Even after the break up of the former Soviet Union which produced a number of strong chess countries like Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, etc., Russia still dominates the rating chart.
There are currently 11 Russian players with rating over 2700 (3 in the top 10 in the world) with many more at one time broke the 2700 mark.
Is there a chance that another country can overtake Russia in the near future?
| # | Name | Title | Fed | Rating | G | B-Year |
| 1 | Kramnik, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2790 | 13 | 1975 |
| 2 | Grischuk, Alexander | g | RUS | 2756 | 16 | 1983 |
| 3 | Svidler, Peter | g | RUS | 2750 | 9 | 1976 |
| 4 | Jakovenko, Dmitry | g | RUS | 2725 | 14 | 1983 |
| 4 | Karjakin, Sergey | g | RUS | 2725 | 13 | 1990 |
| 6 | Malakhov, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2721 | 7 | 1980 |
| 7 | Morozevich, Alexander | g | RUS | 2715 | 6 | 1977 |
| 8 | Vitiugov, Nikita | g | RUS | 2710 | 15 | 1987 |
| 9 | Motylev, Alexander | g | RUS | 2705 | 18 | 1979 |
| 10 | Tomashevsky, Evgeny | g | RUS | 2701 | 14 | 1987 |
| 11 | Alekseev, Evgeny | g | RUS | 2700 | 9 | 1985 |
World top 10
| Rank | Name | Title | Country | Rating | Games | B-Year |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | g | NOR | 2813 | 13 | 1990 |
| 2 | Topalov, Veselin | g | BUL | 2805 | 0 | 1975 |
| 3 | Kramnik, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2790 | 13 | 1975 |
| 4 | Anand, Viswanathan | g | IND | 2787 | 13 | 1969 |
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | g | ARM | 2782 | 9 | 1982 |
| 6 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | g | AZE | 2760 | 9 | 1985 |
| 7 | Grischuk, Alexander | g | RUS | 2756 | 16 | 1983 |
| 8 | Svidler, Peter | g | RUS | 2750 | 9 | 1976 |
| 9 | Gelfand, Boris | g | ISR | 2750 | 7 | 1968 |
| 10 | Wang, Yue | g | CHN | 2749 | 0 | 1987 |
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I think China can soon.
Yes I think China has good chances as well but I think they still have to go a long way before they can achieve the similar success
I think India too, maybe early
LoL, China is yet to produce 1 decent player. Wang Yue stopped playing in tough tournaments so that his ratings don’t fall. Russia will continue to dominate. China lacks quality..as usual.
Don’t underestimate China Su market… Look at figure skating for example, 20 years ago who would have thought that China could overshadow Russia in that sport? And yet that’s just what happened in these Winter Olympics.
su market is probably one of those Americans who is still denying that idea that China is becoming a superpower and exceeding the US in many fields. He likely is the sort who will bring up communists,dictatorships,Tibet,and cheap labor as the reason why China’s rise is impossible. It’s time to give it up; China and Asia in general will be the story of the 21st century.
Just stating the obvious truth. China lacks quality. Its players are medium level not the 2750+ or even 2700+ category that russian or ex soviet republic players come under. .
No doubt that China is becoming a “superpower”. With the world’s highest population, why shouldn’t it? But chess does not seem one of the areas that interest it greatly. Weiqi (go) is a different story. Probably no other country will _ever_ match Russia with its combination of size and focus on the game.
It doesn’t need to have the general population interested in international chess. Look at the Olympics for example, many of the sports that they are starting to dominate are not very popular at all in the general population. Big market to draw from, hard working people, and strong gov’t support is the winning formula.