FIDE Top 100 Women Chessplayers and Growing Ranks of Female GMs

The Top 100 FIDE Ratings Lists are out for September, 2010.

GM Judit Polgar

GM Judit Polgar is #56 on the list at ELO 2682.  How many times now is this in a row she has been in the top 100?

On the Women's List, Judit is again #1.  Other GMs are in bold - the GM title is not the same as the WGM title, which is Woman Grandmaster and a worthy goal in its own right.  In the hierarchy of chess titles, GM is the highest:

Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2682 0 1976
2 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2593 11 1987
3 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2578 25 1994
4 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2573 22 1986
5 Kosintseva, Nadezhda m RUS 2565 16 1985
6 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2551 28 1979
7 Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2539 9 1989
8 Muzychuk, Anna m SLO 2535 15 1990
9 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2534 11 1987
10 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2524 9 1984
11 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2516 8 1991
12 Harika, Dronavalli m IND 2515 18 1991
13 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2513 16 1983
14 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2509 11 1963
15 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2500 22 1961
16 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2499 11 1986
17 Zhukova, Natalia g UKR 2499 0 1979
18 Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2491 14 1985
19 Krush, Irina m USA 2490 9 1983
20 Socko, Monika g POL 2486 27 1978
21 Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2484 18 1982
22 Hoang Thanh Trang g HUN 2482 11 1980
23 Galliamova, Alisa m RUS 2482 0 1972
24 Zhu, Chen g QAT 2480 20 1976
25 Zatonskih, Anna m USA 2480 9 1978
26 Ruan, Lufei wg CHN 2480 0 1987
27 Xu, Yuhua g CHN 2475 23 1976
28 Gaponenko, Inna m UKR 2469 31 1976
29 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2469 14 1985
30 Paehtz, Elisabeth m GER 2467 3 1985
31 Danielian, Elina m ARM 2466 29 1978
32 Ushenina, Anna m UKR 2466 13 1985
33 Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman m IND 2466 0 1979
34 Gunina, Valentina wg RUS 2465 5 1989
35 Khotenashvili, Bela m GEO 2464 23 1988
36 Skripchenko, Almira m FRA 2464 10 1976
37 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2464 8 1992
38 Tan, Zhongyi wg CHN 2461 16 1991
39 Hunt, Harriet V m ENG 2454 0 1978
40 Dembo, Yelena m GRE 2452 9 1983
41 Javakhishvili, Lela m GEO 2451 9 1984
42 Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan g SCO 2451 0 1968
43 Polgar, Sofia m HUN 2450 0 1974
44 Atalik, Ekaterina m TUR 2447 31 1982
45 Repkova, Eva m SVK 2447 9 1975
46 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina m RUS 2447 0 1974
47 Rajlich, Iweta m POL 2446 0 1981
48 Shen, Yang wg CHN 2443 33 1989
49 Melia, Salome m GEO 2439 29 1987
50 Moser, Eva m AUT 2436 18 1982
51 Huang, Qian wg CHN 2436 16 1986
52 Khurtsidze, Nino m GEO 2435 18 1975
53 Turova, Irina m RUS 2433 43 1979
54 Matnadze, Ana m GEO 2428 18 1983
55 Houska, Jovanka m ENG 2426 11 1980
56 Khukhashvili, Sopiko m GEO 2422 9 1985
57 Girya, Olga wg RUS 2414 22 1991
58 Munguntuul, Batkhuyag m MGL 2412 11 1987
59 Peptan, Corina-Isabela m ROU 2412 11 1978
60 Romanko, Marina m RUS 2411 0 1986
61 Zawadzka, Jolanta wg POL 2410 18 1987
62 Zaiatz, Elena m RUS 2407 9 1969
63 Savina, Anastasia wg RUS 2404 9 1992
64 Jackova, Jana m CZE 2402 0 1982
65 Ovod, Evgenija m RUS 2401 0 1982
66 Peng, Zhaoqin g NED 2400 8 1968
67 Stockova, Zuzana m SVK 2400 0 1977
68 Michna, Marta wg GER 2399 16 1978
69 Bodnaruk, Anastasia m RUS 2399 5 1992
70 Vasilevich, Tatjana m UKR 2399 0 1977
71 Madl, Ildiko m HUN 2397 10 1969
72 Foisor, Cristina-Adela m ROU 2395 16 1967
73 Wang, Yu A. m CHN 2394 14 1982
74 Batsiashvili, Nino wg GEO 2390 26 1987
75 Milliet, Sophie m FRA 2388 29 1983
76 Maric, Alisa m SRB 2387 0 1970
77 Kononenko, Tatiana m UKR 2384 10 1978
78 Tsereteli, Tamar wg GEO 2384 0 1985
79 Tania, Sachdev m IND 2382 18 1986
80 Gara, Anita m HUN 2382 0 1983
81 Alexandrova, Olga m ESP 2381 0 1978
82 Shadrina, Tatiana wg RUS 2379 9 1974
83 Ding, Yixin wf CHN 2379 8 1991
84 Matveeva, Svetlana m RUS 2379 0 1969
85 Molchanova, Tatjana wg RUS 2378 9 1980
86 Paikidze, Nazi wg GEO 2376 20 1993
87 Mikadze, Miranda wm GEO 2375 9 1989
88 Charkhalashvili, Inga wg GEO 2375 8 1983
89 Stepovaia, Tatiana wg RUS 2375 0 1965
90 Galojan, Lilit m ARM 2373 10 1983
91 Sukandar, Irine Kharisma wg INA 2372 18
92 Gu, Xiaobing wg CHN 2371 6 1985
93 Kovanova, Baira wg RUS 2370 11 1987
94 Pokorna, Regina wg SVK 2370 6 1982
95 Cori T., Deysi wg PER 2368 46 1993
96 Fierro Baquero, Martha L. m ECU 2368 29 1977
97 Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina wg ESP 2368 18 1987
98 Bojkovic, Natasa m SRB 2368 0 1971
99 Djingarova, Emilia wg BUL 2368 0 1978
100 Rudolf, Anna wg HUN 2366 18 1987
101 Goletiani, Rusudan m USA 2366 0 1980

