8 May 2009

Are Women Stronger now than 5 years ago?

I had a look today at the FIDE Rating List for Top Women, both the most recent one, and the one for 5 years ago, in 2004. Have a look, there are now many more women above 2500 than 5 years ago (14 vs. 5).

Top Women on April 1, 2009.

There are 14 women players who are rated above the “2500” mark on April 1, 2009.

RankNameTitleCountryRatingGamesB-Year
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2693 0 1976
2 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2612 17 1987
3 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2590 29 1994
4 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2549 21 1979
5 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2541 24 1987
6 Muzychuk, Anna m SLO 2533 28 1990
7 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2531 22 1985
8 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2528 37 1963
9 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2527 11 1986
10 Kosintseva, Tatiana m RUS 2522 25 1986
11 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2516 0 1984
12 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2506 11 1961
13 Danielian, Elina m ARM 2503 34 1978
14 Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2501 25 1985








Let’s compare with the rating list of 5 years ago. On April 1, 2004 only 5 women were rated higher than 2500.

RankNameTitleCountryRatingGamesB-Day
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2728 0 1976-07-23
2 Xie, Jun g CHN 2564 0 1970-10-30
3 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2513 44 1987-03-31
4 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2502 0 1961-01-17
5 Galliamova, Alisa m RUS 2502 0 1972-01-18

I think this shows that the top world’s women play significantly stronger now than they did 5 years ago. It can’t be due to “rating inflation”, or at least not by such a big amount, only 5 years have passed.

Women in the last 5 years have had more chances to play in strong men and women’s tournaments. Also, many top women now have grandmaster trainers who help them before and during tournaments.

When I was playing the final of the Women’s World Championship in Nalchik last fall, my opponent Hou Yifan had a whole team from China to support her, with 4 male Grandmasters.

I also train on a regular basis with several GM’s.

Top players in the world now also have access to Chess Database programs and can follow on the web games immediately as they are played.

This and other factors have contributed to the higher level of Women’s Chess during the last years.

If you have any comments about the above, please write them in the comments below.


Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion