19 | 1977 |
| # | Name – Israel |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Gelfand, Boris | g | ISR | 2733 | 17 | 1968 |
| 2 | Sutovsky, Emil | g | ISR | 2660 | 7 | 1977 |
| 3 | Postny, Evgeny | g | ISR | 2652 | 28 | 1981 |
| 4 | Rodshtein, Maxim | g | ISR | 2650 | 25 | 1989 |
| 5 | Roiz, Michael | g | ISR | 2647 | 24 | 1983 |
| 5 | Smirin, Ilia | g | ISR | 2647 | 14 | 1968 |
| 7 | Avrukh, Boris | g | ISR | 2645 | 23 | 1978 |
| 8 | Mikhalevski, Victor | g | ISR | 2608 | 18 | 1972 |
| 9 | Huzman, Alexander | g | ISR | 2602 | 16 | 1962 |
| 10 | Erenburg, Sergey | g | ISR | 2587 | 5 | 1983 |
| # | Name – Azerbaijan |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Radjabov, Teimour | g | AZE | 2761 | 27 | 1987 |
| 2 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | g | AZE | 2724 | 29 | 1985 |
| 3 | Gashimov, Vugar | g | AZE | 2723 | 28 | 1986 |
| 4 | Guseinov, Gadir | g | AZE | 2661 | 17 | 1986 |
| 5 | Mamedov, Rauf | g | AZE | 2638 | 16 | 1988 |
| 6 | Mamedov, Nidjat | g | AZE | 2607 | 11 | 1985 |
| 7 | Ibrahimov, Rasul | g | AZE | 2568 | 0 | 1981 |
| 8 | Abbasov, Farid | g | AZE | 2565 | 8 | 1979 |
| 9 | Mirzoev, Azer | g | AZE | 2564 | 36 | 1978 |
| 9 | Safarli, Eltaj | g | AZE | 2564 | 9 | 1992 |
| # | Name – USA |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Kamsky, Gata | g | USA | 2725 | 16 | 1974 |
| 2 | Nakamura, Hikaru | g | USA | 2699 | 19 | 1987 |
| 3 | Onischuk, Alexander | g | USA | 2659 | 25 | 1975 |
| 4 | Shulman, Yuri | g | USA | 2639 | 20 | 1975 |
| 5 | Akobian, Varuzhan | g | USA | 2619 | 24 | 1983 |
| 6 | Becerra Rivero, Julio | g | USA | 2614 | 31 | 1973 |
| 7 | Ehlvest, Jaan | g | USA | 2595 | 24 | 1962 |
| 7 | Kaidanov, Gregory S | g | USA | 2595 | 9 | 1959 |
| 9 | Christiansen, Larry M | g | USA | 2588 | 0 | 1956 |
| 10 | Ibragimov, Ildar | g | USA | 2586 | 0 | 1967 |
| # | Name – Hungary |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Leko, Peter | g | HUN | 2751 | 23 | 1979 |
| 2 | Polgar, Judit | g | HUN | 2693 | 8 | 1976 |
| 3 | Almasi, Zoltan | g | HUN | 2680 | 27 | 1976 |
| 4 | Berkes, Ferenc | g | HUN | 2651 | 9 | 1985 |
| 5 | Balogh, Csaba | g | HUN | 2605 | 22 | 1987 |
| 6 | Chernin, Alexander | g | HUN | 2593 | 0 | 1960 |
| 7 | Gyimesi, Zoltan | g | HUN | 2582 | 20 | 1977 |
| 7 | Erdos, Viktor | g | HUN | 2582 | 18 | 1987 |
| 9 | Ribli, Zoltan | g | HUN | 2577 | 18 | 1951 |
| 10 | Ruck, Robert | g | HUN | 2558 | 36 | 1977 |
| # | Name – India |
Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Anand, Viswanathan | g | IND | 2791 | 11 | 1969 |
| 2 | Sasikiran, Krishnan | g | IND | 2711 | 24 | 1981 |
| 3 | Harikrishna, P. | g | IND | 2673 | 26 | 1986 |
| 4 | Koneru, Humpy | g | IND | 2621 | 6 | 1987 |
| 5 | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | g | IND | 2614 | 22 | 1983 |
| 6 | Negi, Parimarjan | g | IND | 2600 | 35 | 1993 |
| 7 | Gupta, Abhijeet | g | IND | 2569 | 23 | 1989 |
| 8 | Sandipan, Chanda | g | IND | 2568 | 6 | 1983 |
| 9 | Geetha Narayanan Gopal | g | IND | 2555 | 18 | 1989 |
| 10 | Arun Prasad, S. | g | IND | 2552 | 14 | 1988 |
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Nu surprise with Russia topping the list in every respect, however, was surprised to see Germany with the second highest number of GMs, IMs and titled players as well.
Surprised??? Germany has always been the country with second most GM’s and IM’s in the world.
Yes, other nations are actually catching up on Germany. Not the other way around.