GM Koneru Humpy, Second
Ranked Female Chessplayer
in the World

I count 20 GMs on the list of active players. The list does not include GM Susan Polgar or GM Xie Jun, who are retired from active play.  I may have missed some other retired players - . 

Susan Polgar was the first female chessplayer to earn the GM title in the traditional way.  A few months later her sister, Judit, also earned the GM title in the traditional way and at the time was the youngest player EVER to do so, beating American Bobby Fischer by a few months.  Shortly therafter, Pia Cramling of Norway earned a GM title also in the traditional way.  They were the groundbreakers, but we must not forget the great female players who came before them, who were awarded GM titles for their outstanding play over several years  in chess events. 

Less than five years ago, there were only 11 female GMs on the world list of GMs.  Now there are at least 22.  Check out this list from 2006 - so we can see that great progress has been made by female chessplayers as more of them have entered into the competitive ranks of pro chess and play on a sustained basis, earning the title in the tradition way or by winning tough championship events that qualify them for a GM title. 
2006:
Grandmaster/Country/Birth Date/Date of Title/How Earned/WWC/Highest Rating (as of Nov. 2006)/Notes
1. Nona Gaprindashvili Georgia 1941 1978 Won WWC 1962-78 2381
1st woman to get Grandmaster title
2. Maia Chiburdanidze Georgia 17 Jan 1961 ? Won WWC 1978-91 2560

3. Susan Polgar Hungary 19 Apr 1969 Jan. 1991 Traditional way 1996-99 2577?
First woman to earn Grandmaster title the same way as men
4. Judit Polgar Hungary 23 Jul 1976 Dec. 1991 Traditional way - 2735
At age 15, youngest person of either gender to become a GM at the time, beating Bobby Fischer's record by just over a month, held for over 30 years

5. Pia Cramling Sweden 23 Apr 1963 1992 Traditional way - 2528?

6. Xie Jun China 30 Oct 1970 1995 Traditional way 91-96, 99-01 2557

7. Zhu Chen China 16 Mar 1976 2001 Traditional way 2001-04 2538

8. Humpy Koneru India 31 Mar 1987 2002 Traditional way 2539
Became the youngest GM in history, beating J. Polgar's record by 3 mos.

9. Antoaneta Stefanova Bulgaria 19 Apr 1979 2003 Traditional way 2004-06 2520

10. Alexandra Kosteniuk Russia 23 Apr 1984 2004 Won EWC 2004-06 2540

11. Zhaoqin Peng Holland 8 May 1968 Oct. 2004 Won EWC 2004 2460
WWC=Women's World Champion(ship) • EWC = European Women's Championship • Most birthdates from rec.games.chess
These are exciting times for female chessplayers.  As you can see from the above information, the number of GM titled females has doubled between 2006 and now.  That is just an incredible statistic, if you think about it, particularly since the ranks of female players has not doubled during the same time.